Hernando's Hideaway

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"Hernando's Hideaway" is a show tune from the musical The Pajama Game, written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and published in 1954. The lyrics describe a dark and secretive nightclub.

The most successful recording of the song was done by Archie Bleyer, the record reaching #2 on the Billboard chart in 1954. A rendition by Enoch Light was featured prominently on Command Records' "Provocative Percussion" as well as the Command test record. It has also been covered by David Clayton Thomas and is often spun by breakbeat DJs. R&B singer Debelah Morgan sampled it on her international pop hit "Dance With Me". The instrumental section of The Johnston Brothers' 1955 recording (a #1 UK hit that year) was used as the theme for Brick Top Polford in the movie Snatch.

A live recording (from Carnegie Hall in 1954) by Ella Fitzgerald can be found on the Verve/Polygram release "Jazz at the Philharmonic, the Ella Fitzgerald Set", with Ray Brown on bass and Buddy Rich on drums.

Hernando's Hideaway also became a nickname for the smoking room for British parliamentarians in the House of Commons. The Labour Member of Parliament, Stephen Pound, told the House during a smoking debate on February 14, 2006: "I refer the House to the dystopic hell - 'Hernando's Hideaway' - that is the Smoking Room on the Library Corridor. It is like the Raft of the Medusa most nights, with great groups of people crammed into it."

The Pajama Game is set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hernando's Hideaway was a dive in East Dubuque, Illinois, perched on a high cliff overlooking the highway between Dubuque and Galena. The movie was based on the stage play of the same name which, in turn, was based on the book; it is only in the original book that there is information about where the story takes place. A number of places around the world today are named Hernando's Hideway, evidently based on the popularity of the song.

There are at least fifteen Finnish versions by different artists of the song, the first and most popular by Olavi Virta, 1956.

Recorded versions

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• Richard Adler
• Laurindo Almeida
• Eileen Barnett
• Mario Battaini
• Archie Bleyer (1954)
• Brass Arts Quintet
• Brave Combo
• Richard Einhorn *1991, soundtrack to Closet Land with Alan Rickman and Madeleine Stowe
• Harry Connick Jr. (2006)
• David Clayton-Thomas
• Alma Cogan (1955)
• Kim Criswell (London Revival, 1996)
• The Everly Brothers (1961)
• The Fabulous Plank-Tones
• Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra (Instrumental) (1958)
• Ella Fitzgerald (1962)
• Carol Haney (Broadway Production, 1954; Film Soundtrack, 1957)
• Alfred Hause
• Joan Heal (1961)
• Ted Heath & His Band (Instrumental) (1961)
• Homer & Jethro (1954)
• Harry James (Instrumental) (1955)
• The Johnston Brothers (1955)
• Leah Kline
• Enoch Light and His Light Brigade Orchestra (1960)
• Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (vocal: Kenny Gardner) (1954)
• Mantovani
• Billy May's Rico Mambo Orchestra
• Miguel Ortiz and his Tango Orchestra
• Franck Pourcel
• Johnnie Ray (1954)
• Elizabeth Seal (London Production, 1955)
• The Spotnicks
• Victor Sylvester
• Billy Vaughn
• The Ventures (Instrumental) (1962)
• Jeff Beal (instrumental, for an episode (I See Me, I.C.U) of Ugly Betty)
• Linnzi Zaorski