Wild song from 1929

[1929jazz]

I like Winnie Lightner no matter what she sings.

[ladykws]

She flips out just like me! Yes!!

[missabbebuck]

she is mah soul sistah!

[gilgamess]

"Bleh?"

[buxombeautease]

That's where I lost my monkey glands

[TheMthoma]

I loved watching Winnie -- I'm sure she gave Fanny Bryce a run for her money...(an expression from the 20's, I think?) Anyway, she'd get hired on Broadway today...

[DaliDahmerly]

A nature body on a stage... haha, silly 20's....

[tomitstube]

"and when some missionary, gets unnecessary, they eat him up."

what a great performance, were they still selling coke with cocaine in 1929?

[kissmequick8]

Sensational...................­.

[concordbdance]

Marvelous! At last A woman with soul and substance instead of the hollow hollywood cardboard cutouts of today!

[BobWXXI]

Kind of anticipates Ethel Merman, doesn't she?

[rickkuhn]

@BobWXXI They both worked on "George White's Scandals," Winnie several years before Ethel, so I would say Winnie "inspired" Ethel's style.

[jazz1929]

This is from Warner Bros. "The Show of Shows", their entry into the all-star revues that the major studios were making at the time. I always like Winnie Lightner!

[VTMCompany]

like lina la monte said, 'good 'n' loud!'

[markdischner]

Nice and brash :)

[grassulo]

@cinnamonbear57 Having her for a great-aunt I would have absolutely BEGGED her to sing for me, amazing talent, stuff we will never see again in this age of all frosting and no cupcake (as my 92 year old grandmother puts it) music, and it's true.

[toewhite]

OMG, it's SUSAN BOYLE!!!!!

[ManilaSyndicate]

Love these vintage vids. Fascinating clip from one of the pivotal years in world history.

[pomeroy40144]

You could certainly hear her in the 2nd balcony. Love Winnie. Thanks.

[butterflydeli]

Never mind their morals ~ what have they to hide! Spectacular ~ loved it!

[Bnosrettaptrebor]

Love it. Great expression.

[hansenma1]

Great comedian, I love her

[erlock21]

SUBO LOOKS QUITE GOOD HERE

[waynebrasler]

Winnie Lightner was a great star on stage and screen, very popular and very accomplished. She worked hard to get where she did.

[russum100]

I think she gave us the finger at the end

[Josh3455]

This song and dance should be the opening to the great tribulation as written about in the Book of Revelations.

[jaggysnake57]

did she just say grab a dvd?

[perfectjazz78]

@jaggysnake57 BVD = underwear brand

[tomitstube]

@perfectjazz78 ~ lmao! bradley, voorhees, & day.

[heavyboxes]

This woman is a genius!

[lonestarpunk]

shes a handsome woman

[TheGranule]

How come she is singing about 'King Kong holding a ping pong in his hand' and the movie is still 4 years away in 1933?

[swallin19]

@TheGranule It's King Conga, not King Kong, the lyrics date from about 1919/20, a typical fast delivered tongue twister that Winnie specialised in on Broadway, where she was known as "The Song a Minute Girl"

[IrishZombie77]

Insanely addicted to this song lol. she is a trip and i love her

[surprisevisitor2000]

I love this. As for the lyrics, that looks good, but I think she says: "The women dress in corals", not "practice chorals".

[impCaesarAvg]

Queens built like submarines? I don't get it.

[perfectjazz78]

Big thick women with no curves, ....... built like a super submarine !

[noirpoetix1]

@impCaesarAvg basically a chubby cross dresser, perhaps?

[Tweez]

@impCaesarAvg Submarines have Torpedoes. Get it? heh heh heh

[lilybleach]

she look like my sister kelly leon lmao both just hard to look at lol lmao

[83survivor]

Also appeared in Dancing Lady, alongside with Joan Crawford.

[cdadave83814]

It looks like she's having the time of her life, and as such, it's a fun video to watch. Enthusiasm is so much fun to watch, and Winnie certainly has plenty of that!

[4MaryAnna]

If you like enthusiasm,watch "Betty Hutton"sing ...I think it's called "Murder,he says"It's great and so is she.She did all her songs with a lot of spunk.

[cdadave83814]

Personality with a capital "P"...Winnie just about knockied off my socks with that song. Although it's a 1929 performance, it sounds immediately fresh and vital to me, some 80 years later.

[BadAndy]

I think I love her.

[perfectjazz78]

Great Sound Fidelity - It is Called Vitaphone !

[newrochellephoenix]

Lordy-aint she a wild child of a thing ! Looks like she gave the finger at the end . But,was that Winnie singing ? The recording seemed too clearl for the time,and it sounded like Betty Hutton. Liked the line about missionaries being eaten-even now- many should .

[OofusTwillip]

Betty Hutton's style was the same as Winnie's. Nothing ladylike about it; it was designed to play all the way to the top row of the balcony.

[swallin19]

Winnie Lightner was billed as The song a Minute Singer, and the female Al Jolson in at least one film advertising poster. Quite a character, far too few of her films survive, and her later ones were non musicals.

[jackrenglish]

fun

[infrogmation]

Great clip.

The song is an example of a whole flock of silly novelty songs set in tropical islands that were popular in the 1920s. The first was Albert Von Tilzer's big 1919 hit "Oh By Jingo!".

[FaerieCrone]

I wouldn't want to have a fight with her! She seems like that she would deck someone. LOL

[LadyJanePottle]

This is the great Winnie Lightner!

[Diapasonic]

LYRICS: Part 1

East is East and

West is where I wanna go

to a certain tropic island that I know

on some nameless sea

where the BVD

is the native costume

Come with me and see-oh

[Chaplin1914]

I don't know what she is saying, but she is so damn entertaining, I don't really care! Performers today have got NOTHING on these vaudeville performers!

