This will wrap up the banned songs I’ve featured this past week. Thank you all for reading. This one I would have never guessed.
Some radio stations found it too suggestive that a man would be at a party wearing only a towel. He is… this close from being naked!
The song was written by Bobby Darin and Murray Kaufman (Murray The K). Kaufman bet Darin that he couldn’t write a song beginning with the words, “Splish Splash, I was takin’ a bath.” Darin accepted the challenge, and they immediately went to work and co-wrote “Splish Splash.” The song’s authorship was credited to Darin and “Jean Murray” (a combination Kaufman and Kaufman’s mother’s name), which was done to avoid any accusations of payola.
The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1958. The lyrics mention several characters from other songs of the period, including “Lollipop,” “Peggy Sue,” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.”
One song I didn’t cover that Listening To Records brought up…Link Wray’s song “Rumble”….an instrumental! I’ve read because the name of the song would incite gang violence.
From Songfacts
This song was written quickly, but it wasn’t written by Darin alone. Peter Altschuler at the Murray the K archives explains:
“The title was suggested by Murray ‘the K’ Kaufman’s mother, Jean, but she also penned the music; Bobby and Murray wrote the lyrics. Murray was a very influential DJ in New York, and had been championing Bobby for awhile, but Darin’s recordings weren’t going anywhere. The two, however, had become good friends and, one weekend, played together in a softball game in Central Park. Afterward, they walked to Murray’s apartment just south of the park and recovered by soaking their feet in basins of Epsom salts.
As she did every day, Murray’s mother Jean called to check on her only son, and Murray told her about the game (a celebrity event to promote some good cause or other) and about ‘the agony of de feet.’ As soon as the call ended, the phone rang again, and Jean, who’d been a piano player in vaudeville, announced she had an idea for a song – ‘Splish, splash, take a bath.’ With that as a starting point, Murray and Bobby worked on the lyrics, Jean collaborated on the tune, and they marched the song over to Atlantic Records, which was Darin’s label. At Atlantic, according to Jerry Wexler when I spoke with him in the mid ’80s, he thought that the song had a chance, but Ahmet Ertegun was dead set against it. Jerry, of course, prevailed, and the tune became Darin’s first of many hits.
Whether Wexler’s story is accurate (Ertegun claimed in a PBS documentary about Darin that he was the song’s defender) is moot. Yet the notion that ‘Splish Splash’ leapt fully formed from Darin’s mind like Athena from the head of Zeus is just as mythological.”
Murray also co-wrote and performed “It’s What’s Happenin’, Baby” (backed with “Sins of A Family” by P.F. Sloan), a song that was done primarily to promote Murray’s signature phrase and his connection to the CBS television special of the same name that he hosted and co-produced in 1965 for the Federal Office of Economic Opportunity. Beyond that, his contribution to the world of pop music was two novelty tunes from the early ’50s: “Out Of The Bushes” (co-written by guitar great Billy Mure who also composed Murray’s “Swingin’ Soiree” theme, which was performed by the Delicates who, later, became the Angels) and “The Crazy Otto Rag” – on which he was the singer, plus “The Lone Twister” which he did as a contest promo for WINS radio, his home from 1958-1965.
In their continuing quest to encourage kids to take baths, Sesame Street has used this on a few of their albums. It is a very popular song for kids, especially when performed by Elmo.
This was released on Atlantic Records at a time when they were struggling to pay their artists. According to Jerry Wexler, who ran the company with Ahmet Ertegun, they had stopped paying themselves and needed money to resign The Clovers when this song and “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters broke through and got the company out of trouble. Atlantic went on to sign Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones and many other legendary artists.
The “Movin’ and a groovin'” lyric was lifted from a 1958 Duane Eddy song called “Moovin’ ‘N’ Groovin’.” Eddy claimed that Darin asked permission to use it, which he happily granted. “That’s just music, sharing little bits of melody and all,” said Eddy.
