"Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" is a vaudeville and music hall song first performed by the 1880s. It was included in Henry J. Sayers' 1891 revue Tuxedo in Boston, Massachusetts. The song became widely known in the 1892 version sung by Lottie Collins in London music halls, and also became popular in France.

The song was later recorded and broadcast, and its melody was used in various contexts, such as the theme song to the mid-20th century United States television show Howdy Doody.

Background The song's authorship was disputed for some years."Live Musical Topics", The New York Times, April 3, 1892, p. 12 It was popularized by Toronto-born Canadian songwriter and publicist Henry J. Sayers, the manager of Rich and Harris, a producer of the George Thatcher Minstrels who was the first to publish the song. Sayers used the song in the troupe's 1891 production Tuxedo, a minstrel farce variety show, in which "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" was sung by Mamie Gilroy.Tompkins, Eugene and Quincy Kilby. The History of the Boston Theatre, 1854–1901 (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908), p. 387. An advertisement for a performance of Tuxedo in Washington, D.C., in September 1891 mentions the song: "Don't fail to see the fatal cabinet, nor hear the Boom-der-e (sic) chorus." The Sunday Herald and Weekly National Intelligencer, September 27, 1891, p. 2Gänzl, Kurt. "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de ... oy? ", Kurt of Gerolstein, August 20, 2018 Sayers later said that he had not written the song, but heard it performed about 1890 by a black singer, Mama Lou, in a well-known St. Louis nightclub/brothel run by "Babe" Connors.Bellanta, Melissa. "The black origins of 'Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay'", The Vapour Trail, accessed May 25, 2012 Another American singer, Flora Moore, said that she had sung the song in the early 1880s.

Performances and versions Stephen Cooney, Lottie Collins' husband, heard the song in Tuxedo and purchased rights from Sayers for Collins to perform the song in England. Collins created a dance routine around it. With new words by Richard Morton and a new arrangement by Angelo A. Asher, she first sang it at the Tivoli Music Hall on The Strand in London in December 1891 to an enthusiastic reception. It became her signature tune.Lloyd, Matthew. "Lottie Collins", The Music Hall and Theatre History Website, accessed December 19, 2012 Within weeks, she included it in a pantomime production of Dick Whittington and performed it to great acclaim in the 1892 adaptation of Edmond Audran's opérette, Miss Helyett. According to reviews at the time, Collins delivered the suggestive verses with deceptive demureness, before launching into the lusty refrain and her celebrated "kick dance", a kind of cancan. One reviewer noted that "she turns, twists, contorts, revolutionizes, and disports her lithe and muscular figure into a hundred different poses, all bizarre".

The song was performed in France under the title "Tha-ma-ra-boum-di-hé", first by Mlle. Duclerc at Aux Ambassadeurs in 1891. The following year it was a major hit for Polaire at the Folies Bergère."Mlle. Polaire, la chanteuse excentrique qui, cet été, a obtenu un si grand succès dans Ta-Ra-Ra-Boum", Le Matin, October 5, 1892, p. 3 In 1892 The New York Times reported that a French version of the song had appeared under the title "Boom-allez". By 1893, John Philip Sousa's band featured the song as a concert arrangement for the Columbia Exposition in Chicago.Bradley, Arthur. "On and Off the Bandstand", iUniverse (2005), p. 1859 ISBN 9780595359073 via Google Books The song spread through Europe "from Dublin to Dubrovnik" and according to a 1993 article in Lloyd's News Weekly was a hit as far away as the British colony in the Pitcairn Islands. By 1900, it was featured in the music halls of England by singers such as Marie Lloyd.

Various editions of the music credited its authorship to various persons, including Alfred Moor-King, Paul Stanley,Short, Ernest Henry and Arthur Compton-Rickett. Ring Up the Curtain, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1938, p. 200 and Angelo A. Asher.Cazden, Norman, Herbert Haufrecht and Norman Studer (eds). Folk Songs of the Catskills, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1982, p. 539 Some claimed that the song was originally used at American religious revival meetings. Richard Morton, who wrote the version of the lyric used in Lottie Collins' performances, said its origin was "Eastern".

