[Dixielandjazz] Ruth Wallis Obit

[Steve Barbone]

Maybe OKOM, maybe not, depending . . .  She carried on the tradition of
double entendre after moving away from jazz.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


Ruth Wallis, Singer-Writer of Risqué Songs, Dies at 87

NY TIMES - By MARGALIT FOX - January 3, 2008

Ruth Wallis, a cabaret singer of the 1940s, ¹50s and ¹60s who was known as
the Queen of the Party Song for the genteelly risqué numbers she performed
for happy, and very occasionally horrified, listeners worldwide, died on
Dec. 22 at her home in South Killingly, Conn. She was 87.

The cause was complications of Alzheimer¹s disease, her son, Alan Pastman,
said.

Ms. Wallis, who began her career performing jazz and cabaret standards, soon
became known for the novelty songs ‹ more than 150 of them ‹ she wrote
herself, all positively dripping with double entendre. Even today, only a
fraction of her titles can be rendered in a family newspaper, among them
³The Hawaiian Lei Song,² ³Hopalong Chastity,² ³Your Daddy Was a Soldier² and
³A Man, a Mink, and a Million Pink and Purple Pills.² Her signature number,
³The Dinghy Song,² is an ode to Davy, who had ³the cutest little dinghy in
the Navy.²

In 2003, Ms. Wallis¹s work was the basis of an off-Broadway revue, ³Boobs!
The Musical: The World According to Ruth Wallis.²

Though Ms. Wallis performed in some of the most glittering nightclubs in New
York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and elsewhere, her career was largely
overlooked at the time. Few mainstream newspapers, after all, dared print
even faintly suggestive titles like ³Johnny Has a Yo-Yo,² ³De Gay Young
Lad,² ³Stay Out of My Pantry² and ³Don¹t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew.²
Nor could they reproduce Ms. Wallis¹s lyrics, in which body parts, real or
merely implied, tended to loom large.

In Boston, Ms. Wallis¹s songs were banned from the radio. In Australia, her
records were seized by customs agents when she arrived there for a tour.
Both incidents only made her more popular, according to later news accounts.

Ruth Shirley Wohl was born in New York City on Jan. 5, 1920. She chose her
stage name in honor of Wallis Warfield Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, her
son said.

Ms. Wallis¹s marriage to her manager, Hy Pastman, ended in divorce, though
they were later reconciled, her son said; the elder Mr. Pastman died in
1987. Besides her son, of South Killingly, she is survived by a daughter,
Ronnie Ramistella of Monterey, Calif.; and one grandchild.