This was Bobby Darin’s first hit. He had signed with Atlantic Records after an unsuccessful stint at Decca. After three unsuccessful sessions at Atlantic with Herb Abramson producing, Ahmet Ertegun, who was head of the label, decided to produce Darin himself. “Splish Splash” was recorded on April 10, 1958 along with “Judy Don’t Be Moody” and “Queen of the Hop.” The recording took place at Atlantic’s studios in New York with their renowned engineer Tom Dowd at the controls. Darin soon became a star, but left Atlantic for Capitol Records in 1962.
Splish Splash
Splish, splash, I was takin’ a bath
Long about a Saturday night, yeah
A rub dub, just relaxin’ in the tub
Thinkin’ everythin’ was alright
Well, I stepped out the tub
I put my feet on the floor
I wrapped the towel around me and I
Opened the door
And then a-splish, splash
I jumped back in the bath
Well, how was I to know
There was a party goin’ on?
There was a-splishin’ and a-splashin’
Reelin’ with the feelin’
Movin’ and a-groovin’
Rockin’ and a-rollin’, yeah, yeah
Bing, bang, I saw the whole gang
Dancin’ on my living room rug, yeah
Flip, flop, they was doin’ the bop
All the teens had the dancin’ but
There was lollipop with a Peggy Sue
Good golly, Miss Molly was-a even there, too
A- well-a, splish, splash, I forgot about the bath
I went and put my dancin’ shoes on, yeah
I was a-rollin’ and a-strollin’
Reelin’ with the feelin’
Movin’ and a-groovin’
Splishin’ and a-splashin’, yeah
Yes, I was a-splishin’ and a-splashin’
I was a-rollin’ and a-strollin’
Yeah, I was a-movin’ and a-groovin’
We was a-reelin’ with the feelin’
We was a-rollin’ and a-strollin’
Movin’ with the groovin’
Splish, splash, yeah
Splishin’ and a-splashin’
One time I was splishin’ and a-splashin’
Ooh, I was movin’ and a-groovin’
Yeah, I was splishin’ and a-splashin’
Your posts quit showing up on my feed- a week or so ago..
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I thought maybe you were on vacation and had posts scheduled. That is why I didn’t comment yesterday….glad to see you again.
That same thing has happened to me before. I have had to unfollow and refollow people.
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I had been a little under the weather the past four days and hadn’t been on- then this morning i noticed your not showing up–i should unfollow and then follow again? I’ve noticed that happening with others before too…. looking forward to The Who album too.
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I hope you are feeling better Hans. Yes unfollowing and re following should work… it has for me when this happened. Thanks for saying something Hans because yesterday I admit was starting to think when you weren’t back… did I say something lol?
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Unfollow, follow and toggle the notifications button. That seems to work.
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Thank you!
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Me, too. One particular blog, WP would drop my follow the next day. That back & forth went on for a week. I finally enabled the “let me know when the next post shows up” toggle and it quit. Assholes…
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I’ve been battling WP over the same thing.
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I had it to happen to Dave’s posts…I had to re-follow and a few more.
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WP is so hinky. You disappeared from my feed even tho I was still following!
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I just thought it was a silly song, certainly not worth banning. I mean really, how could he not know there was a party at his house?
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Hahaha. So funny to imagine “Splish Splash” banned for being too edgy 🙂
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I know right!
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I can’t believe I was around when this song came out. What struck me most was that 90% of the audience are chewing gum!
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I rewatched it…yes you are right! That is what i notice now…everyone working their jaw.
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I can still remember the first time that I heard this song. I was seven in 1960 and some kids put on a production of this song at the corner park with a guy wearing a bathing suit. I thought it was so funny.
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Even in the 70s when I was a kid you would occasionally see stuff like that…or kids putting on plays. I don’t see that now.
That sounds cool.
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I think him on stage dancing in a bathrobe is simply hilarious. The idea the song was banned is enough to boggle the mind. ::insert stunned emoji::
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We used to sing this at primary school in the 1980s, so it was OK by then…
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The ban was lifted!
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This song always makes me think of Happy Days – For some reason you heard this song a lot on the show – on the early episodes.
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This one and Blueberry Hill does remind me of Happy Days.
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I remember my dad talking about the ban. He just shook his head.
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It’s worth shaking your head…that one surprised me
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