"(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1947.
Hit recordings:
| Recorded by | Released by | catalog number | Date first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart |
weeks on chart | peak | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kay Kyser | Columbia Records | 38301 | October 15, 1948 | 19 | #2 | [1] This version was a #1 hit in Australia in 1949 as well. |
| Freddy Martin and His Orchestra Vocal: Glenn Hughes and The Martin Men | RCA Victor Records | 20-3123 | October 29, 1948 | 17 | #5 | [1] |
| Benny Goodman | Capitol Records | 15208 | November 12, 1948 | 12 | #10 | [1] |
| Art Lund | MGM Records | 10269 | November 5, 1948 | 9 | #13 | [1] |
| Larry Clinton | Decca Records | 24482 | November 26, 1948 | 1 | #27 | [1] |
The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni James, Jimmy Buffett, Fats Domino and Liza Minnelli.
Bette Midler and Barry Manilow recorded the song for Midler's album Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook (2003).
Miss Piggy performed the song with actor Roger Moore an episode of The Muppet Show.
Paul McCartney sang this song to honor Frank Loesser.
Frank Loesser's daughter, Susan Loesser, authored a biography of her father, A Most Remarkable Fella (1993), in which she writes:
| “ | "I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China" was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. My father turned it into a romantic song, placing the title in the mainstream of catch-phrases in 1947. | ” |
The idea being that a "slow boat to China" was the longest trip one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time.[2]
This song is featured prominently in the Peter Greenaway film 8½ Women.