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Makin' Whoopee

1928 song by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson

Summary

1928 song by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson

Field	Value
name	Makin' Whoopee
cover	Makin' Whoopee! (1928) Sheet Music.pdf
caption	Sheet music, 1928
published	1928 by Donaldson, Douglas & Gumble
released
genre	Pop
composer	Walter Donaldson
lyricist	Gus Kahn

the Donaldson and Kahn song

"Makin' Whoopee" is a song first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics and Walter Donaldson composed the music for the song as well as for the entire musical.

The title refers to celebrating a marriage. Eventually "making whoopee" became a euphemism for intimate sexual relations.{{cite web |access-date = 2006-10-08 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195427/http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?hdwd=whoopee&listword=whoopee&book=Dictionary&jump=whoopee%5B2%2Cnoun%5D&list=whoopee%5B2%2Cnoun%5D%3D1325756 |archive-date = 2007-09-27 The song has been called a "dire warning", largely to men, about the "trap" of marriage.{{cite news | access-date = 2006-10-08 "Makin' Whoopee" begins with the celebration of a wedding, honeymoon and marital bliss, but moves on to babies and responsibilities, and ultimately on to affairs and possible divorce, ending with a judge's advice.

The original lyrics and music of the song entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.

Other versions

1928 Bing Crosby recorded the song on December 22, 1928 with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. It made #8 on the Billboard charts.
1964 Ray Charles released the song as a single on ABC-Paramount, improvising new lyrics and asides.
1980 Yoko Ono under the title "Yes, I'm Your Angel" and with altered lyrics, Double Fantasy
1989 Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones performed "Makin' Whoopee" on Dr. John's album In a Sentimental Mood. It was released by Warner Bros. Records, earning a Grammy Award in 1989.
1989 Branford Marsalis performed a cover in 1989 for his album Trio Jeepy. It would later be the first song that was ever played on VH1 Smooth on August 1, 1998.
1989 In a provocative scene from the film The Fabulous Baker Boys, Michelle Pfeiffer accompanied by Jeff Bridges character, performed the song while seductively laying across a grand piano. In reality, the piano was played by Dave Grusin.
Advertising
Pepsi used the melody of "Makin' Whoopee" with new lyrics, sung by Joanie Sommers, for its advertising campaign "Now It's Pepsi -- For Those Who Think Young" starting in 1961.
Heinz created a 1993 commercial in which a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of salsa "make whoopee" in a refrigerator, resulting in a salsa-style ketchup.

References

"Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law".
"A Bing Crosby Discography". International Club Crosby.
10CD-set Bing Crosby, CD 1 Early Bing Vol. 1, Mebran Music Ltd. (2008), {{ISBN. 978-3-86860-027-8
Ayeroff, Stan. (2025). "Beyond Chord Melody, Volumes One and Two: The Art of Arranging and Performing for Solo Guitar". Mel Bay Publications.
Garcia, Gilbert. (27 January 2003). "The Ballad of Paul and Yoko".
Hay, Carla. (August 22, 1998). "MuchMusic Readies Awards, Spinoff Channel; MTV's Suite Set". Nielsen Business Media, Inc..
(1961-02-13). "Pepsi-Cola Uses Old 'Whoopee' Hit as Jingle Theme".
Gurwitch, Annabelle.. (2015). "I see you made an effort : compliments, indignities, and survival stories from the edge of 50". Penguin.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

songs-with-music-by-walter-donaldson songs-with-lyrics-by-gus-kahn pop-standards songs-from-musicals 1928-songs songs-about-marriage eddie-cantor-songs frank-sinatra-songs nat-king-cole-songs bing-crosby-songs doris-day-songs ella-fitzgerald-songs the-mcguire-sisters-songs cyndi-lauper-songs tony-bennett-songs

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