Great song titles aren't all that common, more's the pity, but here's one that's just top-notch. Gayla Peevey, according to legend, was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area, and this 1953 hit was recorded as a fund-raiser to bring the city zoo a hippo. The song raised $3,000 and the hippo was procured. Unfortunately, Matilda, the hippo, was scheduled to be transferred to Walt Disney World but died instead in March 1998. The song is campy as all get-out, but it never fails to raise eyebrows and perk up ears upon first hearing. It's on the first Dr. Demento compilation. Gayla Peevey herself writes in to add: "The record was released nationally by Columbia Records and because the Oklahoma City Zoo needed a hippo at the time, the song gave them the idea of putting together a major media blitz asking kids to send in nickels and dimes to raise money to buy Gayla a hippopotamus for Christmas. Matilda, a baby hippo, was presented to me, and I donated her to the zoo. In a roundabout way the song indeed helped the zoo aquire a hippo, but the song was not recorded for that purpose." Thanks, Gayla! UPDATE: The B-side of the original single was "Are My Ears On Straight," about a baby doll getting fixed up to be given as a Christmas gift. That tune seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, however. Nor can I find a source for Gayla's later single with Mitch Miller, "The Angel On the Christmas Tree" backed with "Got a Cold In My Node For Christmas." And John Alfano writes in to tell us Gayla changed her name to Jamie Horton as a teenager when she recorded for Joy Records, where she had a hit with "My Little Marine." No mention of any further Christmas tunes, however.
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," Gayla Peevey (Columbia)
Great song titles aren't all that common, more's the pity, but here's one that's just top-notch. Gayla Peevey, according to legend, was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area, and this 1953 hit was recorded as a fund-raiser to bring the city zoo a hippo. The song raised $3,000 and the hippo was procured. Unfortunately, Matilda, the hippo, was scheduled to be transferred to Walt Disney World but died instead in March 1998. The song is campy as all get-out, but it never fails to raise eyebrows and perk up ears upon first hearing. It's on the first Dr. Demento compilation. Gayla Peevey herself writes in to add: "The record was released nationally by Columbia Records and because the Oklahoma City Zoo needed a hippo at the time, the song gave them the idea of putting together a major media blitz asking kids to send in nickels and dimes to raise money to buy Gayla a hippopotamus for Christmas. Matilda, a baby hippo, was presented to me, and I donated her to the zoo. In a roundabout way the song indeed helped the zoo aquire a hippo, but the song was not recorded for that purpose." Thanks, Gayla! UPDATE: The B-side of the original single was "Are My Ears On Straight," about a baby doll getting fixed up to be given as a Christmas gift. That tune seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, however. Nor can I find a source for Gayla's later single with Mitch Miller, "The Angel On the Christmas Tree" backed with "Got a Cold In My Node For Christmas." And John Alfano writes in to tell us Gayla changed her name to Jamie Horton as a teenager when she recorded for Joy Records, where she had a hit with "My Little Marine." No mention of any further Christmas tunes, however.
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