"On the Beach at Bali-Bali" is a song written by

Abner Silver Abner Silberman (28 December 1899, in New York City, New York, United States – 24 November 1966) as pen name Abner Silver, was an American songwriter who worked primarily during the Tin Pan Alley era of the craft. Career Usually composing the m ...

(music),

Al Sherman Avrum Sherman (September 7, 1897 – September 16, 1973), pen name Al Sherman, was a Russian-American songwriter and composer active during the Tin Pan Alley era in American music history. Some of his most recognizable song titles include: "Yo ...

, and Jack Meskill (lyrics). It was written in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

, copyrighted June 5, 1936, and first recorded by

Shep Fields Shep may refer to: People Given name *Shep Fields, American band leader *Shep Goodman, American music producer and songwriter *Shep Gordon, American talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer * Shep Mayer, Canadian ice hockey player *Shep ...

and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra on May 18, 1936. It was soon covered by Jimmie Lunceford,

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

, and Henry "Red" Allen, among others that same year. In 1937 it appeared in the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

film A Day at the Races where

Chico Marx Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx (; March 22, 1887 – October 11, 1961) was an American comedian, actor and pianist. He was the oldest brother in the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, alongside his brothers Adolph ("Harpo"), Julius ("Groucho"), Milton ...

played it comedically on the piano.

History of the title

The original title was "On a Street in Baden Baden", but the writers soon realized that Baden-Baden was in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Because in 1935, German dictator,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

threatened the peace of the world; the authors changed the "street" to a "beach" and the city of "Baden Baden" to the tropical (if not fictional) island of "Bali-Bali". Publishers commented that there was, in fact, no place called, "Bali-Bali" and insisted on the name being reduced to one "Bali". However, the writers refused to change the name any further, finally finding a home for their song, new name intact, with the publishing house: Edwin H. Morris Music & Co., Inc. of 1619 Broadway,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.See Literary Sources

Literary Sources

Sherman, Robert B. Robert Bernard Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any ...

'' Walt's Time: from before to beyond''. Chapter 2; " Al's Time", Pages 98–99. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.

References

Songs written by Al Sherman Songs written by Abner Silver 1935 songs