Al Dubin, who would later co-write some of the biggest hits of early films such as "Forty Second Street" and "Lullaby of Broadway", was an obscure lyricist who had just written "A Cup of Coffee, A Sandwich, and You." He and Joe
Burke (who would co-author such hits as "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" and "Ramblin' Rose") wrote this in early 1926. Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, well known on radio by now as "the Happiness Boys," recorded it for the Perfect label
sometime in late March of that year. This waxing features the sort of monkeyshine for which they were justly famous (when listening, though, please keep in mind that the word "gay" meant "happy" back then). The accompaniment is not
credited, but it is most likely by Phil Ohman on piano and Harry Reser on banjo: records for Brunswick made around the same time give credit to these two accompanists by the moniker of "The Radio Twins." A modern source (liner notes
from the CD reissue of Jones and Hare sides called "How Do You Do") substitutes Dave Kaplan's name for Phil Ohman. Speaking for myself,
given a choice, I'll believe the original label. The recording quality and surface of the record itself is quite decent, despite the typical groove hiss: thankfully there were very few other noises to treat.
