(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? facts for kids

"(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song.

It is published as having been written by Bob Merrill in 1952 and loosely based on the folk tune Carnival of Venice. This song is also loosely based on the song "Oh, where, oh, where, has my little dog gone?"

The best-known version of the song was the original, recorded by Patti Page on December 18, 1952, and released in January 1953 by Mercury Records as catalog numbers 70070 (78 rpm) and 70070X45 (45 rpm) under the title "The Doggie in the Window", with the flip side being "My Jealous Eyes". It reached No. 1 on both the Billboard and Cash Box charts in 1953, and sold over two million copies. Mercury, however, had poor distribution in the United Kingdom. Therefore, a recording by Lita Roza was the one most widely heard in the UK, reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1953. It distinguished Roza as the first British woman to have a number-one hit in the UK chart. It was also the first song with a question in the title to reach number 1.

The Patti Page recording

Background

"Doggie" was one in a series of successful novelty songs since the 1930s, following on the success of songs such as Bing Crosby's "Pistol Packin' Mama" and Merv Griffin's "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts". Prior to the release of "Doggie", composer Bob Merrill penned "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake". The original Page recording included the sounds of dogs barking, credited on the label as "Barks by Joe and Mac" (her arranger, Joe Reisman, and a violinist). The recording also features Page's signature multi-part tight harmonies, all sung by Page. Throughout the years, she recorded several other versions as well.

Charts

Legacy

According to rock historian Michael Uslan, "novelty songs" like "Doggie" led to the "fervent embrace of rock & roll" by 1955. "A lot of songs at that time were extremely bland, squeaky-clean stuff. The music field was ripe for something new, something vibrant to shake the rafters."

The song has since become a popular children's song. Bob Merrill's lyrics were reworked by Iza Trapani into her 2004 children's book, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?.

The phrase "How much is that doggie in the window?" seemed innocent enough in 1953, but in modern times it has become synonymous with the trade in puppies from pet shops, often originating in puppy mills.

In 2009, Patti Page recorded a version of the song with a new title ("Do You See That Doggie in the Shelter") together with new lyrics by Chris Gantry, with the hopes of emphasizing the adoption of homeless animals from animal shelters. The rights to that song were given exclusively to the Humane Society of the United States. Said Page:

"The original song asks the question: 'How much is that doggie in the window?' Today, the answer is 'too much.' And I don't just mean the price tag on the puppies in pet stores. The real cost is in the suffering of the mother dogs back at the puppy mill. That's where most pet store puppies come from. And that kind of cruelty is too high a price to pay."

—Patti Page, 2009

Upon Page's death in 2013, the Humane Society wrote in its online eulogy, "We remember her fondly for her compassion for animals."

The song, and Page's version in particular, gained some notoriety for its use in the infamous final scene of John Waters' 1972 film Pink Flamingos.

A season five episode of Cold Case, "Devil's Music", used Patti Page's recording in the opening.

Creative director Ken Levine commented on the use of the song in 2007 video game BioShock as choosing "the sort of crap pop of the time, what we consider pop music, like Patti Page, which holds up more for its nostalgic value than for being great music." He also remarked that the story of BioShock is "a sad story - not a horror story" and "we counterpoint it with [Patti Page's] '(How Much Is) that Doggie in the Window'". However due to licensing restrictions, Levine noted they had to use "another version of the recording" as the game does not use Page's original 1952 overdubbed Mercury recording and instead uses Page's 1966 re-recording with full orchestra for Columbia Records.

Cover versions

Lita Roza

Background and composition

Roza was a singer with The Ted Heath jazz band during the 1950s. During this period, she was voted Favourite Female Vocalist in a Melody Maker poll from 1951 to 1955 and a similar poll in New Musical Express from 1952 to 1955.

In 1951, she recorded "Allentown Jail" with the Heath Band, which led to her A&R Dick Rowe asking her to sing "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?". Her initial response was negative, "I'm not recording that, it's rubbish." She recalled that he pleaded with her, responding "It'll be a big hit, please do it, Lita." She relented, saying she would record it but never sing it again afterwards.

Charts

Legacy

Lita Roza was widely reported to have strongly disliked her song. In an interview in 2004 she revealed that she had kept her promise never to perform the song, "I sang it once, just one take, and vowed I would never sing it again. When it reached number one, there was enormous pressure to perform it but I always refused. It just wasn't my style." However, she would go on to be most widely remembered for that song. In 2001, Roza opened Liverpool's Wall of Hits on Matthew Street, home of The Cavern Club. On display were various discs from every British number-one from Merseyside, the first being her own.

The song returned to the spotlight briefly during the 1980s as the result of an interview with Smash Hits magazine, wherein Margaret Thatcher, who was then serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, admitted that Lita Roza's version of "Doggie" was her favourite song of all time.

Following Roza's death in August 2008, she left £300,000 in her will to charities, of which £190,000 went to three dog-related charities: Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, and The Cinnamon Trust.