(an up beat novelty ranked #70 for 1939 by Whitburn)
Hal Kemp AHO v. The Smoothies - Three Little Fishies (Itty Bitty Poo)
[Victor 26204 B] - recorded in NYC March 28, 1939; released in May
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk_ef1zunaU
The Smoothies originated as Babs & Her Brothers in the early 1930's
and became The Smoothies in approx. 1938. For this record they
comprised Arlene "Babs" Johnson, Charlie Ryan and Little Ryan.
Band leader, Hal Kemp, was born in March 1904 and passed away in
Dec 1940, following a head-on car collision in heavy fog; Hal's band
a few months later became the Art Jerrett Orchestra.
Three Little Fishies, was also recorded by Kay Kyser AHO (later than
the Kemp version) on the Columbia label, also in 1939, and is probably
the better known version of the song (#1 chart hit, Whitburn #14 for
1939; but this softer sounding version does not 'rock'):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5izL6r6iWx0
The song tells the story of three fishes, who defy their mother's
command of swimming only in a meadow, by swimming over a dam and on
out to sea, where they encounter a shark, which the fish describe as a
whale. They flee for their lives and return to the meadow in safety.
It became a popular cautionary children's song; for more history:
https://musictales.club/article/three-little-fishies-origin-cautionary-childrens-song
For many other versions in later years, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Fishies
for Roger: UK comedian Frankie Howard ('Howerd' on the 78) recorded
a version released in 1949
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)