Barney Google

Album: The Roaring '20s (1923)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Although it seems like it has been around forever, the domain Google.com was registered only on September 15, 1997. Barney Google on the other hand has been around since June 17, 1919 when the man "with the goo-goo-googa-ly eyes" first appeared in a comic strip by Billy DeBeck. Unsurprisingly, the boys at Tin Pan Alley soon came up with a novelty song based on the character. This 1923 composition was written for Eddie Cantor by Con Conrad and Billy Rose, and was used in vaudeville by Olsen and Johnson.
  • A copy of the sheet music ("with extra choruses") is held by the British Library; this is copyright 1928 by Jerome H. Remick of New York and Detroit. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.