[78-L] Child Singers

[Royal Pemberton]

Here's what Wonkypedia has about Gayla Peevey:

*Gayla Peevey* (born March 8, 1943) is perhaps best known for her song, "I
Want a Hippopotamus for
Christmas<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_a_Hippopotamus_for_Christmas>"
(Columbia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Records>,
1953<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_in_music>).
A child star from Ponca City,
Oklahoma<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponca_City,_Oklahoma>,
she was ten years old when she recorded the novelty
song<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_song>,
which had been written by John
Rox<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Rox&action=edit&redlink=1>in
1950 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_in_music> (who incidentally was
married to Alice Pearce <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Pearce> who
played the first Mrs. Kravitz on the TV Show
Bewitched<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched>
).

Although the song was not recorded as a fund-raiser, the Oklahoma City
Zoo<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_Zoo>capitalized upon
its popularity through a fund-raising campaign to "buy a
hippo for Gayla" in order to bring a hippo to the zoo. (They had no
hippopotamus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus> at the time.) The
song raised $3,000. A baby hippo, named Matilda, was procured and flown in
to Oklahoma City and presented by Peevey to the
zoo<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoo>
.[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayla_Peevey#cite_note-0> Recently Gayla
Peevey's song "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" was featured in a Telus
commercial.
Career after music

Gayla Peevey graduated from San Diego State
University<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_State_University>,
and received a teaching degree. She left teaching and went into advertising,
where she owned her own firm for 15 years.

She married Cliff Henderson and they have one daughter and three
grandchildren.



On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 4:51 AM, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:

> Gloria Jean?
>
> dl
>
> simmonssomer wrote:
> >  What was the name of that young girl soprano appearing with WC Fields in
> > one of his last films.
> > She was being groomed as that studio's Deanne Durbin .
> >
> > Al S.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "David Lennick" <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> > To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> > Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 11:28 PM
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Child Singers
> >
> >
> >> Ann Stephens was a suicide. I don't know if we were clear about that in
> >> the
> >> liner notes to the Flapper CD or were being gentle about it, but it was
> >> confirmed by a couple of sources. As for Christopher Robin Milne, who
> made
> >> a
> >> record for HMV, my contact at Pearl knew him and said he ran a book
> >> store..he
> >> may also not have wanted to be bothered about Winnie (whose legacy will
> >> continue to be defiled by Disney, as they do everything else..now Marvel
> >> Comics).
> >>
> >> We mentioned Jimmy Boyd..Molly Bee as well (similar vintage). Eileen
> >> Barton was
> >> singing and clowning with Milton Berle and Eddie Cantor in the 1930s and
> >> she
> >> made it to a ripe old age. Baby Rose Marie is still with us (just saw
> her
> >> last
> >> week in what survives of "Top Banana").
> >>
> >> Speaking of Molly Bee, I wonder what became of Barbara Shuttleworth, who
> >> did
> >> singing commercials and shtick on The Small Types Club as "Baby Bee"?
> >>
> >> dl
> >>
> >> DAVID BURNHAM wrote:
> >>> The posting about Laurie London got me wondering what became of other
> >>> Children who performed on 78s.
> >>>
> >>> Ernest Lough, (Hear My Prayer and others), lived to a ripe old age
> before
> >>> his demise in 2000.  If anyone's interested there is a four part
> >>> documentary on YouTube about Ernest Lough discussing his recordings and
> >>> lots of videos of the recording process in the 20s.
> >>>
> >>> Jimmy Boyd, (I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus),  made it to his three
> >>> score and ten before dying last March, (I'm sure it must have been
> >>> mentioned on this list but I didn't see it).
> >>>
> >>> Barry Gordon, (Nuttin' for Christmas), still alive and well at age 61.
> >>>
> >>> Christopher Robin Milne, died at 76 in 1996.  Not a very happy person
> so
> >>> I've heard.
> >>>
> >>> Ann Stephens, (Teddy Bears' Picnic, etc.), Born in 1931, no evidence
> that
> >>> she died, or that she continues to live.  But I'm pretty confident that
> >>> she is in one condition or the other.  She managed to record "Teddy
> >>> Bears' Picnic" at the age of 13 while sounding like she hadn't reached
> >>> her 7th birthday yet.
> >>>
> >>> I guess Deanna Durbin counts, she signed up with Decca at age 15, but
> >>> she's one who is neither dead or alive.  The person who was Deanna
> Durbin
> >>> still breaths but she claims that the Deanna Durbin we all knew never
> >>> existed.
> >>>
> >>> db
> >>
> >>
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>