February 12, 1944: Joe McMichael dies in service in World War II. Not in combat: He was ill, and given an accidental overdose of Sulfa, which had become one of the wonder drugs of the war, saving lives that would ordinarily have been lost. He was 27 years old.
You've probably never heard of Joe McMichael. Or of his brothers, Judd and Ted. Or of the female singer they added in 1933, Cheri McKay. Together, the Minneapolis natives sang as the Merry Macs. They had a series of "girl singers": In 1936, McKay was replaced by Helen Carroll; in 1939, Mary Lou Cook; in 1942, Marjory Garland; in 1946, Imogene Lynn; and in 1947, Garland returned.
They sang on some of the biggest hits of the World War II years: 1939 versions of "Down By the Old Mill Stream" and "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," the 1942 version of "Deep In the Heart of Texas," "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition," and backing up Doris Day on the 1945 Number 1 hit "Sentimental Journey."
By that point, the Macs had recorded the song by which they would be best known, but had also lost Joe.
In 1943, Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston wrote "Mairzy Doats." Hoffman gave the song to Al Trace, a friend who led the Silly Symphonists, who recorded it. The Merry Macs also recorded it, and had the biggest hit version.
The lyrics make no sense, at first:
But the narrator goes on to explain:
- If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey,
- Sing, "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy.
- A kid will eat ivy, too; wouldn't you?"
In this case, a "kid" is a baby goat.
So the Macs had a huge hit with it, but Joe was already in the service. After Joe's death, he was replaced by Clive Erard, then Dick Baldwin, and finally Vern Rowe. The foursome of Judd, Ted, Marjory, and Vern continued performing until Judd retired from show business in 1964.
Drake also wrote "Java Jive." Among Hoffman's other songs were "I'm Gonna Live Until I Die," "I Apologize," "Hot Diggity" and "Allegheny Moon." Livingston wrote several songs for Disney films, including "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" for Cinderella. Among his other hits were "It's the Talk of the Town," "Wake the Town and Tell the People" and "The Twelfth of Never." He and Hoffman wrote a song titled "Close to You" for Frank Sinatra, which should not be confused with the later song by Hal David and Burt Bachrach, for The Carpenters.
Al Hoffman lived until 1960, Jerry Livingston until 1987, Judd McMichael until 1989, Marjory Garland until 1991, Ted McMichael until 2001, Imogene Lynn in 2003, Milton Drake until 2006, Mary Lou Cook until 2008, and Helen Carroll until 2011. I can't find a date of death for Cheri McKay, though, based on the sources I've found, it appears she was alive as recently as 2010.
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February 12, 1944 was a Saturday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There was 1 game in the NHL: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
