"TA-RA-RA- BOOM-DE-AY!" AN INTERVIEW WITH MISS LOTTIH COLLINS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1994, 12 May 1892, Page 36

"TA-RA-RA- BOOM-DE-AY ! " AN INTERVIEW WITH MISS LOTTIH COLLINS.

" Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay ! Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay! Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay! Ta-ra-ra Boom-,de-ay!" There is no escaping from it; it is as universally prevalent as an east wind in March. In every part of London, and at every hour of the day and night, the words quoted and the air to which they have been wedded are an obvious and occasionally a painful fact. Our early morning slumbers are broken by the milkman carolling the popular melody at our front garden gate. The newspaper boy whistles it upon the doorstep. The postman hums it as he delivers our matutinal batch of letters. The tradesman's messenger brings it with the monthly book : it is heard in the railway carriage, in the 'bus, and in the tramcar. No nook or cranny in London is free from it ; for wherever the biting east wind is, there also will be heard "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay." "Go," said the editor of this journal to the interviewer who is now writing, "go to Miss Lottie Collins, and find out all about the song." 'Twas easier said than done. There's a divinity doth hedge the successful music-hall singer, and audience with her is not lightly to be gained. A well-meant effort to procure Miss Collins' private address failed in the most signal fashion. The interviewer's only chance was to wait at the stage door of the Grand Theatre, where up to Saturday last Miss Collins played in the pantomime of "Dick Whittington and his Cat." His first visit to Isling-

ton was nob altogether successful. Music-hall stars— and Miss Collins is one of the first magnitude, a lady, indeed, whose right ascension now brings her within a few degrees of the meridian— are almost as inaccessible as Cabinet Ministers, and are quite as deeply engaged. The first evening's visit resulted in nothing more than a promise for the morrow. "And what," the uninformed reader may ask, "what was the visit to be all about? What is this Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay " ? Happy is the man who has heard it not — so happy that one almost hesitates to hand him an apple plucked fresh from the tree of knowledge. But since there are some who may wish to learn the facts, and since also the function of the newspaper is to impart knowledge, we may perhaps be pardoned for subjoining the words of this extraordinarily successful song. The lyric is one in which Miss Lottie Collins has delighted thousands nightly— it is, in a word, the living lyric of to-day : — A smart and stylish girl you see, Belle of good society ; Not too strict, but rather free, Yet as right as right can be ! Never forward, never bold— Not too hot, and not too cold, But the very thing, I'm told, That in your arms you d like to hold ! Ta-ra-ra Boom-dc-ay, &c. [eight timos] I'm not extravagantly shy, And when a nice young man is nigh, For his heart I have a try—And faint away with tearful cry ! When the good young man, in haste, Will support me round the waist ; I don't come to, while thus embraced, Till of my lips he steals a taste ! Ta-ra-ra, <fee. I'm a timid flower of innocencePa says that I have no sense,— I'm one eternal big expense ; But men say that I'm just immense ! Ere my verses I conclude, I'd like it known and understood, Though free as air, I'm never rude— I'm not too bad, and not too good ! Ta-ra-ra, &c. Here is the air to which these words have been wedded : — * Tempo de Maroia. iiiiiilipi Ta ■ ra • ra Boom de - ay, Ta - ra - ra Boom de • ay, Ta -ra- ra Boom de • ay, Ta - ra • ra Boom de - ay, Ta - ra . ra Boom de - ay, Ta - ra - ra Boom de - ay, Ta . ra - ra Boom de • ay, Ta •- ra - ra Boom de • ay. 1 saw Miss. Collins at the Grand Theatre on Saturday last- a few hours before her matinie benefit (writes our interviewer). "Well," I remarked, "you've 'knocked 'em' this time, Miss Collins." "Yes," replied the bright-eyed, businesslike, brisk, cheerful lady. " The song has been a success and no mistake ; what can I tell you about it?" ' "Everything, Miss Collins. I am sure the public will like nothing better than to hear the story of the song from your own lips. Now, where does the air come from ? " " It has been a popular Volkdied, or song of the people, in Europe for years. I did not get it from the Gontjnent, however ; it was sent to me from America. I liked the air of the refrain, and I thought I would have the thing written up in my own style." " Quite so ; and you put it in hand accordingly ?" — " Yes, I gave it to Mr Richard Morton, who wrote the words, while Mr Asher of the Tivolr put the music into shape. The chorus is, of course, the important part of the piece, and I insisted strongly upon emphasising the • boom.' " "And, if I may say so," replied the interviewer, " your action has been justified in the fullest degree ; your emphasis upon the boom has produced one. But tell me, Miss Collins, when was the song first put before the public ? I seem to have been hearing it for ages." " No, you haven't," she replied smiling ; " I sang it for the first time at a Tivoli matinie a few weeks before Christmas. Those to whom I had previously submitted it thought very little of it ; I myself was doubtful whether it was going to be a success or not. But, from the very first moment, it went splendidly. I sang it, «nd went back to my dressing room— I was called out to sing it again ; I retired to my dressing room for the second time — I was again recalled; and it was only when I had obliged the audience for the third time that I was permitted to leave the stage in peace. Before I sang the piece my friends were anxious to know what 'Ta-ra-ra' meant. 'Never mind,' I said ; ' let'me do the thing according to my own ideas ; you will find everything to be all right in the end.' Wasn't I right ?" "Unquestionably, Miss Collins— you are 'entirely justified" by the result. But are you the only person who sings ' Ta-ra-ra' ?" " Oh, no ! Marie Lloyd is singing it in the pantomime at Drury Lane ; she has purchased the right to sing my version for the time being. Harry Pleon, again, is singing it ; but he has written his own words." " I suppose your West End patrons will soon have an opportunity of hearing you once more in your successful song?" — "They have been hearing me for weeks past. The booking on the part of folks at the West End during the pantomime season here has been unprecedented. I shall be going back to more fashionable parts of London in a week or so. I have been engaged to commence at the Gaiety on the 14th, and shall sing • Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay ! ' there every night in the last act of ' Cinder-Ellen.' I should have played Cinderella were it not that I am under an

engagement with the proprietors of the TivoU to give them my services for three years. lam about to take a short rest ; after that I shall appear at the Gaiety, as I have said, and at the Tivoli, the Pavilion, and the Royal— three turns.''

"And the enterprising amateur, Miss Collins, where can he or she get your song ? "— • "Messrs Sheard and Co. have published it; and, if I may judge from the way in which they are advertising it, they are selllug a large number. In fact, I know they sell 500 copies of the song a day ; and the dance music goes equally well." Th,e conversation might" have proceeded further had not another caller sought Miss" Collins at the stage dtfor of the Grand Theatre, apparently with a view to discover, from the personal declaration of Miss Collins herself, whether he was the winner or loser of a wager of L 5 that he had recently made. There was a brief but cordial handshake between our representative and the singer of "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!" and then Miss Collins was for the moment left alone. We may add that Miss Collins commences a six weeks' engagement at the Gaiety on Monday evening at a salary (it is whispered) of L6O a week. The advance booking there has within the past few days increased by 60 per cent.— • Pall Mall Gazette.