Singin' in the Bathtub

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"Singing in the Bathtub"
Original Sheet Music for the Song
Song
Published	1929
Writer(s)	Herb Magidson Ned Washington
Composer(s)	Michael Cleary

Singing in the Bathtub is a song written in 1929 by Michael H. Cleary, with lyrics by Herb Magidson and Ned Washington^[1] for the film The Show of Shows.^[2] The Show of Shows was Warner Brothers' answer to MGM's The Hollywood Revue of 1929, and Singing in the Bathtub spoofs Hollywood Revue's song Singin' in the Rain.^[3] In Show of Shows, the number features an enormous bathtub and is performed by Winnie Lightner and a chorus of male and female performers wearing antiquated bathing suits.^[4]

The song was recorded by many performers of the time, including Guy Lombardo,^[5] Dorothy Provine,^[6] Dick Robertson,^[7] King Ben Nawahi,^[8] Gracie Fields,^[9] Vaughn DeLeath,^[10] The Georgians,^[11] and Danny Kaye,^[12] and more recently by Robert Crumb,^[13] John Lithgow,^[14] and Mandy Patinkin^[15]. In Vaughn DeLeath's rendition of the song, she sings the line "the ring around the bathtub is a rainbow to me" as "a rainbow from me", substantially changing its meaning.^[16]

Contents 1 Use in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies 2 Cheap Suit Serenaders Album 3 John Lithgow album 4 Notes 5 External links

[edit] Use in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

Singing in the Bathtub is featured in the first-ever Looney Tunes animated short, Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930).^[17] The song appeared in 21 Warner Brothers animated shorts in total:^[18]

• Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930)
• Porky & Daffy (1938)
• Polar Pals (1939)
• Little Blabbermouse (1940)
• Porky's Pooch (1941)
• The Aristo-Cat (1943)
• Hop and Go (1943)
• Daffy Dilly (1948)
• I Taw a Putty Tat (1948)
• The Pest That Came to Dinner (1948)
• So Much for So Little (1949)
• Which Is Witch? (1949)
• Wise Quackers (1949)
• Homeless Hare (1950)
• Terrier Stricken (1952)
• Forward March Hare (1953)
• Sahara Hare (1955)
• A Witch's Tangled Hare (1959)
• Tweet and Lovely (1959), sung by Tweety Bird
• From Hare to Heir (1960)
• Compressed Hare (1961), sung by Bugs Bunny

[edit] Cheap Suit Serenaders Album

Singing in the Bathtub is also the 1993 re-release title of an album by R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders. The album was originally released in 1978 as R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 3.^[19]

Track listing:

1. Singing In The Bathtub
2. Chile Blues
3. Dream Of Heaven
4. Suits Crybaby Blues
5. Collier Medley: Ben Hur March & Napoleon March
6. Shopping Mall
7. Yearning And Blue
8. Hula Girl
9. Pedal Your Blues Away
10. La Gima Polka
11. Sing Song Girl
12. Home
13. My Gal Sal
14. Hano Hano Hawaii

[edit] John Lithgow album

Singin' in the Bathtub is additionally the title of a children's album released in 1999 with songs performed by John Lithgow.^[20]

Track listing:

1. Everybody Eats When They Come To My House (Adaptation)
2. At The Codfish Ball
3. Singin' In The Bathtub
4. A-You're Adorable
5. The Gnu Song
6. You Gotta Have Skin
7. Triplets
8. No One Loves You Any Better Than Your M-O-Double-M-Y (Adaptation)
9. Swinging On A Star
10. I Had A Rooster
11. From The Indies To The Andes In His Undies
12. Big Kids
13. The Hippopotamus Song
14. The Inchworm

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Singing in the Bathtub lyrics