Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah

Album: My Son The Nut (1963)
Charted: 14 2
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Songfacts®:

  • The music is based on the 1876 Ponchielli opera "Dance Of The Hours."Sherman wrote the lyrics, which are a comical letter from a boy at camp.
  • Sherman was a writer on The Steve Allen Show and created the game show I've Got a Secret. He went on to record comedy albums. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England
  • This was used in commercials for Downy fabric softener. The letter from camp explained how he missed home because the pillow cases weren't washed in Downy.
  • This played at the end of the 1993 movie Indian Summer while Stick Coder (Sam Raimi) sat looking at the camera and the credits ran. The movie is about adults returning to a camp "Tamakwa" they attended as kids. The movie stars Matt Craven, who also played a camp counselor in training (CIT) in the 1979 movie Meatballs, which is also about camp. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington
  • This was entered into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2020 as one of 25 recordings selected that year that are at least 10 years old and deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

Comments: 15

  • Kat from IndianaHaving a family disagreement--the head coach reading from Ulysses--I assume this is sarcasm and the coach is reading from James Joyce's famous novel. Mom says it's serious and refers (albeit incorrectly as his Greek name is Odysseus, and the epic poem is The Odyssey) to the Homeric epic. Odysseus would potentially inspire young boys not to be sissies; Leopold Blume probably would not, and the ensuing study of Irish literature and Joyce in general would be considered "sissy" to a head coach.
  • Jennifur Sun from RamonaEvery time I hear this song now I also hear another funny one, Kind Of The Camp by Homer and Jethroe.
  • Illinois Geezer from Usaaccording to the site http://pti.illinois.edu/training/facilities.html the Police Training Institute was
    "The building was built in the 1920s and was known as the "Granada Club House." It housed university students until 1988, including famous alums Hugh Hefner, Alex Agase, and Allen Sherman - writer of the song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)."
    Its reputation in the 1970 era was as a rather raunchy indie resident house, and I recall that Arte Johnson, also '49 alum, may have lived there as well, and if anyone ever gets to talk with him it would be a great trivia question to ask about. Sherman's official sites fail to mention, but seems obvious the connection to his famous song, and "Camp Granada." He attended for only about a year before dropping out, but while other influences obviously fueled the song, I always thought the camp name must have been a sly inside joke for his former college buddies.
  • Guy from Montreal, QcWhere I live (Montreal), I never heard this song on the air back in 1963. However, "Like I D0", another song based on Dance of the Hours, was quite popular (not Maureen Evans' version but Theresa Brewer's).
  • Randy from Houghton Lake, MiWhen I first heard the group Lynyrd Skynyrd I thought it was Leonard Skinner and that maybe they got their name from the line in this song "You remember Leonard Skinner". I later learned that it was the name of a high school teacher they knew.
  • Reed from New Ulm, MnGreat memory from the old days.
  • Gilbert from Brownsville, TxThis music was also used in 1962 on a Maureen Evans song,"Like I Do". Nice song. I don't think Ms Evans ever scored again. Only thing is I think of Allen Sherman everytime I hear it!
  • Lalah from Wasilla, AkAllan Sherman was the voice of the Cat in the Hat (Cartoon based on Dr. Seus books).
  • Darrell from EugeneAlthough I never went to camp as a kid (that was way back in the early 1950s), I have been told about how bad it was. It's probably much nicer now because they probably don't have ex-drill sergeants running the place with warmed-up moist dog food as "chow" in the "mess hall".
  • Patrick from Tallapoosa, GaThis was also parodied in a commercial for Advantage flea control products in which a young puppy sings thanking mom for sending some Advantage in her last care package to puppy camp.
  • Howard from St. Louis Park, MnHello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh is a true comedy classic. It's the song that put Allan Sherman on the map after his successful album My Son the Folksinger.
  • Danny from Sydney, Australiayou cant forget that Sam Raimi directed Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, theyre always overlooked
  • Madeline from Melbourne, AustraliaThis is The Simpsons song! Good ole simpsons
  • Kat from Sydney, Australiahe he he this is on the simpsons, when bart steals the video game, & he changes the answering machine tape to this... "marge, is lisa on camp?"
  • Mike from Mountlake Terrace, WashingtonSam Raimi, (Spiderman, Spiderman 2, director) who plays the character Stick Coder also attended this camp (Camp Tamakwa) as a child.
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