[mihitatrix]

Please somebody write the lyric!!! I need it but I don´t speak english so I can´t understand the half of this song. Thanks.

[MPL029]

I am a native speaker of English...and I cant even understand what shes saying...

[Mattexmo]

I *am* English. And it was all Greek to me! Or something... Lively performance, though!

[cv5600]

King Kongo of Ping Pongo He is the boss of the whole shabang Each nite he has the whole gang sing song-o and ping pong-o And each little ping has a pong to pet they're not hard to get and when some missionary gets unnecessary they eat 'em up in Ping Pongo where King Kongo rules with a ping pong ball in his hand in Pingo Pongo Land Minus coat and minus pants you should see his highness dance

[cv5600]

in the land of Pingo With the funny lingo And he has 47 queens built like super submarines who can shake their tambourines all for the mighty Jingo Nevermind their morals They [want a day to] hide The women [practice chorals] and the men seem satisfied for King Kongo of Ping Pongo Once every year all the [ladies] there come to the palace where they go wrong-go for King Kongo He likes to see all the fair females shake their [hills and dales?]

[perfectjazz78]

Nevermind their morals

What Have they to hide

The women prance in corals

and the men seem satisfied

[jbjindra]

@cv5600 I think I wanna move to Pingo Pongo circa 1929.

[cv5600]

When he says "walla walla" aaahh

That means come and follow

the king up to the

king's quarters

the Kings Orders!

And that's where I lost my [??????]

in Pingo Pongo Land

[Patriciasinger]

"Never mind their morals; say, what have they to hide?"

"That's where I lost my monkey glands

In Pingo-Pongo Land!"

Monkey Glands were testicular tissue injected into humans (trendy in the 20s) to give longevity. Not sure what she means by that!!!

[bearcub410]

@cv5600 she said that is where i lost my monkey gland in pingo pongo land

[geraldoeuclide1940]

Todos os videos da JOAN são maravilhosos não me canço de velos, revelo etc. bom muito bons

felicidades.>>>>>>>>>>>GE.

[SkyAboveRiver]

nice!

XD

[MandyxxMassacre]

Wow!

:D

[Kekzor1337]

Omfg nice

[RxJohnTNT]

I gave her 5 stars

a lot of energy I was feeling it !

[NYC1927]

I haven't seen this since I was 12. The melody stuck in my head and I'd occasionally whistle it and only knew the line "Ping-pongo". What a joy to be able to see it again.

[189beacon]

Hooray for Winnie Lightner! Performers just don't have her kind of energy today, they have to take tranquilizers and sleeping pills just to get thru the day. Her kind of exuberance is sorely missed.

[songplugger]

I haven't heard the songs, but I've been told they are still very smutty. And VERY funny!

[songplugger]

In 1928, Winnie made a now-lost Vitaphone short in which she sang "We Love It," "Where the Lollapaloozas Grow", "God Help a Sailor on a Night Like This," "That Brand New Model of Mine," and "We've Got a Lot to Learn." A censorship board in Pennsylvania held back the release of the film because of the content of Lightner's songs. According to film historian Alexander Walker, "Warners asked the censors to merely pass judgment on the visuals - the censors refused." The soundtrack discs survive.

[hoopjnky]

Winnie Lightner was one of a kind. You see touches of her style in Betty Hutton but Winne was way more naughty. Someone ought to do a review of her stuff. It would make a great burlesque act.

[AdamqK]

Although I was raised on 30s music, I only discovered Winnie Lightner today, so I'm looking at all the clips I can of her. I think she's fantastic. Such incredible, natural energy and a great, belting voice while always looking like she's having the time of her life. It's infectious and it's a style that I don't think has dated a bit.

[cinnamonbear57]

Winnie Lightner was my great-aunt. Back in the days of vaudeville and early theater the stars weren't based on looks, they were based on talent. Not like today. Even tho this kind of performance looks kooky to us today, she was very talented for her time.

[cushtichavi]

What anecdotes do you have? Can you share?

[triptoheaveandho]

@cinnamonbear57  WOW DID YOU REALLY KNOW HER WELL??? SHE WAS GREAT!!!!! SO SASSY!!!

[louisa1832]

@cinnamonbear57 I think sh's terrific!

[cywyhot]

@cinnamonbear57 A comedienne was traditionally "funny looking" because it was felt that people wouldn't laugh if she were a beauty. Vaudeville actors and actresses honed everything about their acts to a fine point including their appearance because they had fierce competition and years with the same routines. They gave the audience what it expected to get the best reaction. The Marx Bros without their acting gear were handsome men. Funny Girl and Gypsy are good movies on the era. 

[UncleCharlieOakley]

@cinnamonbear57 She doesn't look kooky to me. She makes most performers today look like bored, zonked-out, dead-eyed zombies.

[hebneh]

Well! Double entendre, anyone?

Winnie looks like she needs some remedial work on her teeth.

[cdadave83814]

This lady is a little scary...

[StephenCardinale]

She reminds me of Rosie O'Donnell on steroids. Not a good thing! LOL

[ATsarIsBorn]

"That's where I lost my monkey gland" -- hmmm (she seems to still have several)

[stjn00]

Great clip! Thanks! Makes you want to go to Pingo-Pongo-Land wherever that might be...

[perfectjazz78]

I particularly love Winnie Lightner in Manhattan Parade (1931).....it was shot in Technicolor, but only survives in Black and White today. Plus, all the musical numbers were cut after the first release and are now lost.

[songplugger]

Winnie Lightner, you crazy woman you!

I LOVE HER. What a shame she left movies so early...