| "Mad About the Boy" Introduced in the 1932 revue Words and Music |
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| Written by | Noël Coward |
|---|---|
| Published | 1932 |
| Language | English |
| Original artist | Joyce Barbour Steffi Duna Norah Howard Doris Hare |
| Recorded by | Noël Coward with orchestra conducted by Ray Noble Phyllis Robins with Jack Hylton & his Orchestra Anona Wynn with the Blue Lyres Elsie Carlisle with Ray Starita & his Ambassadors Band Maxine Sullivan Patti Page Many other artists; see #Other recorded versions |
"Mad About the Boy" is a popular song with words and music by actor and playwright Sir Noël Coward. The song deals with the theme of unrequited love for a film star, and while it was written to be sung by female characters, Coward also wrote a version which contained references to the then risqué topic of homosexual love. It was introduced in the 1932 revue Words and Music by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard and Doris Hare.
The song gained new popularity in 1992 when Dinah Washington's rendition was used in the Levi's television advertisement "Swimmer", directed by Tarsem Singh.
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The song expresses the adulation by number of women of a matinee idol as they queue outside a cinema and is sung by several female characters in turn.[1] The adoring fans sing of their love for their hero:
| “ | On the silver screen He melts my foolish heart in every single scene |
” |
|
—"Mad about the Boy" (original version) |
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Coward later wrote additional verses for the New York production, to be sung by a male character. The lyrics make explicit reference to homosexual feelings with lines such as:
| “ | When I told my wife She said "I've never heard such nonsense in my life!" |
” |
|
—"Mad about the Boy" (Broadway version) |
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The lyrics also make camp humorous reference to the supposed effeminacy of the character, who is likened to the contemporary film actress Myrna Loy, and to his repeated unsuccessful attempts at conversion therapy with his psychiatrist. The verses were never performed, as any reference to homosexuality fell foul of the censorship laws of the time, and the new version was banned.[1]
Object of beauty ("the boy") was rumored to be Douglas Fairbanks Jr, who, according to an American newspaper years later, "Noel loved...[but] Doug definitely didn't love him back, although the two men became good friends." [2]
| "Mad About the Boy" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Dinah Washington | |
| from the album Dinah Washington's Mad about the Boy | |
| Released | 1992 |
| Format | CD single, 7" single |
| Recorded | 1952 |
| Genre | Jazz, easy listening, traditional pop |
| Length | 2:47 |
| Label | Mercury |
| Writer(s) | Noël Coward |
| Producer | Quincy Jones |
Dinah Washington's 1952 recording of "Mad about the Boy" is possibly the most widely known version of the song in modern times. The 6/8-time arrangement for voice and jazz orchestra by Quincy Jones omits two verses and was recorded in the singer's native Chicago on the Mercury label.[3]
Washington's version was popularised for a new generation when the recording was used as a backing track in a 1992 television advertisement for Levi's jeans. In the commercial, which is influenced by the 1968 Burt Lancaster film The Swimmer, a young man runs through an American suburban neighbourhood stripping down to only his jeans, invades private gardens and dives into a series of swimming pools in order to shrink his jeans. Washington's recording was re-released by Mercury as a tie-in in with the advertising campaign, and the cover art featured a shot of the topless male emerging from a swimming pool and bore the Levi's logo. The single entered the Top 50 in the UK singles chart.
Other notable recordings include:
The song has been performed by a number of other artists, including: