"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a 1953

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

, with lyrics by

Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a British songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr (composer), ...

and music by

Nat Simon Nat Simon (6 August 1900 – 5 September 1979) was an American composer, pianist, bandleader and songwriter. Born in Newburgh, New York, from the 1930s to the 1950s, his songs were used in over 20 films. Between 1931 and 1940, he also took part in ...

. It was written on the 500th anniversary of the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

to the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. The lyrics humorously refer to the official renaming of the city of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. The song's original release, performed by

The Four Lads The Four Lads were a Irish male singing quartet that earned many gold singles and albums in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Their million-selling signature tunes include " Moments to Remember"; " Standing on the Corner"; " No, Not Much"; " Who Ne ...

, was certified as a gold record. Numerous cover versions have been recorded over the years, most famously a 1990 version by

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

Musical influences

Jazz historian

Will Friedwald Will Friedwald (born September 16, 1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', '' Village Voice'', ''Newsday'', ''New York Observer'', and ''New York ...

mentioned that the song is an answer to "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E", written by Harry Carlton and recorded in 1928 by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.

The Four Lads original version

"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" was originally recorded by the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

vocal quartet

on August 12, 1953. This recording was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

as catalog number 40082. It first reached the ''Billboard'' magazine charts on October 24, 1953, and it peaked at #10. It was the group's first

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Cover versions

Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan's 1954 version for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

reached the UK charts that year with a peak position of No. 11.

Col Joye's Joy Boys

Col Joye's backing band recorded an instrumental version on the

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

label, which peaked No. 16 in November 1960 according to the back-then Australian charts, ending up as No. 95 for the 1961 year-end ranking.

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

began performing a version on his weekly radio show, '' The Bing Crosby Show for General Electric''. It was first broadcast as a duet with

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, 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, phra ...

at the end of 1953, and later with

Connie Russell Connie Russell (May 9, 1923 – December 18, 1990) was an American singer and movie actress. Born in New York City, she appeared in seven films from the 1930s through the 1950s. She was far better known as a singer than as an actress, as h ...

in early 1954. It featured

John Scott Trotter John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader. Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and ...

's Orchestra and trumpet soloist Ziggy Elman.

Big Muffin Serious Band

Big Muffin Serious Band, a ukulele-based music performance group from New Zealand, released a cover on their LP "Jabberwocky Goes To Town" in 1987.

They Might Be Giants

One of the best-known versions of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is the cover by the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

(TMBG), who released it on their album ''

Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

'' in 1990. It was released as the second single from that album in the same year. TMBG's version is at a faster tempo than the original. The music video was featured in the first season of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' Liquid Television''. TMBG's version of the song is prominently featured in the ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...

'' episode "Tiny Toon Music Television", as the soundtrack to a segment featuring Plucky Duck as a private detective hired to find a missing statue. It was also used as the theme in the 1992 thriller ''Black Magic'' starring

Judge Reinhold Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who is best known for his work in Hollywood films during the 1980s. He has starred in several popular films such as '' Stripes'' (1981), '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High' ...

. It later appeared in the first season of the Netflix series ''

The Umbrella Academy ''The Umbrella Academy'' is an Absurdist fiction, absurdist Superhero fiction, superhero comic book series created by writer Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá. It follows a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings with bizarre powers a ...

'', as well as an ending to an episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', "

Mobile Homer "Mobile Homer" is the thirteenth episode of the The Simpsons season 16, sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It was first broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States on Marc ...

". The single reached number 61 on the UK Singles Chart in 1990. TMBG later recorded an electronic version of the song for their 2011 compilation album, '' Album Raises New and Troubling Questions''.

The Sacados

A Spanish language version called "Estambul" was recorded by Argentine synth-pop trio The Sacados in 1990. The song was included on their debut album "Te pido + respeto" (1990).

The Trevor Horn Orchestra

An orchestra version was recorded for the 2003 film '' Mona Lisa Smile'', starring

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles across various genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Award ...

. It used as background music.

Bart & Baker

Electro swing duo Bart & Baker covered the song for their album "The Jet Lag EP" (2012). Another version called "Istanbul 2016" was included on their curation album "Best Of Electro Swing By Bart & Baker" (2016).

Bette Midler

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

performed the song as part of her 1976 special for Home Box Office, " Live at Last." It appears on the album of the same name.

PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

used a loop of the song as inspiration for the title track of her album

Let England Shake ''Let England Shake'' is the eighth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 14 February 2011 by Island Records. Production began around the time of '' White Chalk''s release in 2007, though it is a depart ...

. Her release ''Let England Shake – Demos'' revealed that The Four Lads original recording was used as a constant sound bed under ''Let England Shake'' with PJ Harvey singing lyrics from the song at the end of demo.

Muppets

In Season 2, Episode 4 (U.S. release October 12, 1997) of the television series ''

Muppets Tonight ''Muppets Tonight'' is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented comedy television series, created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. The series ran for two seasons between March 8, 1996 to February 8, 1998, originally ...

'', portions of the song were performed by a quartet of rats in kaftans and fezzes.

Live performance cover versions

The Doox of Yale, an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, perform the song at the end of most of their concerts. The song has been in the repertoire of the group since 1953 (when they were known as "The Duke's Men"). During the 2000s, the song was performed live by Australian Klezmer/Gypsy Jazz band Monsieur Camembert, appearing on the album ''Live on Stage''. Guitarist Trey Anastasio has teased the song on numerous occasions with

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

and with his own band, Trey Anastasio Band.https://phish.net/setlists/teases/streets-of-cairo?teaseid=963 *

References

{{authority control 1953 songs 1990 EPs 1990 singles Constantinople Elektra Records singles Warner Music Group singles Swing music Songs about cities Songs about Turkey Songs with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy Songs with music by Nat Simon The Four Lads songs They Might Be Giants EPs They Might Be Giants songs Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley Novelty songs