| "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of the original 1941 US single | ||||
| Single byThe Andrews Sisters | ||||
| B-side | "Bounce Me, Brother, with a Solid Four" | |||
| Recorded | January 2, 1941 | |||
| Studio | Decca, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Songwriters | Don Raye,Hughie Prince | |||
| The Andrews Sisters singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (Official Music Video) onYouTube | ||||
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is aWorld War IIjump blues song written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince which was introduced byThe Andrews Sisters in theAbbott and Costellocomedy filmBuck Privates (1941).[1] The Andrews Sisters' Decca recording reached number six on the U.S. pop singles chart in the spring of 1941 when the film was in release. The song is ranked No. 6 onSongs of the Century.Bette Midler's 1972 recording of the song also reached the top ten on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100.
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song but lost to "The Last Time I Saw Paris".[2]
The song is closely based on an earlier Raye-Prince hit, "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar," which is about a virtuoso boogie-woogie piano player.[3]
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" has become an iconic song of World War II,[4][5] commonly featured and referenced in media set during that era. The song inspired the 1941 cartoonBoogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B, produced byWalter Lantz Productions,[6] and, long afterward, theChristina Aguilera song "Candyman" (released as a single in 2007) from Aguilera's hit albumBack to Basics, as a tribute to both the Andrews Sisters and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".[7]
According to the lyrics, a renowned trumpet player fromChicago,Illinois is drafted into theU.S. Army but is reduced to blowing thewake-up call ("Reveille"). Restrained from playing boogie-woogie, he is depressed until the captain empathizes and drafts other musicians. The bugler now plays "Reveille" in his own style, with a positive effect on the rest of the company.
Abbott and Costello's first starring film forUniversal pictures,Buck Privates, was designed to capitalize on theSelective Training and Service Act of 1940. The studio added the Andrews Sisters, who were also under contract, for musical relief, and hiredDon Raye andHughie Prince to compose songs for the film. (The sisters also performed songs written by others in the film.) Raye and Prince had previously composed the hits "Rhumboogie" and "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" for the trio. The songwriters turned in "You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith"; "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"; and "Bounce Me Brother, With a Solid Four", while also composing a novelty tune, "When Private Brown Becomes a Captain", for Lou Costello.
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" closely follows the template of "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", which is about a famous syncopated piano player. However, in its earliest stages, "Boogie Woogie Bugler" (as it was then known) was originally conceived for Lou Costello, but reworked for the Andrews Sisters, while a separate song was composed for the comedian.[8]
Articles published inStars & Stripes on 19 March 1943, as well asBillboard Magazine andThe Christian Science Monitor during WWII claimed that Clarence Zylman ofMuskegon, Michigan, was the original Boogie Woogie Bugler.[9] The song's lyrics agree with several aspects of Zylman's life. Drafted at age 35, Clarence had been performing for 20 years, beginning with Chicago radio stationWBBM and then with several big bands, beginning with Paul Specht and Connie Connaughton, and most recently with the Tommy Tucker Orchestra. He brought his playing style toEngland where he was a bugler for an engineer company, playing "Taps" and "Reveille". He eventually was transferred to an army band. Articles inBillboard andThe Plain Dealer (Cleveland,Ohio) support this, and go on to claim that Clarence was sent to teach other buglers his techniques. However, Clarence Zylman did not enlist in the Army until June 9, 1942, well after "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was written and recorded. Nonetheless, a sculpture of Zylman as the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy has been dedicated in his hometown of Muskegon, Michigan, at the LST-393 Veterans Museum. The sculpture was created by artist Ari Norris.[10]
| "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US single of the Bette Midler recording | ||||
| Single byBette Midler | ||||
| from the albumThe Divine Miss M | ||||
| B-side | "Delta Dawn" | |||
| Released | May 1973 | |||
| Studio | Atlantic Recording Studios (New York, NY)[11] | |||
| Genre | Traditional pop | |||
| Length | 2:32 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriters | Don Raye, Hughie Prince | |||
| Producer | Barry Manilow | |||
| Bette Midler singles chronology | ||||
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American actress and singerBette Midler included a remake of the song on her 1972The Divine Miss M album, and released it as the B side of the album's second single, "Delta Dawn". However, faced with the near-simultaneous release ofHelen Reddy's rendition of "Delta Dawn" (which would peak at #1 on both theBillboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts) onLong Hard Climb, Midler's singles were quickly flipped, with "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" becoming the new A side.[12] Midler's version peaked at number eight on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart in mid-1973, introducing it to a new generation of pop music fans. The single was produced by Barry Manilow. The track was also a number-one single on theBillboardEasy Listening chart.[13]
| Chart (17373) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] | 7 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[15] | 8 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[16] | 3 |
| New Zealand (NZ Listener)[17] | 17 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[18] | 8 |
| USAdult Contemporary (Billboard)[19] | 1 |
| USCash Box Top 100[20] | 6 |
| Chart (1973) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] | 56 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[21] | 94 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[22] | 71 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[23] | 7 |
| US Cash Box Top 100[24] | 78 |
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is one of the tracks that was sampled for "Moments in Love" byArt of Noise, which appeared on both the 1983 EPInto Battle with the Art of Noise and their debut studio albumWho's Afraid of the Art of Noise? (1984).
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