Come on-a My House
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"Come on-a My House" is a popular song. It was written by Ross Bagdasarian and William Saroyan in summer of 1939 but did not become a hit until 1951. It was probably Saroyan's only effort at popular songwriting, and it was one of Bagdasarian's few well-known works that was not connected to his most famous creation, Alvin and the Chipmunks.
The song (written by two Armenians) touches upon traditional Armenian customs of inviting over relatives and friends and providing them with a generously overflowing table of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other foods.
The song was a major hit for Rosemary Clooney in 1951; it was the first of a number of dialect songs that Clooney did. She recorded the song with Mitch Miller and his orchestra and harpsichordist Stan Freeman in the early part of 1951, and the song reached #1 on the Billboard magazine charts, staying in the top position for eight weeks. The theme of inviting someone in with fruits and nice things to eat, but with the hidden (since taboo in the 1950s) offering of sexual favors, was the inspiration for the later Clooney hit, "Mangos". Although she performed "Come on-a My House" for many years, Clooney later confessed that she hated the song.[1][2]
The song was covered by Ella Fitzgerald, as one side of a single whose other side was also a cover of a Rosemary Clooney hit, "Mixed Emotions," on Decca Records (catalog number 27875[1]).
"Come on-a My House" was later performed by Kay Starr, who added a few lines with funny, nearly surrealistic details and who ended the song with an even more explicit offer. Della Reese also covered the song in 1952. The song was later used as the theme for the reality television series The Girls Next Door performed by the Nasty Tales & their orchestra. The Surf Punks also remade the song in the late 1980s.
The composers even performed the song themselves (Bagdasarian singing, Saroyan offering occasional narration) for Coral Records. In late 1951 MGM Records released a novelty response song, "Where's-a Your House?", which charted on the Cash Box Hot 100 list. Sung by Robert Q. Lewis in dialect, the tune details the singer's frustrated attempts to follow up "Rosie's" invitation.
The song is sung briefly by Miss Miller (voiced by Dody Goodman) in the 1987 animated movie The Chipmunk Adventure.
| Preceded by Too Young |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record August 11, 1951–August 18, 1951 |
Succeeded by Because of You |
| Preceded by Sweet Violets |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record September 8, 1951 |
Succeeded by Because of You |
