"Tiny Bubbles" is a song written by Leon Pober and performed by

Don Ho Donald Tai Loy Ho (August 13, 1930 – April 14, 2007) was a Hawaiian traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer. He is best known for the song "Tiny Bubbles" from the album of the same name. Life and career Ho was a singer of Native ...

. It comes from the album of the same name. The single peaked at #57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #14 on the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

charts in March 1967. By 1968, "Tiny Bubbles" was covered about 34 times. It was considered to be Ho's signature song.

Production

The song was requested by producer

Sonny Burke Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke ...

after Ho couldn't successfully perform the song "

Born Free ''Born Free'' is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her in ...

". "Tiny Bubbles" was originally written for

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...

, since he tended to perform "champagne music". Welk turned it down, although he later performed the song several times on his

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

after it became a hit.

Covers

*In 1966, Billy Vaughn released an instrumental cover and charted at #31 in the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. *In 1967, Roger Williams performed a piano version on the album, ''Roger!'' *In 1968, American country singer

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contribut ...

released a cover, which peaked at #71 in the Billboard country charts. *In 1974, Scottish country singer Sydney Devine performed "Tiny Bubbles" for his album, ''Encores''; it is considered to be his signature song. *Others who have done renditions of the tune included

Al Caiola Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...

, Nora Aunor and Tiny Tim.

Legacy

"Tiny Bubbles" was considered to be Ho's signature song. The second season of the American game show '' The Mole'' incorporated the song in a creative way - one test had a contestant confined to sleeping or staying on a bed while "Tiny Bubbles" was played on repeat in various versions (sped up, slowed down, backwards, etc). By its fans it is considered an iconic moment of the short-lived series. During one performance, after nearly thousands, Ho reportedly quipped "God, I hate that song". It was featured in the 2001 film '' Bubble Boy''. Alongside Ho's other songs, "E Le Ka Lei Lei (Beach Party Song)" and "Wish They Didn't Mean Goodbye", "Tiny Bubbles" was featured in the Season 7 '' Hawaii Five-0'' episode, "Elua la ma Nowemapa", while the song alone was featured in the Season 3 episode, "Mohai".

References

1967 singles 1966 songs Easy listening songs Reprise Records singles Traditional pop songs Songs about alcohol {{1960s-single-stub