Dr Michael Lobo

Mangalore, Jan 5: Few of us today may remember – or have even heard of – the singer Patti Page, who died in California on New Year's Day, 2013, at the age of 85. But in her day – the early 1950s – she was as much of a superstar as Connie Francis was to become in the early 1960s and as Olivia Newton John was to become in the early 1970s. And even if we do not recall her name, the older generation among us may still remember songs such as How much is that doggie in the window? which we may well have sung as children in the 1950s.

Patti Page was quite simply the biggest selling female recording artist of the 1950s. The total sales of her records are estimated to be in excess of 60 million. Her masterpiece – the 1950 tearjerker Tennessee Waltz – sold over ten million discs and is still among the best-selling recordings of all time.

The following is a brief biography of this superstar from my book “A Thousand Pages of Songs”.

Patti Page (b. Clara Ann Fowler, 8 November 1927, Claremore, Oklahoma) was the biggest-selling female vocalist of the 1950 s. As a teenager, she had been baby sitter to Mark Dinning (see Teen Angel). She began her singing career with a brief spell with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Her early chart entries were mainly with various orchestras. Her first US # 1 (and million-seller) was All my love (its melody being adapted from Ravel’s Bolero). It topped the US charts for 5 weeks in Oct-Nov 1950. Soon after came Tennessee Waltz, which topped the charts for 13 weeks from Dec 1950 to March 1951.

Patti Page’s other million-selling recordings include Would I love you? (1951), Mockingbird Hill (1951), Mister and Mississippi (1951), Detour (1951), I went to your wedding (1952), How much is that doggie in the window? (1953), Changing Partners (1953), and Cross over the bridge (1954). She is said to have had 14 million-sellers in all, although Tennessee Waltz was the biggest.

Below are the lyrics of Patti Page’s two most famous songs – Tennessee Waltz (an archetypal country song of heartbreak) and How much is that doggie in the window? (perhaps the song still most closely associated with the early 1950s, an era of family and children’s songs).

 
TENNESSEE WALTZ (1950)

I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz,

when an old friend I happened to see,

I introduced her (him) to my loved one and while they were dancing,

my friend stole my sweetheart from me;

I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz,

now I know just how much I have lost,

Yes I lost my little darling the night they were playing

the beautiful Tennessee Waltz.

HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW? (1953)

Chorus: How much is that doggie in the window? The one with the waggely tail.

How much is that doggie in the window? I do hope that doggie's for sale.

1. I must take a trip to California – and leave my poor sweetheart alone,

If he has a dog, he won’t be lonesome – and the doggie will have a good home.

2. I read in the papers there are robbers – with flashlights that shine in the dark,

My love needs a doggie to protect him – and scare them away with one bark.

3. I don't want a bunny or a kiddie – I don't want a parrot that talks,

I don't want a bowl of little fishies – you can't take a goldfish for a walk.