"Hernando's Hideaway" is a

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. T ...

, largely in

long metre Long Metre or Long Measure, abbreviated as L.M. or LM, is a poetic metre consisting of four line stanzas, or quatrains, in iambic tetrameter with alternate rhyme pattern ''a-b-a-b''. The term is also used in the closely related area of hymn metres ...

, from the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. and dances were staged by Bob Fosse in hi ...

'', written by Jerry Ross and

Richard Adler Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. Life and career Adler was born in New York City, the son of Elsa Adrienne (née Richard) and Clarence Adler. His ...

and published in 1954. It was sung in the stage and film versions of the musical by

Carol Haney Carol Haney (born Carolyn Haney; December 24, 1924 – May 10, 1964) was an American dancer and actress. After assisting Gene Kelly in choreographing films, Haney won a Tony Award for her role in Broadway's ''The Pajama Game'', while later wo ...

. The song is about a fictional invitation-only nightclub of the same name where lovers can meet for secret rendezvous. In the few years after the song's release, a number of artists had hit recordings of it, including

Archie Bleyer Archibald Martin Bleyer (June 12, 1909 – March 20, 1989) was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive. Early life Bleyer was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. His father was a well-kn ...

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and bl ...

and

The Johnston Brothers The Johnston Brothers were a vocal group who had a No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1955 with their cover version of "Hernando's Hideaway". The group was formed by Johnny Johnston (born John Harold Johnston, 10 July 1919 – 10 June 1998, Lo ...

Inspiration

According to author Dave Hoekstra, "Hernando's Hideaway" was based on Hilltop, an establishment in East Dubuque, Illinois that had been a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...

in the 1920s (where

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

once hid out from the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

police) before turning into a

supper club A supper club is a traditional dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image ...

Recordings

The most successful recording of the song was done by

, the record reaching No. 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' chart in 1954. A version by

hit number 11 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in October 1955.

' 1955 recording was a No. 1 UK hit in November 1955. A live recording (from Carnegie Hall in 1954) by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

can be found on the Verve/Polygram release ''Jazz at the Philharmonic, the Ella Fitzgerald Set'', with Ray Brown on bass and

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

on drums. A rendition by Enoch Light was featured prominently on

Command Records Origin and history Command Records was a record label founded by Enoch Light in 1959 and, in October that year, was acquired by ABC-Paramount Records. Light produced a majority of the releases in the label's catalog. The company focused on prod ...

' ''Provocative Percussion'' as well as the

Command test record Origin and history Command Records was a record label founded by Enoch Light in 1959 and, in October that year, was acquired by ABC-Paramount Records. Light produced a majority of the releases in the label's catalog. The company focused on pro ...

. It has also been covered by

David Clayton-Thomas David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett, 13 September 1941) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has been inducte ...

Alternate versions

There are at least 15

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

versions, titled ''Hernandon salaisuus'', by different artists of the song, the first and most popular by Olavi Virta, in 1956. The 2000 hit song " Dance With Me" by R&B singer

Debelah Morgan Debelah Laksh Morgan (born September 29, 1977) is an American singer and songwriter. Morgan is best known for her hit single " Dance with Me" off of her third studio album, which reached No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early life and educ ...

used the melody of "Hernando's Hideaway" in its chorus, with different lyrics. Morgan paid homage to the song by naming the club in her song's video Hernando's Hideaway.

In movies and television

The instrumental section of the Johnston Brothers rendition was used as the theme for Brick Top Polford in the 2000 movie '' Snatch''. In 2014, contestants Jessica Richens and Zack Everhart Jr. danced to the song on the 11th season

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

dancing competition show ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

''. The dance's choreographer, Spencer Liff, was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography. With the exception of 2013, the award is given at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony. Starting in 2019, separate awards are given for scripted programs and ...

in 2015 for that routine as well as two others.

Legacy

A number of places around the world today are named Hernando's Hideaway, evidently based on the popularity of the song. "Hernando's Hideaway" also became a nickname for the smoking room for

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

parliamentarians in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. The

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Member of Parliament,

Stephen Pound Stephen Pelham Pound (born 3 July 1948) is a British former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing North from 1997 to 2019. Background His father, Pelham Pendennis Pound (1922–1999) was a BBC sub-editor an ...

, told the House during a smoking debate on February 14, 2006: "I refer the House to the dystopic hell – 'Hernando's Hideaway' – that is the Smoking Room on the Library Corridor. It is like the

Raft of the Medusa ''The Raft of the Medusa'' (french: Le Radeau de la Méduse ) – originally titled ''Scène de Naufrage'' (''Shipwreck Scene'') – is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791� ...

most nights, with great groups of people crammed into it."

References

{{authority control Songs written by Richard Adler Songs written by Jerry Ross (composer) 1954 songs Songs from musicals Ella Fitzgerald songs Homer and Jethro songs Johnnie Ray songs