1958
ZING WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART * THE COASTERS * LONDON 8665 * UK
The flip side of Yakety Yak this dynamite ballad with an up-tempo beat is a bit of an anomaly for The Coasters who's releases were normally if not out-right novelty songs at least mini narratives of humorous kind. This more regular love song is full of the most delightful vocal acrobatics that it seems such a waste that the group never cut more like it. Zing Went The Strings was also recorded to good affect as a Soul cut by The Tramps in 1972. Written by James F. Hanley in 1935 the song first saw the light of day in the Thumbs Up stage revue that same year. It is also said that it was the song Judy Garland sung in her audition at MGM; it was certainly sung by her in the 1938 film Listen Darling and recorded by her for Decca in 1939. It is also, apparently, the favorite DooWop record of all time by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller - who produced it - claiming when they nominated it "that it sounds the least like a DooWop record"!
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