Puttin' on the Ritz!

[Yrrek]

Has anyone heard this good 'n' oldie? I first heard it on the movie "Young Frankenstein" and loved it. I went to download it and I noticed it has been done by many different people. Does anyone know who did the original? And who does your favorite version? (not that they change much, but who do you think has the best voice?) Thanks for your replies!

[Chaerophon]

I know that a dancing halloween skeleton at my local discount store would sing the song incessantly if you so much as came within five feet of it :)

[Count Duckula]

[qb]Has anyone heard this good 'n' oldie?[/qb]

There's an 80's version done by the same guy who did "One Night in Bangkok," I believe.

[--Pete]

Hi,

I'd heard it here and there (including in YF -- Magi's favorite movie ;) ) but I really didn't know anything about it. Your question made me curious, so I did a Google search. Looks like about everyone who can sing and dance did this one at one time or another. I did find a couple of interesting bits:

From http://64.33.34.112/.WWW/melodya.html we find that the song originated in 1929 and was written by Irving Berlin. I was surprised that it did not seem to originate in a musical.

From http://www.perfessorbill.com/index1.htm we find both the original (now considered racist) lyrics and the newer PC ones.

For the rest, do a search. Try "Putting on the Ritz" "Irving Berlin" and you won't get all the restaurants and catering services ;)

--Pete

[Yrrek]

Thanks Pete! Exactly what I was looking for! :)

[Yrrek]

Thanks Pete! Exactly what I was looking for! :)

EDIT: Sorry for the double-post. My browser doesn't like to load for some reason, so I keep thinking that it didn't work. But when I close the page, it comes back. Sorry again!

[[wcip]Angel]

We played this in my brassband.. I played the timpani-part.. ;)