Mickey Katz - Hermendel's Koch-A-Lain

Mickey Katz - Hermendel's Koch-A-Lain

A new music video for an old and great Mickey Katz tune! ...especially for my mother-in-law! Oi!

Mickey Katz (June 15, 1909 Born: Cleveland, Ohio - April 30, 1985) was a U.S. Jewish comedian and musician who received his first moments of fame in the 1940s as a member of Spike Jones and His City Slickers where he was most famous for his "glugging" vocal sound effects on tunes like "Cocktails for Two" and others. He later went on to perform his own parodic musical review and record highly popular "ethnic" comedy albums on the Capitol label where he would perform English-Yiddish parody songs. He was also recognized as a master of what would later be called Klezmer style clarinet and had several hits during his long career. Though Katz sang primarily in broken Yiddish, he is often as recognized as one of the godfathers of American song parody which would later be advanced by the likes of Allan Sherman and, in the 1980s, Weird Al Yankovic.

Katz and his group can be seen in the movie Thoroughly Modern Millie accompanying Julie Andrews as she sings a Yiddish song at a Jewish wedding.

Katz is the father of Broadway legend Joel Grey and a grandfather of the actress Jennifer Grey. In the early 1980s he told the story of his life in a biography called Papa Play for Me.

A number of famous Jewish musicians, including those with their own bands have recorded with him including Manny Klein, Ziggy Elman and Sy Zentner.

Jazz musician Don Byron recorded a tribute to Mickey Katz in 1993 entitled Don Byron Plays The Music of Mickey Katz.

The 2003 British movie Wondrous Oblivion featured Katz' "The Barber of Schlemiel" (a parody of The Barber of Seville in a scene where the Jewish main character played the record for his Jamaican neighbor. No soundtrack has been released for the film as yet.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mickey
• Katz
• Hermendel's
• Koch-A-Lain
• Klezmer
• Yiddish
• vintage
• retro
• comedy
• oy
• veh
• schmuck
• putz
• nudnick

[nadasafari]

great guy, great music!

[dybbuk4640]

deh myusik iss mehkink me vant to dehncink ... oy

[MROSEN62]

After Jennifer Grey got a nose job (presumably to look less "ethnic") she essentially disappeared. No nose, no career.

[OrganCat]

Jennifer Grey. Son is Joel Grey. (I cheated- it's listed in the info on another clip)

[hah13]

my father used to listen to this

[cputb1]

And let's not forget her father's impressive performance in Cabaret'. But yea, I never would'a known all this if you hadn't of led me there. Very cool.

Thanks again Juliaflo!

[Juliaflo]

The incomparable Jennifer Grey.

[cputb1]

Hahaha. I should'a got it from the clue, but had to look it up. Interesting!

Thanks Juliaflo.

[Juliaflo]

You will have the time of your life if you can guess the name of his granddaughter.

Hope you had a good summer.

[cputb1]

Funny! I'd never heard of Mickey Katz.

*****