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CTyankee

(63,902 posts) Wed Jun 11, 2014, 08:05 PM Jun 2014

A blast from the past...Noel Coward and "Mad Dogs and Englishmen."

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A blast from the past...Noel Coward and "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." (Original Post) CTyankee Jun 2014 OP

i liked this so much downloaded it 10 years ago : ) Leme Jun 2014 #1

from wiki: Leme Jun 2014 #2

what a take down of colonialism! He was ahead of his time...he got it... CTyankee Jun 2014 #3

That was me today, elleng Jun 2014 #4

Leme

(1,092 posts)

1. i liked this so much downloaded it 10 years ago : )

Reply to CTyankee (Original post)

Wed Jun 11, 2014, 08:08 PM

Jun 2014

edit: I prefer original recording.. about 1937?

Leme

(1,092 posts)

2. from wiki:

Reply to CTyankee (Original post)

Wed Jun 11, 2014, 08:17 PM

Jun 2014

"Mad Dogs and Englishmen" is a song written by Noël Coward and first performed in The Third Little Show at the Music Box Theatre, New York, on 1 June 1931, by Beatrice Lillie. The following year it was used in the revue Words and Music and also released in a "studio version". It then became a signature feature in Coward's cabaret act.

The song is especially known for the line "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" with which most verses begin and end.

According to Sheridan Morley, Coward wrote the song while driving from Hanoi to Saigon "without pen, paper, or piano". Coward himself elucidated: "I wrestled in my mind with the complicated rhythms and rhymes of the song until finally it was complete, without even the aid of pencil and paper. I sang it triumphantly and unaccompanied to my travelling companion on the verandah of a small jungle guest house. Not only Jeffrey [Amherst], but the gecko lizards and the tree frogs gave every vocal indication of enthusiasm".[1]