Saturday, September 23, 2023

"Freddy the Freshman" (1931)



Our college songs move into 1931 with another Freddy who hopes to be BMOC - Freddy the Freshman!

George Olsen looks pretty snappy on the sheet music, but I don't think he actually recorded the song!

But we have a great version by Gene Kardos and his Orchestra on Victor Records:



Vocalist Dick Robertson has a great voice for early 1930s collegiate hi-jinks!

There are a couple of other vintage recording of "Freddy the Freshman," but I don't really dig them, so I'm especially glad we have the Gen Kardos record!



Working in our favor, however, is that fresh Freddy was the star of an eponymous cartoon from Warner Brothers in 1932:



That's a lot of fun! Those old Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes haven't hit their stride, but they have loads of period charm!

I do note that Freddy says "Heigh ho, everybody!" à la Rudy Vallée as he makes his entrance!



Those old cartoons weren't on TV too much when I was a kid, but the later color ones were, so I first knew the song "Freddy the Freshman" from the 1956 cartoon "Raw! Raw! Rooster" in which Foghorn Leghorn's frenemy from college sings the song:


I love how Rhode Island Red is a parody of a 1920s college student!





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