Published 1918 | Recorded 1917 | |
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"K-K-K-Katy" was a popular World War I-era song written by Canadian American composer Geoffrey O'Hara in 1917 and published in 1918. The sheet music advertised it as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors", as well as "The Sensational New Stammering Song" The song was first played at a garden party fund-raiser for the Red Cross in Collins Bay on Lake Ontario. O'Hara was from Chatham, Ontario, and taught music at Ontario University.
Contents
- Early performances and commercial success
- Later performances and parodies
- Additional reading
- References
The inspiration for the "Katy" of the song was Katherine Craig Richardson (who did not stutter) of Kingston, Ontario. She was a friend of O'Hara's sister, and her parents recall O'Hara writing the song in their living room.
Early performances and commercial success
"K-K-K-Katy" was a top 20 song from May 1918 to January 1919 and was number 1 from July to September. It was recorded by Billy Murray on March 8, 1918 and released on Victor 18455.
Eugene Buckley also recorded a version of the song.
The sheet music was heavily reprinted.
The song made a comeback during World War II, when songs from World War I became popular at military training camps. "K-K-K-Katy" was one of many songs brought to the front by officers who had heard this song while on leave in England. Older songs such as "K-K-K-Katy" were often preferred over modern songs.
The song was covered by Mel Blanc in his Porky Pig voice 1949, with some vocalists backing him. The song can be heard on the compilation album Mel Blanc: The Man of 1000 Voices 2007.
Later performances and parodies
The song was the basis of a parody which ridiculed the Ku Klux Klan, a reactionary terrorist organization in the United States of America often referred to by its acronym, KKK.
The song is also mentioned in Dennis Potter's play Blue Remembered Hills, which was first seen on BBC TV in January 1979. The play is about a group of seven-year-old children played by adults who spend a summer's day in 1943 playing in the woods. Raymond, a child with a stammer, is mocked by the other children, who taunt him several times during the play by singing lines from "K-K-K-Katy".
Katie, the 1987 debut album of post-punk group Bodhitrees, featured a humorous cover of the song to conclude the album.
Additionally, the political-humor group Capitol Steps performed a parody of this song entitled "K-K-Kuwaitis", about the 1990 invasion of Kuwait which began the Gulf War. The song was released on their 1990 album Sheik, Rattle & Roll!
The "Yriekay" movement of P.D.Q. Bach's Missa Hilarious includes a section with the text "K-K-K-Kyrie eleison", in reference to this song.
Robert Redford's character (Hubbell) in "The Way We Were" yelled K-K-K-Katie to Barbra Streisand's character (Katie) during the 1973 film.