Ten Cents a Dance

"Ten Cents a Dance"
Song
Published1930
GenreTin Pan Alley, Vocal jazz
Composer(s)Richard Rodgers
Lyricist(s)Lorenz Hart

"Ten Cents a Dance" is a popular song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart.[1] The song was published in 1930.

Background

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The song lyrics tell of a taxi dancer lamenting the hardships of her job. 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.[2]

Reprises

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Parodies

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  • 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."[5]
  • 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

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  1. ^ "www.cafesongbook.com". cafesongbook.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2011". National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. May 24, 2012.
  3. ^ Cass Elliot on The Andy Williams Show, performing "Ten Cents A Dance", circa 1970. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  4. ^ "7 To Midnight". Discogs. 1985.
  5. ^ Video: "Cow & Chicken "Supermodel Cow" - KnowItAllVideo Video - Are you sick of the same old places?". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
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