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This article is about the Donaldson and Kahn song. For Susan Stroman's 2004 ballet, see Double Feature (ballet).
"Makin' Whoopee!" is a jazz/blues song, first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!. Walter Donaldson wrote the music and Gus Kahn the lyrics for the song (and indeed for the entire musical).
The title is a slang expression for sexual intimacy,[1] and the song itself is a "dire warning", largely to men, about the "trap" of marriage.[2] "Makin' Whoopee" begins with the celebration of a wedding, honeymoon, and the early years of marital bliss, but moves on to babies and responsibilities, and ultimately on to affairs and possible divorce, ending with a judge's advice.
In popular culture
- Ella Fitzgerald recorded this on her 1959 Verve release Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers, accompanied by the Frank DeVol Orchestra.
- The Don Lusher Big Band CBS album of 1967 had, as its main title, Makin' Whoopee.
- The Elton John track "Big Dipper" features an adapted version of "Makin' Whoopee" in its final verse.
- Hawkeye Pierce sings the song at the end of an episode of M*A*S*H titled Dear Dad... Three.
- Michelle Pfeiffer gave a famous rendition of "Makin' Whoopee", sprawled over a piano in a red evening dress, in the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys. An homage to this scene featured in Season 3, Episode 10 of Eureka ("Your Face or Mine?"), as well as being spoofed in the film Hot Shots! and an episode of the TV series Ellen.[3].
- During the late 1990s, Cadillac used the song in ad campaigns for the DeVille sedan. Many different versions of the song were recorded, most notably by Ray Charles, Anita Baker and Dave Koz (the last two in a duet).
- Woody Allen's 1996 Musical Film Everyone Says I Love You features Tirome Jerome's rendition of the song.
- In 2006, "Makin' Whoopee!" was covered by Rod Stewart in a duet with Elton John on his album The Great American Songbook, Volume 4. Harry Nilsson had previously covered it.
- In 2008 for the music series Spectacle, Elton John revisits 'Whoopee" as part of a trio with Elvis Costello & Diana Krall. This version stays true to the campy original. Elton executive-produced the series and Ms. Krall married Elvis December 5, 2003 on Elton John's estate outside London.
- The SuperJazz Big Band of Birmingham, Alabama recorded the song on the CD, "UAB SuperJazz, Featuring Ellis Marsalis."
- Cookie Monster did a parody of this song called "Eatin' Cookie" on Sesame Street.
References
- ^ "whoopee[2,noun]". Merriam-Webster Online. http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?hdwd=whoopee&listword=whoopee&book=Dictionary&jump=whoopee%5B2%2Cnoun%5D&list=whoopee%5B2%2Cnoun%5D%3D1325756. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (April 19, 2002). "Crooning About the Woes of Whoopee". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E0DD143FF93AA25757C0A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2006-10-08. A review of a James Naughton cabaret performance. "Mr. Naughton pounces on the dire warning to men lurking beneath the song's playful surface: that once the honeymoon is over, marriage can become a trap from which there is no escape."
- ^ Episode S415
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