Music Monday: Hello Central! Give Me No Man’s Land 1918
One hundred, five years, ago…
Hello Central! Give Me No Man’s Land is a World War I era song released in 1918. Lyrics were written by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. Jean Schwartz composed the music. The song was published by Waterson Berlin & Snyder, Co. of New York City. Artist Albert Wilfred Barbelle designed the sheet music cover, which features a photo of Al Jolson next to a shadow of a child on the phone. Explosions in No Man’s Land take up the rest of the red background. The song was written for both voice and piano. It was first introduced in the 1918 musical Sinbad.
The song tells the story of a child attempting to call her father in No Man’s Land. She is unable to reach him over the telephone because her father has been killed fighting on the Western Front.
Wikipedia Summary
There is very little else written about this song. When I have gone to the Tsort charts, with these older pieces, I have usually chosen whatever was at the top of the particular chart, for the particular year. This time, I looked, specifically, for this month in 1918. According to (old) US Billboard 1, this song was on the chart for eight weeks. ~Vic
♦ The New York Public Library Digital Collections
♦ Library of Congress
♦ Smithsonian: National Museum Of American History
♦ WorldCat
♦ First World War: Multimedia History (Web Archive)
July 24, 2023 at 10:36 PM
Not a real pick me up song.
July 25, 2023 at 12:39 AM
No. It is sad material and, sung so, though Jolson does have quite the voice.
July 27, 2023 at 9:57 PM
I liked his voice…especially in Sitting on top of the World… I didn’t like him though…he made some rude remark about Clara Bow.
July 28, 2023 at 2:11 PM
He had a lovely voice. He probably had the hots for her and she rejected him.
July 28, 2023 at 2:35 PM
I hope! He said it on radio which really pisses me off but the one who hurt her reputation more than any other was the fucker Kenneth Anger. Making up a bunch of shit that was proven wrong. Made her sound much wilder than the was.
July 28, 2023 at 4:17 PM
Women were second-class citizens back then. There were men back in the 1800s that swore a woman’s head would explode if she did higher math.
Do you remember what was said? By either jackass?
July 28, 2023 at 4:21 PM
I have the book Hollywood Babylon…it was terrible…saying she did the whole USC football team…all kinds of bullshit. It came out in the 60s or 70s…
an interview with several members of the team said that was crazy. They were so star struck around here none of them even thought of that. And others said Anger made that up to sell the book…which is crap. She was already dead so she couldn’t defend herself.
July 28, 2023 at 5:12 PM
Sounds like a whole lot of spite, based upon spurned advances. The old saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…” can apply to men, as well. The saying was invented by a man, after all.
July 28, 2023 at 5:14 PM
Kenneth Anger is a devil worshipping asshole…and no I’m not just making that up. He is the one that turned the Stones on to satan worshipping. Keith finally had enough of him.
July 28, 2023 at 5:19 PM
Good god. Sounds like a real charmer. I hope Clara popped him in the nose at least once.
July 28, 2023 at 5:20 PM
Awesome! He died in May! Hip Hip Horaay!
July 28, 2023 at 5:27 PM
Yep. Have a party.
July 28, 2023 at 7:39 PM
I will!
July 28, 2023 at 5:18 PM
Yea…I hate the guy…the fuck is still alive I think.
July 28, 2023 at 5:25 PM
Croaked this past May 11:
https://apnews.com/article/kenneth-anger-dead-f8879e16713d9908aaaa9a7f08fc8df2
July 28, 2023 at 7:39 PM
Yep!!!