Patti Clayton (February 28, 1924 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

– December 11, 2003) was an American 20th century pop singer. Clayton was the original voice of Miss Chiquita, the Chiquita banana singer. In 1944, bananas were an exotic fruit in America. The Chiquita banana jingle was introduced, not only to promote bananas, but to teach the public how to use and store them. With music and lyrics provided by admen Garth Montgomery, Leonard Mackenzie, and William Wirges, Clayton sang "I'm Chiquita Banana and I've come to say, bananas have to ripen in a certain way... bananas like the climate of the very very tropical equator, so you should never put bananas in the refrigerator". This was one of the most successful commercial jingles of all time, and was played up to 376 times a day on radio stations across the United States. Clayton cut a number of

transcription disc Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting,Browne, Ray B. and Browne, Pat, Eds. (2001). ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''. The University of Wisconsin Press. . P. 263. which wer ...

s, backed by the Four Vagabonds – " Can't Get Out of This Mood", "Three Dreams", "

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1943 film '' Something to Shout About'', where it was introduced by Janet Blair and Don Ameche. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Son ...

", "Why Don't You Fall In Love With Me", "Saving Myself For Bill", "

Hit the Road to Dreamland ''Star Spangled Rhythm'' is a 1942 American all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with fli ...

", "

I've Heard That Song Before "I've Heard That Song Before" is a 1942 American popular song about nostalgia with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced by Martha O'Driscoll (dubbed by Margaret Whiting) in the 1942 film ''Youth on Parade''. The song w ...

", "Could It Be You", "It Can't Be Wrong" – which were used by radio stations to work Clayton and the Vagabonds into their programs, as if they were actually at the station. Clayton is associated with

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...

and was a regular on ''Arthur Godfrey Time'', which ran on both radio and television from 1945 to 1972. She was married to Godfrey's director, Saul Ochs. She appeared on other programs such as

National Barn Dance ''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other ...

Club Fifteen ''Club Fifteen'' is a radio program in the United States that featured popular music. It was broadcast weeknights (except for a two month hiatus each summer) 30 June 1947 – 21 December 1951. Then, it aired Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights unt ...

, Melody Lane With Jerry Wayne, Bouquet For You, and Sing It Again. She hosted her own 15-minute variety program, Waitin' For Clayton (also known as The Patti Clayton Show), which ran on

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

from 1945 to 1947.

Discography

Singles

*"Let's Sail to Dreamland" *"You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (1945) *"That's Where I Came In" (1946) *"Guilty" (1946) *"Ole Buttermilk Sky" (1946) *"Linda" (1947)

Albums

*''Four Vagabonds – Complete Recorded Works (1941-1951) Vol. 2 1942/43'' (1999, Document Records DOCD-5636; Clayton sings lead on nine of the 24 tracks) ;Compilations *Various artists: ''Discovered, Volume 9'' (2015, Recollect; Clayton sings the Chiquita banana jingle)

References

External links

Clayton sings the original Chiquita banana jingle (MP3 audio file)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Patti 1924 births 2003 deaths Musicians from Detroit American women pop singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women