When the question arose about the Hamm's commercial tune, "From
The Land Of Sky Blue Waters", I started kicking it around in my
subconscious, and it has been knocking around in there until Hal
Davis gave me the hint about a Broadway musical, and "Totem Tom Tom".
Of course! "Totem Tom Tom" is from the 1924 musical "Rose-Marie" --
music by Rudolph Friml and Herbert Stothart, and lyrics by Otto Harbach
and Oscar Hammerstein II. If your're interested, this was the undis-
puted hit of the 1924 season, and it played at the Imperial Theatre,
where it remained for 557 performances.
"Playgoers parted with the then-unheard of top price of $4.40 per
ticket to fall happily under the romantic spell of Mary Ellis and
Dennis King in the principal parts. Touring companies criss-crossed
the United States until 1929. Three different versions have been
shown on the screen: a silent movie in 1928 with Joan Crawford;
a rose-tinted sound film starring Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
in 1936; and a 1954 edition which received the full treatment --
color, CinemaScope and stereophonic sound."
(Notes from a high fidelity "New Orthophonic" (non-stereo) 1958 RCA LP
#LOP-1001, starring Julie Andrews and Giorgio Tozzi.)
Regards,
Tom Steuer
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