▶︎ Bigger in Oz (1): Jo Ann Campbell - A Kookie Little Paradise (1960)

The first in a series. These are tracks that were more popular in Australia than in their countries of origin, usually Britain or the US. They took the fancy of someone at an Australian radio station, got some airplay, and charted well in some major Australian cities where they are remembered as golden oldies. Back in their home countries their chart history was lukewarm, and some of them ended up as obscurities. More than this, they're records that could have been hits anywhere, they were good enough, but this was not to be. See the whole series here: Bigger in Oz. 

 

 See also: Only in Melbourne.

1. Jo Ann Campbell - A Kookie Little Paradise

(Bob Hilliard, Lee Pockriss)

USA 1960

ABC single (USA) #45-10134 (August 1960)

W&G single (Australia)  #WG-S-1023
 

US charts: #61 Billboard), #59 (Cash Box)

Australian charts: #5 Sydney, #5 Adelaide, #7 Melbourne, #7 Brisbane

Out there at Jo Ann Campbell's Kookie Little Paradise the kids are out of control: swingin' about in the trees and bellowin' like Tarzan the Ape Man, drivin' fast cars down the beach without a speed limit, livin' on ice cream and pizza...

The record, from 1960, starts with jungle bird sound effects and a full-on Tarzan call (a sample from a movie soundtrack?), then it's the boys in the chorus, direct from the Riverdale High Glee Club: Dip... dip... dibba-dip-dip-dip. Kookie, huh?

This is Archie and Jughead territory: free juke boxes in the jungle, no school, junk food, sport cars and making out. It's a sugary and sticky kind of paradise:

Soft drink bubblin' down a mountain,
To the Carribean sea...

Ice cream - loaded with bananas -
And there's always pizza pie.

Jo Ann Campbell's record, on ABC, wasn't a hit in the US, but down here in Australia we really liked it: #5 in Sydney and Adelaide, #7 in Melbourne and Brisbane.

A Kookie Little Paradise was composed by Lee Pockriss, and those wacky teen-oriented lyrics were by Bob Hilliard, born 1918, who'd been writing since the 1930s.

In similar territory, Pockriss and Hilliard also wrote Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Backseat, a US #9 in 1959 for Paul Evans. Pockriss wrote Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini with Paul Vance, Bryan Hyland's 1960 US #1.

There was one slightly earlier - and lesser known - release of A Kookie Little Paradise by The Tree Swingers (July 1960). The B-side, in keeping with the jungle theme, was Teaching The Natives To Sing, also written by Pockriss & Hilliard. 

A British version by Frankie Vaughan charted #31 in the UK. Like Jo Anne Campbell, Frankie was in his early twenties - they were both born in 1938 - but you're never too old for ice cream loaded with bananas.

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Follow-ups 16 May 2006 and later:

A welcome comment on my post came from Terry Byrnes, an original member of the Tree Swingers duo with Art Polhemus (Kenny Chandler joined them after Kookie Little Paradise). Terry noted that their version was recorded as a demo for Jo Ann Campbell but ended up being released before her version, with Teaching The Natives To Sing "hastily added to provide a 'B' side".

Terry added some whatever-happened-to updates: My partner, Art Polhemus went on to produce The Blues Magoos and I continue to work with Joe Venneri (The Tokens), and coach college soccer.

Phil X Milstein subsequently posted some Kookie audio treasures over at Probe is Turning-on the People! There you can listen to two Jo Ann Campbell versions, one with a Tarzan call, one without; and what turns out to be be the original version, by The Tree Swingers, along with the B-side. 

Kees van der Hoeven (of John D. Loudermilk fame) was onto the alternative Jo Ann Campbell versions, at The Originals Problem-solving Forum: Original version had an Ape-call introduction. After release it was quickly withdrawn and re-issued with a decent no-ape version that became the OZ hit. (Post now deleted.)

Joop Jansen, also at the Forum, mentioned three other versions, all in languages other than English, now also listed by Phil.