Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

According to wikipedia, Lonnie Donegan was "Britain's most successful and influential recording artist before the Beatles." And yet, I'd never heard of him. Before my time, I guess. I wonder how many WU readers know of him?

In 1959, his song below hit #3 on the UK charts and #5 in the US (making it his biggest US hit).



It was a cover of this song from the 1920s:

     Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 07, 2020
     Category: Music | 1950s





Comments
You haven´t heard of Lonnie Donegan? You been living under a rock?
Posted by F.U.D in Stockholm on 08/07/20 at 06:42 AM
I take it that you never listened to Doctor Demento's syndicated radio broadcasts. I heard Lonnie's song more than thirty years ago on a few of them.
Posted by KDP on 08/07/20 at 09:07 AM
Skiffle was huge in England during the late 1950s. In fact, it's what some of the later-to-be Beatles played before they played rock'n'roll. It was quite popular, and homemade musical instruments came cheap.
Posted by Laurel on 08/07/20 at 09:15 AM
Also, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (the book) contains a scene in which McMurphy sings the original ("Does the Spearmint...?") to "Chief" Bromden in an attempt to get him to laugh/talk.
Posted by Laurel on 08/07/20 at 09:18 AM
Yeah, this tune was a staple on Dr. Demento....right up there with "I'm mowing over my dead dog, Rover" and "Dead Puppies Aren't Much Fun". Come to think of it, there were a lot of dead dog songs on Doctor D.
Posted by JOF on 08/07/20 at 09:39 AM
Before the British Invasion, we had no way to know the "most successful and influential recording artist before the Beatles" in the Old World. Could have been the Queen.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 08/07/20 at 12:01 PM
My goodness - what planet have you been living on? Lonnie Donegan's skiffle group was famous in the UK, having had approximately thirty hits around the late fifties and early sixties, one of the most notable instant number one successes being the highly memorable: "My Old Man's a Dustman" in March, 1960, with thirteen weeks in the charts.
Posted by David P. on 08/07/20 at 03:50 PM
Oh, yes, I definitely remember hearing this song. Quite a cute novelty song.
Posted by Judy on 08/07/20 at 04:19 PM
yeah late great DJ john peel loved him
Posted by mikeUK on 08/07/20 at 07:40 PM
I know of Lonnie Donegan only in his relation to the Beatles.
Posted by Brian on 08/07/20 at 08:19 PM
The King of Skiffle, yes of course I've heard of him! And not only were the Beatles (famously) great fans, but Queen (not the Queen, Virtual, Queen!) liked him, too. Brian May in particular. Look up his '39 - it's the best Einsteinian skiffle song ever written.
Posted by Richard Bos on 08/08/20 at 08:36 AM
Richard Bos, I had never heard of this song (‘39), so looked it up, and love it!
Posted by Judy on 08/08/20 at 04:53 PM
My work here is done.
Posted by Richard Bos on 08/08/20 at 05:08 PM
Looking at the (numerous) replies, I'm kind of curious to know the age demographic of WUvies.
Posted by crc on 08/10/20 at 06:46 AM
As WAG, I would say born in the 40's, 50's, and early 60's
Posted by Steve E. on 08/10/20 at 03:06 PM
Just turned 50 this year.

But grew up with music from the 1600s, so...
Posted by Richard Bos on 08/11/20 at 01:25 PM
1951
Posted by F.U.D in Stockholm on 08/11/20 at 01:39 PM
I’m not tellin’
Posted by Judy on 08/11/20 at 04:08 PM
I heard Lonnie Donegan on Dr. Demento as well, but before that, I enjoyed it, and several other novelty songs, on one of K-Tel's delightful collections of novelty songs from the 70s. The particular collection that this song was on was titled "Looney Tunes" (no relation to Warner Bros.)

See https://www.discogs.com/Various-Looney-Tunes/release/1620030 for the full list of songs.
Posted by WilsonF on 08/11/20 at 05:40 PM
crc, my date of birth is in December of 1957. I was a strange kid and still am, always seeking the offbeat and unusual.
Posted by KDP on 08/12/20 at 09:43 PM
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