Does_Your_Chewing_Gum_Lose_Its_Flavor
Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)
1959 single by Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group
"Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)" is a novelty song by Lonnie Donegan. Released as a single in 1959, it entered the UK Singles Chart on 6 February 1959 and peaked at number three.[2] It was also Donegan's greatest chart success in the United States, reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961.[3]
The song is a cover version of "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" written by Billy Rose, Ernest Breuer, and Marty Bloom and first released in 1924 by The Happiness Boys (Ernie Hare and Billy Jones),[4] and later a hit for Lulu Belle and Scotty and The Two Gilberts. It was also released in the UK in 1924 on Aco (low-priced Vocalion subsidiary) by Jeffries & his Rialto Orchestra (John Thorne vocal). The song is humorous in content, the verses each describing a dramatic or urgent scenario leading up to the asking of the titular question. An even earlier version of the song under the title "Will Chewing Gum Hold Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" appeared in 1913, interpolated by burlesque and vaudeville entertainer Billy Arlington in his sketch The Golden Crook.[5]
The title and lyrics of the Donegan version were changed in the UK because "Spearmint" is a registered trademark there, and the BBC would not play songs that mentioned trademarks.[dubious ] Donegan's version of the song was recorded live at the New Theatre Oxford in December 1958,[4] and was released both as a single and as a track on the album King of Skiffle. An extended version with more banter was released on the live album The Last Tour.[6]