Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1935
On the Beach at Bali-Bali
Buy On the Beach at Bali-Bali now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'"On the Beach at Bali-Bali"' is a song written by Abner Silver (music), Al Sherman, and Jack Meskill (lyrics). It was written in 1935, copyrighted June 5, 1936, and first recorded by Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra on May 18, 1936. It was soon covered by Jimmie Lunceford, Tommy Dorsey, and Henry "Red" Allen, among others that same year.[https://secondhandsongs.com/work/162051/versions#nav-entity SecondHandSongs website], accessed May 2, 2020. In 1937 it appeared in the Marx Brothers film A Day at the Races where Chico Marx played it comedically on the piano.
History of the title
The original title was "On a Street in Baden Baden", but the writers soon realized that Baden-Baden was in Germany. Because in 1935, German dictator, Adolf Hitler threatened the peace of the world; the authors changed the "street" to a "beach" and the city of "Baden Baden" to the tropical (if not fictional) island of "Bali-Bali". Publishers commented that there was, in fact, no place called, "Bali-Bali" and insisted on the name being reduced to one "Bali". However, the writers refused to change the name any further, finally finding a home for their song, new name intact, with the publishing house: Edwin H. Morris Music & Co., Inc. of 1619 Broadway, New York City.See Literary Sources
Literary Sources
* Sherman, Robert B. 'Walt's Time: from before to beyond'. Chapter 2; "Al's Time", Pages 9899. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.
References
Category:Songs written by Al Sherman
Category:Songs written by Abner Silver
Category:1935 songs
Buy On the Beach at Bali-Bali now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1935