I would like to know the name of the song and the name of the person
singing it in the movie "Persons Unkown" with Joe Mantenga, Naomi
Watts and Kelly Lynch.I think this movie premiered on HBO in 1998 and
it was a made for cable or direct-to-video release which was not in
theaters.It has been playing recently on both HBO and Cinemax but was
not an HBO Original. Late in the film, when Watts and Lynch are at
Mantenga's cabin, we see a closeup shot of an old phonograph then the
camera pulls back and we see Kelly Lynch sitting their, getting ready
to shoot some heroin as we hear the words "...hot tomale Molly had a
lot...". I cannot identify the song by reading the songs listed in the
end credits. The song is sung by someone from the early 1900's in a
jazz like style. I would like to know what this song is called and who
is singing it as well as where I can buy it. Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 19 Nov 2004 14:40 PST

bammama --

Was it sung in the movie by a man or a woman?

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by bammama-ga on 21 Nov 2004 10:22 PST

The song is sung by a man.

I am quite sure that the song is "Hot Tamale Molly", a jazz song
composed and written by Herman Ruby, Gilbert Wells and Bud Cooper in
1925. It has been recorded by several performers, so it's hard to say
which version can be heard in the movie.

There also was a jazz song "Hot Tamale Mollie", composed and written
by Max Kortlander and Louis Weslyn in 1920. Its first line was "Since
the dandelion babies gave their ball, there's a gal that's...", and
the first line of the chorus was "Tamale, tamale, she's hot tamale
Mollie, jazz gal thro' and..."

Maybe one of my colleagues can find out more.

Scriptor

The only thing that puzzles me is that I TiVoed the end credits and
looked at the names of all the songs and there was no "Hot Tomale
Molly" listed.

I think the second song you mentioned, the one with the dandelions is
definitely not the song in the movie.

Have you actually seen the movie?

bammama -- 


I have a strong suspicion that the version of "Hot Tamale Molly" that
you heard was by "The Goofus 5,"  recorded in 1925, with a vocal by
Earl Rickard.  Unfortunately, I can't prove it.

"The Goofus Five" was a novelty jazz group in the 1920s and featured
at least one musician, saxophonist Adrian Rollini, who is on many
lists of all-time jazz greats.  Their recordings were popular at the
time, and it seems likely to me that this was the version included in
the film.

"The Goofus Five's" 1925 recording of "Hot Tamale Molly" was released
on CD in 2002 on a compilation on the Timeless label called "The
Goofus Five - 1924-25."   Unfortunately, that CD is out of print
(although it is still available online from several sellers), and I
have not been able to find an audio clip of the track.

The best I can do is provide the following link, which contains links
to RealAudio downloads of several of the group's recordings, which
will give you an idea of how the group's arrangements sound. 
Unfortunately (again), all these
tunes were recorded in 1926 or 1927 with somewhat different personnel
and very probably a different vocalist.  Here's that link:

Red Hot Jazz: Goofus Five
http://redhotjazz.com/goofusfive.html


Since I have a special interest in early jazz, I will continue to look
for an audio clip of "Hot Tamale Molly," but I invite other
researchers to do so as well.



markj-ga