Ten Cents a Dance

"Ten Cents a Dance" is a popular song in which a taxi dancer laments the hardships of her job. The music was written by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The song was published in 1930. The song was originally written for Lee Morse who was acting in the musical Simple Simon, but when Morse showed up intoxicated at the Boston opening of the musical, Florenz Ziegfeld fired her. She was replaced by Ruth Etting in the show, and Etting popularized the song as well in a Columbia recording made in 1930. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2012 it was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings.[1]

This article is about the 1930 song. For the films, see Ten Cents a Dance (1931 film) and Ten Cents a Dance (1945 film).
"Ten Cents a Dance"
Song
Published1930
GenreShowtune
Composer(s)Richard Rodgers
Lyricist(s)Lorenz Hart

Barbara Stanwyck starred in the film Ten Cents a Dance (1931), which was inspired by the song. In the MGM biographical film about Etting, Love Me or Leave Me (1955), the song is performed by Doris Day. The Day recording was also released by Columbia. Michelle Pfeiffer also performs the song in the film The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989).

Reprises
  • Ella Fitzgerald recorded this song in 1956 on her Verve double-album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
  • Joan Morris and William Bolcom recorded it for their 1981 LP, "The Rodgers and Hart Album," and later included the track on "The Rodgers and Hart CD."

Parodies

In the cartoon show Cow & Chicken episode "Supermodel Cow", Cow becomes a celebrity. After she loses popularity, she is found by her brother in a milk bar singing "10 Cents a Glass."[3] In the cartoon DuckTales, the story of how Scrooge McDuck met personal pilot Launchpad McQuack involves them dickering over McQuack's rate of pay, with McQuack confusingly suggesting "ten cents a dance" instead of "ten cents a mile."

References

'Notes

  1. "The National Recording Registry 2011". National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. May 24, 2012.
  2. Cass Elliot on The Andy Williams Show, performing "Ten Cents A Dance", circa 1970.
  3. Video: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2009-11-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)



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