Still in 1937, we meet up with the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra (co-led by Will Hudson and Eddie DeLange" with the snappy instrumental "College Widow" on Brunswick Records:
Will Hudson was a very talented composer/arranger and he wrote many pieces with somewhat wacky titles, so "College Widow" just probably sounded like a fun name for a song.
As for the term "College Widow" itself, I read some strange interpretations of what it means.
I always thought it referred to a woman who lives in a college town and enjoys relationships with male students, but is "widowed" when they graduate. They're not widows in the literal sense, which wouldn't be as amusing.
The most famous example to modern audiences is Thelma Todd's character in the Marx Brothers' 1932 movie "Horse Feathers." Groucho refers to her as "the college widow" as if everyone would know what he means (and they would have in 1932), but there's no indication that she's an actual widow.
I think it's a case of modern audiences not having proper context. I know there are Marx Bothers fans who watch "Horse Feathers" but wouldn't watch any other movie from 1932 and are not familiar with the terms and phrases of the era and take things too literally.
But enough of that! We're here for music!
So, let's hear more "Sophisticated Swing" from the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra:
Sounds good! I love those underrated bands of the 1930s!
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