Be-Bop Lashes: risqué

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

I'm your Hoochie Coochie Girl

Hello Dearies! Today, as I said on Facebop, I'm bringing along a different post and a new section on the blog, called: risqué.

Have you ever listened to this song?

'Hoochie Coochie Man' is a blues written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by the great Muddy Waters in 1954 in Chicago. The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart. The intro and verse to Muddy Water's version feature stop-time while the chorus features a refrain. According to an account by Dave Van Ronk, Muddy Waters stated that the song is supposed to have a comic effect.

The gypsy woman told my mother

Before I was born

I got a boy child's coming

He's gonna be a son of a gun

He gonna make pretty women's

Jump and shout

Then the world wanna know

What this all about

But you know I'm him

Everybody knows I'm him

Well you know I'm the hoochie coochie man

Everybody knows I'm him

I got a black cat bone

I got a mojo too

I got the Johnny Concheroo

I'm gonna mess with you

I'm gonna make you girls

Lead me by my hand

Then the world will know

The hoochie coochie man

But you know I'm him

Everybody knows I'm him

Oh you know I'm the hoochie coochie man

Everybody knows I'm him

On the seventh hours

On the seventh day

On the seventh month

The seven doctors say

He was born for good luck

And that you'll see

I got seven hundred dollars

Don't you mess with me

But you know I'm him

Everybody knows I'm him

Well you know I'm the hoochie coochie man

Everybody knows I'm him

The hoochie coochie was a sexually provocative belly dance that originated at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. It became wildly popular during and after the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Described by the New York Journal in 1893 as 'Neither dancing of the head nor the feet', it was a belly dance performed by women of an Eastern European gypsy heritage, often as part of travelling 'sideshows'. Gooch, goochie or gootchie was apparently already a term in the American South term for a woman's vagina, and hoochie coochie has been suggested as referring directly to sex.

Since the dance was performed by women, a 'hoochie coochie man' either watched them or ran the show. Alternatively, from the directly sexual meaning of hoochie coochie, he greatly enjoyed sexual intercourse. The dance was still popular at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition: the World's Fair of 1904, but had all but disappeared by the Second World War; the song was therefore harking back to an earlier 'golden' era.

Bellydancer, circa 1893 (source)

That said, in relation with the title, I'd like to show you a magazine from 1946. I got it at the same vintage fair in Barcelona, where I bought Elvis' vinyls too.
Paris-Hollywood was a French erotic magazine. It reminds me of the classic 'Picturegoer' magazine, because it's feauring stars and showgirls of stage and screen too, but a little more risqué in content at times. There are some 'art pose' pictures. It's printed on similar newsprint type paper. Monotone covers and interior mostly. Mine has a centre page pull out art pin up too.
Our cover girl is Lily Bontemps. Born in 1921 and she died in 1979. She was a pretty woman who starred in 8 films, some with Louis de Funès who wasn't known yet as he is today:

- Le bagnard (1950).

- Le Chéri de sa concierge (1951).

- Au diable la vertu (1952).

- L'île aux femmes nues (1952).

- Le Chevalier de la nuit (1953).

- Scènes de ménage (1954).

- L'amour à la mer (1962).

- Au pan coupé (1968).