Gayla Peevey

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Original sleeve.
Original sleeve.

Gayla Peevey (born 1943) is perhaps best known for her song, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" (Columbia, 1953). A child star from Oklahoma City, she was 10 years old when she recorded the novelty song, which had been written by John Rox in 1950.

The Oklahoma City Zoo capitalized upon the popularity of the song in 1953 through a fundraising campaign to "buy a hippo for Gayla" in order to bring a hippo to the zoo. (They had no hippopotamus at the time.) The song raised $3,000. A baby hippo, named Matilda, was procured and flown in to Oklahoma City and presented by Peevey to the zoo. [1].

Contents

[edit] Other songs

Gayla went on to record other children's songs for Columbia, such as "Got A Cold In The Node For Christmas" and "Angel in the Christmas Play". She also recorded a duet with Columbia's other child singer Jimmy Boyd (who had the hit recording of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"), entitled "I'm So Glad", and "Kitty in a Basket".

In 1959, Gayla Peevey adopted the pseudonym Jamie Horton and recorded a series of pop singles for Joy Records. One of them, "My Little Marine," reached a peak position of #84 in 1960 and was song #507 for that year. It was her only song that reached the Charts. Under the pseudonym, she also recorded "Robot Man" which was popular in Australia in 1960, and was later recorded by Connie Francis.

[edit] Song/Singles list

"Are My Ears on Straight" (B-side)
"I Wish I Wuz A Whisker (On The Easter Bunny’s Chin)" (B-side)
  • "Upsy Down Town" (1954)
"A Dog Named Joe" (B-side)
  • "Kitty in a Basket" (Bob Merrill) - Duet with Jimmy Boyd (1954)
"I'm So Glad (I'm a Little Boy and You're a Little Girl)" - Duet with Jimmy Boyd (B-side)
"Got a Cold in the Node For Christmas" (Bob Merrill) (B-side)
  • "Daddy's Report Card" (1955)
"The Night I Ran Away" (B-side)
  • "77 Santas" (1955)
"Rubber Legs (The Knock-Kneed Monkey)" (B-side)
  • "Too Young to Have a Broken Heart" (1957)
"I Want You to Be My Guy" (B-side)
  • "That's What I Learned in School" (1957)
"Do it Again" (B-side)


[edit] Singles as Jamie Horton

All released on the Joy Records label.

  • "My Little Marine" (J. Horton/E. Warren) (Joy 234, 1959)
"Missin'" (B-side)
  • "Where's My Love?" (Joy 237, 1960)
"Heartbreakin' Doll" (B-side)
  • "Just So So" (Joy 240, 1960)
"There Goes My Love" (B-side)
  • "Robot Man" (Sylvia Dee/George Goehring) (Joy 241, 1960)
"We're Through, We're Finished" (B-side) (J. Horton)
  • "What Should a Teen Heart Do" (Joy 245, 1960)
"Hands Off, He's Mine" (B-side)
  • "When It Comes to Love" (Joy 252, 1961)
"Yes, I'll Be Your Girl" (B-side)
  • "Going, Going, Going Gone" (Joy 258, 1961)
"They're Playing Our Song" (B-side)
  • "Dear Jane" (Joy 266, 1962)
"Only Forever" (B-side)
  • "Go Shout It From a Mountain" (Joy 269, 1962)
"Oh Love (Stop Knockin' On My Door)" (B-side)

[edit] Career after music

Gayla Peevey graduated from San Diego State University, and received a teaching degree. She left teaching and went into advertising, where she owned her own firm for 15 years.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.mistletunes.com/novel50.html Retrieved 11 December 2006.