'BOOMPS-A-DAISY'

Evening Star, Issue 23376, 20 September 1939, Page 7

'BOOMPS-A-DAISY'

TOMMIES' NEW MARCHING SONG SUCCESSOR TO ‘ TIPPERARY ' Khaki-clad soldiers of Great Britain are marching across France again, and as they swing along new refrains will mingle with the old. for just as a new generation is going to war, so a new cycle of songs will appear. The turn of the century ushered in such wartime favourites as ‘ Blue Bell,’ ‘ Dolly Gray,’ and ‘ The Boers Have Got My Daddy,’ while during the 1914-18 campaign there appeared the evergreen ‘Tipperary,’ ‘ Rose of No Man’s Land,’ ‘ K-K-K-Katie,’ and many other catchy tunes. This year’s successor to ‘Tipperary,’ according to a London cablegram, is ‘ Boomps-a-Daisy,’ an infectious, noisy composition that does not make too great demands on the intelligence. The words of the song are: Hands knees and BOOMPS-A-DAISY ! I like a bustle that bends. Hands knees and BOOMPS-A-DAISY I What is a .LOOMP between friends ? 1 Hands—knees—Oh! don’t be lazy. r Let’s make the party a Wow. Now then, hands, knees—and BOOMPS-A-DAISY! , Turn to your partner and bow. BOW-WOW! , RESULT OF A JOKE. j 4 Boomps-a-Daisy ’ came into being as the result of a joke. M. Pierre and Miss Doris Lavelle, well-known English dancing instructors, did the basic movements of the dance in fun to the music of the valeta at, a tango competition in February this year. Annette Mills was watching and saw the possibility of creating a new dance introducing the waltz movement instead of the walk. She asked Pierre where he got the idea. He replied that he had seen the steps used by couples in many ballrooms during the winter season, and suggested that the steps might easily date back to the ’nineties. The sequence of the dance was polished up. Annette Mills wrote the words to music to suit the steps and went off with her song to Lawrence Wright, the publisher. The dance and song were first tried out at a cocktail party during the dance teachers’ festival at Blackpool in May. Eric Foster introduced the number for the first time to the south of England at Brighton during the Whitsun weekend. Now it is appearing in London ballrooms. Holiday shows have introduced it into their programmes. Dance bands have made records of it. Annette ' Mills and Eric Poster have paired up and are kept busy “ hoomps-a-daisy-ing ” day and night. j

Like the ‘ Lambeth Walk,’ it is sweeping England, and, reset to marching time, is sending its cheering message over the soil of France as British Tommies: swing along the highways shoulder to shoulder with the poilus of France.

Another number just released, ‘ Beer Barrel Polka,’ is now sweeping America, and it has been forecast by Anzacs and music dealers that it will quickly replace ‘ Boomps-a-Daisy ’ as the new favourite. Set to a fast one-step, it claims a lively melody, and, like the other new number, it does not make any claim to literary distinction. The words of the chorus are;— Roll, out the barrel. We’ll have a barrel of fun, Roll out the barrel, We’ve got the blues on the run. Zing! Boom! Ta-rar-rel, Ring out a song of good cheer. Now’s the time to roll the bar-rel, For the gang’s all here.

Both these numbers will be presented by the Dunedin Community Sing Committee at its weekly sessions. ‘ Boomps-a-Daisy ’ is scheduled for next Friday, while the following week ‘ Beer Barrel Polka ’ will be featured.