"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