"Amy, Wonderful Amy" is a 1930 popular song, written by Joseph G. Gilbert and composed by

Lawrence Wright Lawrence Wright (born August 2, 1947) is an American writer and journalist, who is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as th ...

(some sources credit him under his pseudonym

Horatio Nicholls Frederick Lawrence Wright (15 February 1888 – 19 May 1964) was a British songwriter, music publisher, and the founder of the music journal '' Melody Maker''. He used the ''pseudonyms'' Horatio Nicholls and Everett Lynton for his songwriting ...

) about British aviator

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records du ...

. It was recorded by

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz" a ...

and his orchestra on 2 June 1930, with J. Pat O'Malley providing vocals, and released on HMV B-5836. The

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

arrangement was provided by

Alvin Keech Alvin may refer to: Places Canada * Alvin, British Columbia United States * Alvin, Colorado *Alvin, Georgia * Alvin, Illinois * Alvin, Michigan * Alvin, Texas *Alvin, Wisconsin, a town *Alvin (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Ot ...

. While at least ten songs were written about her at the time, "Amy Wonderful Amy" is the most famous.

Background

was an English

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

who in 1930 flew solo from the United Kingdom all the way to Australia. She was the first female pilot to do so. After landing in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

she became world famous overnight and the euphoria inspired Joseph G. Gilbert and

to write a song about a man who expresses his admiration and love for her. The song has an instrumental break in which a news reporter describes her flying past several locations (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, in northern Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay and East Arm Wharf. In 2015, a 99-year lease was granted to the Chinese-owned ...

and

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

) until he fears that she might have crashed, but it turns out she is safe after all. After a reprisal of the refrain the song ends with sounds of people cheering.

Recording

It was recorded by

and his orchestra only nine days after Johnson's arrival. Ten per cent of the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

would be sent to ''

The Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton. It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers, but in 1925 Rothermere sold it to William and Gomer Berry ...

'' fund to buy her a new plane.

Other versions

The song has also been recorded by: * 1930 - The Rhythm Maniacs, sang by Maurice Erwin. * 1930 - The Debroy Somers Band, sang by Tom Barratt. * 1930 -

Harry Bidgood Henry Bidgood (29 August 1898 – 15 November 1957), was an English composer, dance band leader and musical director for films. Born in West Ham,1911 Census London, England in 1898,. his father was music teacher and composer Thomas Bidgood. The ...

& His Band. * 1930 - Chris Hall, aka John Thorne. * 1930 -

Arthur Lally Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

& The Million-Airs. * 1930 -

Arthur Rosebery Arthur Rosebery (1904-1986) was an English pianist and singer. He began working as a pianist in 1921, and a few years later he formed a trio which included Billy Cotton. With his orchestra, the ''Kit Cat band'', Rosebery worked in various London cl ...

& His Kit-Kat Dance Band. * 1930 - Tom Barratt. * 1930 - G. Dunnet. * 1930 - Dick Denton.

Sources

{{authority control 1930 songs Songs based on actual events Songs about explorers Songs about aviators Cultural depictions of Amy Johnson Songs with music by Lawrence Wright (composer)