Post #485407 by The Mayor Of Exotica on Sun, Sep 27, 2009 7:12 PM

I actually played Jack Imel's show on cruise ships way back in the day. While he never played this tune in the show I played, tap dancing marimba was his gimmick, and the grand finale was telling everyone that when he played the Lawrence Welk Show, the grand finale was always "jumping over the ol' woodpile." Except by the time I was playing for him, he would leave off the jumping part, just make like he was going to and not go through with it, so it was a gag.

This tune, "Chinatown, My Chinatown," is an old standard from 1910 by William Jerome / Jean Schwartz. It definitely predates Exotica, and despite playing it on the marimba, I would not say this version is to be in any way associated with Exotica or Martin Denny. But, true, you just don't see that kind of stereotyping in mainstream entertainment anymore.