"Swingin' at the Sugar Bowl" (1938)

We step away from the movie songs for a bit but stick with Harold Teen for the 1938 song "Swingin' at the Sugar Bowl" as featured by Bob Crosby and his Orchestra.

I do wonder how this song came to be as it’s inspired by the comic strip, but not a tie-in with the movie (which was four years earlier).

The oddest thing is that the credited songwriters are Bob Crosby, Gil Rodin, Bob Haggart and Hilton Lamare. They’re all Crosby band members, Bob C being the leader, saxist Gil the musical director, Bob H the bassist/arranger/composer and Hilton, nicknamed Nappy, the guitarist/vocalist.

I totally get Bob Haggart being involved, as he was a talented composer, but what did the others do? Who wrote the words, which are full of references to the comic strip?

In any event, it’s a fun record, so here’s Nappy singing with the band on Decca:

Dig the tenor sax solo by Nappy’s pal Eddie Miller!