Topic wait johnny for me from the General Chit-Chat forum.
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| Author | Topic: wait johnny for me |
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 GraceAnne
Registered User
Registered:
5/20/2004
From:
New York, NY | posted: 6/26/2005 at 4:54:08 PM ET
moljul and those who listened...
can we get a description of this please? i read that it is her speaking to the tune of pomp and circumstance? details, please! what was she, like 16?  LOL!
|  Sister Rose
Registered User
Registered:
5/4/2004
From:
NYC | posted: 6/26/2005 at 5:02:25 PM ET
It is adorable - very 50s - kind of reminded me of a mix Shelly Fabray's Johnny Angel and Leslie Gore.
"Anyone who stays home is DEAD!"
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 6/26/2005 at 6:06:58 PM ET
It was released in the Spring of 1965 and made it on to some local charts as a minor hit. Even for the time it probably was a little too old-fashioned to be a big hit. This was the era of the Beatles and the British Invasion, so talking about "graduation books" and "soda shops" was probably becoming passe.
The bizarre thing about that recording, is that, unlike her other singles, she never actually sings a note--just talks, over an oohing and aahing female chorus, and then shuts up whie they sing the title and refrain a few times.
If you're interested, here are the words that she speaks:
"School is over Johnny and you're graduating.
We won't be meeting in the halls or going to the soda shop like we used to.
Because I've gotta be in school one more year. Oh, Johnny, please don't find another girl!
People change when they leave school and go out into the world. I'm so afraid you might think of me as just another high school girl.
If you ever...EVER...doubt my love, just look in your graduation book where I wrote "Roses are red, violets are blue, Johnny, oh, Johnny, I'll ALWAYS love you!"
Throughout, her voice has been building dramatically, and at this point she concludes, with an almost hysterical, "PLEASE WAIT JOHNNY!"
Her speaking voice sounds very young--more like 13 or 14 than 17 (which is what she was). As Sister Rose said, it's adorable.
|  moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 6/26/2005 at 6:21:04 PM ET
Thanks for the history, Karen. I understand it was a number one hit in Wilkes Barre, PA but never really caught on to many other places. LOL I disagree with the part that she doesn't sing. Listen to it again and you will definitely hear that Bernadette is singing with her back-up singers most of the time (when she is not talking). There is even an adorable part where she holds a note out longer than the other singers and actually goes up a step.
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 6/26/2005 at 7:20:11 PM ET
Gosh, your ears are a lot better than mine. I've tried before detecting her voice in the chorus, and I just can't, but it makes sense that she would be singing along.
My quickie research shows that in 1965 the record hit #48 on WMCA,New York on May 19, #13 on KDKA,Pittsburgh on June 19, and #38 on WFEA,Manchester,NH on June 20. I can't find the info now, but I think it also charted in Bangor and Portland, Maine. Apparently there was also a competing version at the same time by someone named Judi Miller, which I've never heard.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 6/26/2005 at 8:46:37 PM ET
Well she definitely blends quite well but she is there. I'll try to find the exact moment of her "solo" when she holds the note longer than the rest. Maybe with that clue you can start to hear her voice better.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 6/26/2005 at 9:24:32 PM ET
Okay, Karen, I listened to it more carefully. She has her "solo" at the end of the very first chorus. The record starts with Bernadette talking, then the chorus and then she talks again. So its at the very end of that first chorus before she starts to talk again. They are all holding out the word "me" and the rest of them drop out and she sings it a little longer and she moves up a note. Not sure if that was intentional or not. Maybe once you hear that you can pick out her voice a bit more during the group singing. I can't distinguish her all the time but every once in a while the rare sound of her voice will come through and you can pick her out for a moment. Try turning the volume up as much as possible.
| GraceAnne
Registered User
Registered:
5/20/2004
From:
New York, NY | posted: 6/26/2005 at 9:38:50 PM ET
thanks guys!! esp karen, love the lyrics!! how cute is that. i guess there is no way to get an MP3 from a record, huh?
one can dream
|  ANH
Registered User
Registered:
8/28/2004
From:
Rhode Island
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Song: Unexpected Song
| posted: 6/26/2005 at 11:59:48 PM ET
I was one of the lucky ones who got to take advantage of Moljul's vintage Bernadette concert. The song is so funny! It is so completey 1950s/60s. She sounds so little! It's hilarious! It was very cute. She also did a hilarious song for Saturday Night Live about a guy "loving other people" and how he will have "take Penicillin." My Bernadette horizons were definitely broadened on our little road trip! Wait Johhny for Me was definitely cute, though. Thanks, Moljul for sharing!!!!!!!
Ashley
| Sister Rose
Registered User
Registered:
5/4/2004
From:
NYC | posted: 6/27/2005 at 12:14:24 AM ET
Hey Ashley - your avatar looks great!
"Anyone who stays home is DEAD!"
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 6/27/2005 at 10:25:31 AM ET
The song Ashley is referring to is the Betty Boop imitation "Johnny, Keep Your Gun Clean" from Bernadette's appearance on Saturday Night Live. Sorry, I should have explained it better when I played it but its a "training film" for GIs in WWII starring Betty Boop (Bernadette) and its all about avoiding STDs. Ashley, the next time you are in town, we'll have to have another screening and you can see that one as well. The audio recording doesn't completely do it justice.
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 6/27/2005 at 10:53:43 AM ET
She must have had a thing for guys named Johnny.
moljul, wasn't the Betty Boop segment done in black and white? That was a neat touch.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 6/27/2005 at 11:09:07 AM ET
Yes it was. I agree, a perfect touch. And the fact that she popped out of a giant ink bottle. In a season of not great Saturday Night Live episodes, its nice to know the amazing creativity was still there.
| ANH
Registered User
Registered:
8/28/2004
From:
Rhode Island
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Song: Unexpected Song
| posted: 6/27/2005 at 7:59:44 PM ET
Sarah, I'm excited about my avatar! Thanks for doing it for me since I'm too dumb to figure it out myself! And Moljul, thank you for explaining the Betty Boop song! I didn't mean to imply that she was randomly singing about STDs! Sorry! It was a great song! I can't wait to see the episode. We're definitely on for another BP screening.
|  Jean
Registered User
Registered:
6/7/2003 | posted: 7/11/2005 at 5:01:09 PM ET
Oh, just buy the record for yourself and have it made into an MP3 (is this possible?):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4747103814&rd=1
(I think the song Bernadette sings on SNL --"Johnny, Keep Your Gun Clean"--is the best part of an otherwise not very funny/witty show.)
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