Community Service

The Globe & Mail, 26 September 1953

When Liberace Winks at Bobby Gimby

When Liberace Winks at Me

Bobby Gimby and Johnny Wayne

Toronto: BMI Canada, 1954

One day I'm arguing with a friend that earlier times weren't necessarily "more innocent times", the next I come across this sheet music in a local shop.

Gimby was the first musician I could name. His "Ca-na-da" took root in my four-year-old brain and, like all good commercial jingles, has proven to be a hardy perennial.

And make no mistake, "Ca-na-da" was a commercial jingle; something to sell the centennial.

"Respectfully dedicated to LIBERACE, America's favorite performer", "When Liberace Winks at Me" is just as catchy. I found it here in this "Liberace Medley". The song begins at 6:49, but you'll want to see the whole thing.

Dear "Fan Club President",

I'm dropping you this line,

I'm sorry to have to tell you

I really must resign.

I've found another idol,

He's as charming as can be,

I really can't describe

The strange effect he has on me

I start to shake,

I start to shiver,

Every fibre in me really starts to quiver.

It's a feeling very close to ecstacy.

That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.

You can't compare his charming manner

With an ordinary Jerry, Joe or Jim.

And when he sits there at the piana

No one can hold a candelabra to him.

I never work,

Just dilly dally,

Since I fell under the spell of this Svengally,

I just sit there spellbound facing my T.V.

That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.

I start to blush,

I start to stammer,

And my pulses start a pounding like a hammer.

I'm bewitched as any fool can plainly see.

That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.

It's really very, very simple,

'cause he makes me feel just like a royal queen.

And when he winks and shows that dimple,

I start to hug and kiss my television screen.

I go beserk,

I start to tingle,

And I'm so gosh darned glad that I'm still single.

When he drops that eyelid, I just shout WOE-EE!!

That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.

I start to whirl,

I'm getting dizzy,

I'm in a haze, I'm in a haze, I'm in a tizzy

I'm a victim of a strange new sorcery.

That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.

International readers and those too young to have been exposed to "Ca-na-da" may be interested in the clip below, which was shot one chilly spring day at Expo 67. A 48-year-old man in robes, dubbed "The Pied Piper of Canada", leading skipping schoolchildren in song...

Seems like a more innocent time.

Trivia: "When Liberace Winks at Me" was one of several songs Gimby wrote with comedian Johnny Wayne (of Wayne and Schuster). The Canadian Encyclopedia tells us that they had their greatest success with something called "The Cricket Song" (1956) , recorded by Ray Bolger.

Q: How many times can I mention Bobby Gimby in one month?

A: Two.

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What About the Children?

Monday's post on Edith Lelean Groves was running long, so I never did get to the drawings that feature in her Everyday Children. Numbering thirty-five in total, they were one reason I'd bought the book in the first place.

Or maybe not.

I was more interested that they'd been selected by Arthur Lismer, and had been produced by the children who'd attended his Saturday class at the Art Gallery of Toronto.

(Those with a keen eye will spot The West Wind by Lismer's friend Tom Thompson.)

The pictures vary wildly and in terms of style and ability. Sadly, not one is credited.

Most have nothing to do with the poems they accompany. One of the few exceptions is this illustration, which appears to have been inspired by "My Upstairs Brother".

There are drawings of dogs, dolls, policemen and young toughs. Some are similar in terms of subject.

Art school survivors will see evidence of either a bad teacher ("Today, children, we will be drawing a girl struggling with a broken umbrella.") or classroom rivalry ("Watch as I put your picture to shame.").

Children, children, Mr Lismer likes both your drawings.

Related post: Hurray for the Crippled Children's Bus!