Around 1914, activist Joe Hill wrote a version that tells how poor working conditions could result in workers "accidentally" causing their machinery to have mishaps."Ta-Ra-Ra Boom De-Ay", Day Poems, accessed September 3, 2012 World War I British soldiers have sung the song to relieve the tedium of long marches, and labor protestors used it on marches as a challenge to factory management. In 1919 Sayers published a version that sold over a million copies. A 1930s lawsuit determined that the tune and the refrain were in the public domain. Gene Krupa created and performed a version in 1939. In 1954 Joe Glazer released a rendition of the song about a worker who is initially dismissive of labor organizers. After losing his savings and standard of living in the Wall Street crash of 1929, he joins the labor movement. The song was featured in the 2013 film The Immigrant.

Lyrics

As sung by Lottie Collins

As laundered and published by Henry J. Sayers as sheet music

Other lyrics Since the early 20th century, the widely recognizable melody has been re-used for numerous other songs, children's camp songs, parodies, and military ballads. It was used for the theme song to the United States television show Howdy Doody (as "It's Howdy Doody Time").Kittrels, Alonzo. "It's Howdy Doody reminiscing time", The Philadelphia Tribune, January 28, 2017, accessed October 11, 2018

Recordings

"Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" has been recorded and arranged by performers in a wide variety of musical arrangements. In 1942, Mary Martin performed a big band arrangement of the song on American radio."Mary Martin – 'Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay' (1942)", broadcast of "Command Performance with The Max Terr Chorus", August 11, 1942, via Archive.org

In 1954, John Serry Sr. recorded an easy listening arrangement with two accordions, vibes, string bass, guitar, drums and piano for RCA Thesaurus.Serry, John, Sr."Tara-ra-Boom-Dere", RCA Thesaurus 1954, RCA Victor Studios, archived at The John J. Serry Sr Collection: Series 2 Manusrcipts – Folder 17; and Series 4 Recordings: Item 10 John Serry Sextette – John Serry conductor, arranger and solo accordionist, pp. 18–19, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester Knucles O'Toole released a Honkey tonk arrangement in 1956 on Grand Award Records.O'Toole, Knuckles. "Knuckles O'Toole Plays Honky Tonk Piano", Grand Award Records (1956), via archive.org The Dukes of Dixieland offered a Dixieland jazz arrangement in 1958 on the Audio Fidelity label.Dukes of Dixieland. "Circus Time with The Dukes of Dixieland, Volume 7", Audio Fidelity (1958), via archive.org] In 1959, the song was interpreted in a spoof arrangement for orchestra by Spike Jones.Jones, Spike. "Featuring Spike Jones", Tiara Records (1959), via Archive.org

In 1960, the song was reinterpreted by Mitch Miller and his Sing-Along Chorus in a jazz vocal version on the Golden Record label.Miller, Mitch. "A Golden Treasury of Music (for Children) to Dance To", Golden Record (1960_, via archive.org The same year, Cokney London released a folksy recording of the song for Verve RecordsLanchester, Elsa. "Cockney London: Songs by Elsa Lanchester", Verve Records (1960), via archive.org and Arthur Fiedler recorded a version with the Boston Pops in 1960."Fiedler's All-Time Favorites", RCA Victor Red Seal (1960), via archive.org] 1n 1969, Georgia Brown released the song in the music hall style on the Decca Eclipse label, for the album Sings a Little of What You Fancy.Brown, Georgia. "Sings a Little of What You Fancy", Decca Eclipse (1969), archive.org

Elmo and friends performed the song on a 2018 disc."E is for Elmo!", Sesame Street, Arts Music (2018), via archive.org]

Legacy The 1893 Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Utopia, Limited has a character called Tarara, the "public exploder". A 1945 British film of the same name describes the history of music hall theatre."Ta-ra-ra Boom De-ay (1945)", BFI.org, accessed May 30, 2020 From 1974 to 1988 the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California, included a portion of the song in their musical revue attraction America Sings, in the finale of Act 3 – The Gay 90s."Finale of Act 3 – The Gay 90s", DisneyPhenom.com, accessed September 8, 2021; and "America Sings" , DisneyPhenom.com, accessed September 8, 2021

Books using the title in their titles include Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay: The Dodgy Business of Popular Music, by Simon Napier-Bell,Napier-Bell, Simon. "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay: The Dodgy Business of Popular Music", Unbound (2015), and the songbook Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay: Songs for Everyone edited by David Gadsby and Beatrice Harrop.Gadsby, David and Beatrice Harrop. "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay: Songs for Everyone", A & C Black (1978)

Notes

References Sheet music (1940) from the library of Indiana University Banana Splits, Dilly Sisters and Hocus Pocus Park The Dilly Sisters singing Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay (begins at 1:59) Accessed 2009/02/09