I Want You To See My Girl

		Listen to a 1909 recording by Frank Williams. MP3

Harry Castling & Fred Godfrey — London: Bert Feldman; Melbourne: Stanley Mullen, 1908.

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Introduced by Charles Whittle at the South London Theatre, 9 November, 1908, and sung by him in numerous theatres. The Music Hall and Theatre Review (6 November 1908, p. 299) reported that “Charles Whittle’s ability to make an audience repeat the choruses of his songs is extraordinary. Moreover, he is exceeding fortunate in obtaining ear-haunting refrains. At the Oxford Music Hall, he is offering two especially bright samples, [one of which is] ‘I Want You To See My Girl.’”

Also sung by Rosie Bartlett in pantomime Robinson Crusoe, Her Majesty’s, Dundee (December 1908); by G.H. Elliott (January 1909), “who is creating a veritable furore with [the song]” (The Era, 16 January 1909, p. 25); by Nell Emerald in pantomime Sinbad the Sailor, Grand, Leeds (December 1908); and by Ida Strattam in pantomime Cinderella, Grand, Cardiff (December 1908). The song also met with success in the United States, where Miss Jessie Preston presented it on tour in January 1909, and “Marie Collins is reported from Baltimore to have made a great success, especially with...‘I Want You To See My Girl’” (“Notes From New York,” Music Hall and Theatre Review, 4 November 1909, p. 715).

Recordings

Bert Alvey (Beka Grand 40579, 1908)

Arthur Blackwell (Jumbo 307, 1909)

Jack Charman (Columbia-Rena 1080, 1909)

Stanley Kirkby as “Charles Lester” (Clarion 292, 1909) [cylinder]

Frank Williams (The Twin 119, 1909)

Interpolations

Interpolated by Winifred Ward in pantomime The House That Jack Built (Marlborough Theatre, London, December 1908); by Nell Emerald in pantomime Sinbad The Sailor (Leeds Grand, December 1908); by Ouida Macdermott in pantomime Aladdin (Prince’s Theatre, Bristol, December 1908); by Rosie Bartlett in pantomime Robinson Crusoe (Her Majesty’s Theatre, Dundee, December 1908); by Dot Carey in pantomime Cinderella (County Theatre, Bedford, December 1908); by Edith Housley in pantomime Cinderella (Royal Theatre, Exeter, December 1908); by Roland Bottomley in Meynell and Gunn’s pantomime Cinderella (Australia, 1908?).