How the Anglo World Imported Huge Hits from Europe

Roll Out the tolle Rolle

Photo by Daniel Salcius on Unsplash

The heat of summer has arrived where I live, in Ottawa, setting my always-on internal jukebox¹ to songs of summer. The jukebox doesn’t always play nice and give me songs I like. Today, for example, it insisted on Nat King Cole’s recording, “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer.” A #3 hit in 1963, it’s a cheesy Easy Listening pop record, and I don’t like it. (I can’t imagine that Nat Cole — originally a jazz pianist — did, either.) Still, as an habitual look-upper, I felt compelled to learn a little about it.

Cole’s record, it turns out, came from a German song recorded in the previous year, called “Du spielst ‘ne tolle Rolle.” This translates to, “You Play a Great Part,” or “You Play a Great Role.”