Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Ruth Wallis

 Artist: Ruth Wallis
LP: House Party
Song: "Johnny Had a Yo Yo"
[ listen ]
Song: "The Dinghy Song"
[ listen ]

While stopping by Golden Oldies over the weekend to collect my stash, I also picked up this saucy record from Brooklyn native Ruth Wallis, the lovely and talented cabaret singer known for her dirty, double-entendre-filled ditties. The two songs posted here, for example, are about the male genitalia—cleverly disguised as songs about Johnny's yo-yo (if his dad finds out she plays with it, there'll be hell to pay) and about the cutest little dinghy in the Navy (it isn't very narrow and it isn't very wide, but you should see that thing go in and out with the tide). Ruth's songs were banned from the radio in Boston, and once when she arrived in Australia for a tour, customs agents seized her filthy records! But instead of ruining her tour, the incident of course made Ruth more popular than ever. You can read about the life and career of Ruth Wallis here and here, and also check out the liner notes below, which suggest that Ruth Wallis' fans aren't sexual perverts, they're just sophisticated.

[ Ruth Wallis: January 5, 1920 — December 22, 2007 ]

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