Saturday 9
Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh
Saturday 9: Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (1963)
Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it here.
1) TV writer Allan Sherman based this song on his own son's letters of complaint from camp. Did you go away to summer camp?
No, I didn't go away to camp. My dad was a teacher, and in the summer he had a second job as a head counselor at a day camp. He'd spend the day working with a group of boys, teaching them baseball, basketball, etc.
My sisters and I got to attend the day camp all summer long. I had a lot of great camp experiences, but I went home every night. I learned to ride a horse, shoot archery, swim, play sports, do arts and crafts, participate in music and dance....
2) Our camper is afraid of both bears and alligators. What animal scares you?
2) Our camper is afraid of both bears and alligators. What animal scares you?
Bears and alligators are scary. So are lions and tigers.
3) One of his fellow campers developed poison ivy rash. Have you ever experienced redness and itching caused by poison ivy or poison sumac?
3) One of his fellow campers developed poison ivy rash. Have you ever experienced redness and itching caused by poison ivy or poison sumac?
I've been lucky that way. In camp we were taught what to look for, and what to avoid. And I managed to avoid poison ivy.
4) Early in his career, Allan Sherman created the game show I've Got a Secret, which became a big hit. What's your all-time favorite TV game show?
4) Early in his career, Allan Sherman created the game show I've Got a Secret, which became a big hit. What's your all-time favorite TV game show?
5) In 1959 he moved from New York to Hollywood, where he transitioned from writing to performing almost by accident. As a lark, he entertained at the parties of his next-door neighbor, Harpo Marx. A recording company executive heard him and offered him a contract. Tell us about the last party you attended.
We had a backyard BBQ for the 4th of July. Good food, good friends, good convedrsation.
6) Allan Sherman got unexpected press attention and a boost in record sales when it was discovered that President John F. Kennedy was a fan. What's something you purchased because of a recommendation from someone else (friend, relative, celebrity endorsement ...)?
Drew found this great bagel slicer. I was so impresed with it that I bought one for my mother.
You put the bagel in and press down, and the blade goes right through...
7) In 1963, the year "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh" was popular, Studebaker stopped producing cars in the United States. What was your family car when you were growing up?
My mom had a brown sedan.
My dad had a station wagon. In the summer, when he was working at camp, he'd use the station wagon to drive children from their homes to the camp and back again. Camps don't do that anymore, too many lability issues. But that's how he got to meet Eartha Kitt -- one summer Eartha was doing a show at the Westbury Music Fair, and her daughter was one of my dad's campers for two weeks; he'd pick up the daughter at Eartha's hotel and bring her back at night.
8) Also in 1963, Vogue magazine did a cover story on how make wearing white "new and exciting." What color do you look best in? Is it the color you wear most often?
I'm a New Yorker, I wear a lot of black. But I also like to waear purple and teal.
Yes and no...and yes, I am going to be very vague about it.
Ah yes, wouldn't want to drive kiddos around nowadays. That would be scary. Remember when we all had our colors done? Whatever happened to having our colors done? It was like an '80s fad or something.
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