'Polka Dot Bikini' songwriter dies at 68 (2-3-4 tell the people what she wore...)

Associated Press ^ | 09/27/06

[presidio9]

HARTFORD, Conn. - Songwriter Paul Vance, who earned pop culture immortality with the 1960 smash about a bashful bather, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," has died. He was 68.

The New Milford-raised Vance, whose real name was Paul Van Valkenburgh, died Sept. 6 at his home in Ormond Beach, Fla., said his wife of 32 years, Rose Leroux. He had been battling lung cancer for two years.

Vance and songwriting partner Lee Pockriss also co-wrote "Catch a Falling Star," a No. 1 hit for Perry Como in 1958.

But they had their biggest success with the song about the girl with a brand new bikini who "was afraid to come out of the locker, she was a nervous as she could be. ... Now she's afraid to come out of the water, and the poor little girl's turning blue."

Recorded by 16-year-old teen idol Brian Hyland and a group of girlish backup singers, "Itsy Bitsy ...' surged to No. 1 on the Billboard charts in August 1960.

In an Associated Press interview that same month, Vance said the idea came while he and Pockriss were working on a demonstration record ("Petticoat Fly," which went nowhere.) He told Pockriss that his wife was thinking of getting a bikini but didn't have the nerve to wear it. The resulting song was written in 25 minutes and recorded within a week, he said.

The song has been used in such films as "Sister Act 2" and "Revenge of the Nerds II" and was more recently revived in a yogurt commercial.

"When he was young, he sold all the rights to the songs because he was young and foolish and now, 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' is becoming popular again," his widow said.

His songs were as lighthearted as his personality, she said.

"He was a fun person," Leroux said. "He always joked, teased a lot. He was a good man."

In addition to his musical compositions, Leroux said, her husband was a Navy veteran in the Korean War and later in life spent time as a painting contractor.

In the 1960 interview, Vance said his then-wife hadn't bought a bikini, even after the song became a hit. "She still doesn't have the nerve, so she compromised by making a bikini for our 2-year-old daughter, Paula. It's itsy, bitsy, teenie weenie and has, believe it or not, yellow polka dots."

[Liberty Valance]

Good morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fiji Hill]

The follow up hit was Short Shorts!

Short Shorts, from early 1958, antedated Bikini, and may have been inspired by Bermuda Shorts by the Rob Roys, from the summer of 1957. In any case, Short Shorts apparently inspired a number of songs follow-ups, including Crew Cuts by the Debs, sung to the same tune. Nineteen fifty-eight also saw a number of songs about sack dresses, including Sack Dresses by the Sad Sacks, No Chemise, Please by Jerry Granahan, and Roll On by the Future Tones. One of the best songs in this genre is Black Knee Socks by Tommy Palm.

[Dajjal]

UPDATE: Still alive.

Itsy-Bitsy Bikini, Big Mistake: Paul Vance Is Alive and Well

Real `Itsy Bitsy' Songwriter Still Alive

[bert]

This is a total error. I saw the man this morning on Fox and Friends

He is not dead. The wife of a person with the same name reported her husband died. He lied to her that he wrote the song.

The real author, alive and kicking related that he wrote the song about his 11 year old daughter who actually wore the yellow polka dot bakini and wouldmn't come out of the bath house becaquse a boy was staring at her.

[exit82]

He's NOT dead, Jim.

C'mon--someone had to say it!

[Riverman94610]

Short Shorts came out a year or so earlier,sung by the Royalteens,of whom Al Kooper was a member.
They also had the moderate size hit,Believe Me.

[Riverman94610]

You trumped me on Short Shorts,Fiji.
Was I right about The Royalteens,tho?

[Dajjal]

The wife of a person with the same name reported her husband died.

Not quite. The late Paul Van Valkenburgh had lied to his wife that in the 60s he had used "Paul Vance" as a pen name. When Van Valkenburgh died the wife reported her husband's false bio to the media.

[bd476]

Riverman94610 wrote: "You trumped me on Short Shorts,Fiji. Was I right about The Royalteens, tho?"

'Scuse me for butting in, yes, Riverman, "Short Shorts" was a hit for The Royal Teens.

Another bit of trivia for you. Al Kooper, session musician songwriter, known for founding, producing and naming Blood Sweat & Tears, organist for Bob Dylan, co-founder of Blues Project with Mike Bloomfield, producer of Lynrd Skynrd, including "Sweet Home Alabama", etc. was in the Royal Teens at age 14.

[Riverman94610]

Thanks,bd,for the info.

[bd476]

You're welcome, Riverman. :-)

[Fiji Hill]

You were right about the Royal Teens. Short Shorts debuted in January, 1958, and rose to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. I have never heard Believe Me, a chart hit from the fall of '59, but I have a recording of Big Name Button, a silly novelty tune that they waxed in '58, but which failed to chart.

[Fiji Hill]

Bikini inspired a number of answers, including Four Shy Girls by the Girlfriends (sung to the same tune), Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Honolulu Strand Bikini by Club Honolulu, a German-language version, and even one entitled Yogi Man's Bikini, an answer to both Hyland's opus and the Ivy Three's Yogi, another smash hit from the summer of 1960.

[Riverman94610]

Believe Me is a very simple but perfect song in its own way,replete with plenty of the era's"ooh,wahoo,wahoo"moans and a great spoken word intro that goes
"As I go wandering along this road of tears
I think about the love we shared througout our teenage years"
Don't sleep on this one,Fiji.

[Fiji Hill]

Thanks for posting the lyrics of Believe Me. As it turns out, I have, indeed, heard this song--played by Jim Pewter on his "Oldies" program over the Armed Forces Network station in Kaiserslautern, Germany.