Tiptoe through the Tulips with Me

TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPS WITH ME

“Tiptoe Through the Tulips”, or “Tip-toe Thru’ the Tulips with Me” is a popular song originally published in 1929. The song was written by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Joe Burke (music). “Crooning Troubadour” Nick Lucas topped the charts with “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” in 1929, after introducing the song in the musical “talkie” film Gold Diggers of Broadway. Lucas’ recording held the #1 position for 10 weeks. (More from Wikipedia)

In Tiny Tim’s version, “Tiptoe through the Tulips” came off as a novelty song, but that is certainly not how the song started out. Written by Al Dubin and Joe Burke, “Tiptoe through the Tulips with Me” was a featured song in an historic film in 1929, Gold Diggers of Broadway and became a #1 hit recording by one of the film’s stars, the “crooning troubadour” and guitarist Nick Lucas later that year. Only the second all-color “talkie” film (and using an early version of the Technicolor process), it quickly became the best-selling film of all time that year, a record that it held for 10 years until eclipsed by (you guessed it) Gone with the Wind. (Sadly, Gold Diggers of Broadway is now a partially lost film; the loose remake, Gold Diggers of 1933 is better known these days).

(March 2013)