You probably do not know that I am a member in good standing of ASCAP,
because of my uncle, Ralph Erwin Vogl, (later just Ralph Erwin). He
was
an active composer from the 1920's until his death in 1945 in the last
air raid on Paris, where he had been residing. I now receive the
residuals. Although he composed many songs, his main claim to
fame is
the super-hit "I Kiss your Hand, Madame" on which a silent movie comedy
(1929) of that name starring Marlene Dietrich was based, the last movie
that Dietrich made before Blue Angel.
Anyhow, Katherine, good reference librarian that she is, has been doing
in-depth web searches trying to find who recorded his songs (Bing
Crosby, Rudy Valley, Merv Griffin, Spike Jones, Comedian Harmonists,
and
many other people in many languages including French, German, Spanish,
Hungarian, and Finnish). It has also appeared in TV shows including
Love Boat, Who's the Boss, Addam's Family, and the Benny Hill Show.
Katherine has been downloading as many different versions as she can
find (Hurray for Napster!) and putting links onto our website.
The point of this story is that one of her on-line searches (using the
three key words: Vogl Erwin Hand) turned up a reference to the
Neuroscience Archives of 4 July 1993 where there is a page discussing
a
query on "From Neurobiological to Computational Models - State of the
Art?" in which there are messages from Harry ERWIN, Tom VOGL,
and
someone else's use of the phrase '... get your HAND on ..." all appear.
It is a constant source of amazement to us how deep modern search
engines explore web sites. In fact, one of the search engines found
our
own website because, about six levels down, where there is an image
of a
blanket that I wove as a 21st aniversary present to Katherine, using
the
music of "I Kiss Your Hand, Madam" as the basis for the treadling on
one
side, and "Waltz Across Texas" on the other.
Song list (incomplete)
an * means I have an MP3 copy
Garde Moi Ton Amour (sung by
Claude Valade & Jerome Lemay) *
written
by Charles Louis Pothier, Amedee Ferdinand Pujol, Erwin Vogl
publisher
EMI Virgin Music Inc.
J Ai Ma Combine
written by Pierre Charles Colombier, Amedee Ferdinand Pujol, Erwin Vogl
publisher EMI Virgin Music Inc
Just A Song Of Long Ago
written by Bill Engvick, Louis Eugene B. Porterat, Al Stillman, Erwin Vogl
publisher EMI Robbins Catalog Inc.
Longue Nuit Une
written by Roger Henri Bertrand, Erwin Vogl
publisher Theodore Presser Company
One Rainy Afternoon
written by Jack Stern
publisher Fox Sam Publishing Co.
One Rainy Afternoon Cues
written by Erwin Vogl
publisher Fox Sam Publishing Co.
Pour Plaire Aux Femmes
written by Roger Henri Bertrand, Erwin Vogl
publisher Theodore Presser Company
Secret Rendezvous
written by Preston Sturges Sr., Erwin Vogl
publisher Fox Sam Publishing Co.
Sur
Les Quais Du Vieux
written by Louis Eugene B. Poterat, Erwin Vogl
performed by J. Basile, L. Delyle, J. Greco, J. Sablon
publisher EMI Robbins Catalog Inc.
T En Fais Pas BouBoule
written by Amedee Ferdinand Pujol
publisher EMI Virgin Music Inc.
Terror On A Train Cues
written by Erwin Vogl
Twentieth Century-Fox Music Corp.
Uraliin
written by Ralph Erwin (see below for a link to an
MP3 and more information about this song.)
Vier Worte Mocht Ich
written by Fritz Rotter, Erwin Vogl
| There is a little more out on the web about Ralph Erwin.
An Argentine tango site has a brief biography that does not agree completely
with what Tom was told - but is certainly credible. Here
is the link and on the right is our translation. Our comments are
in brackets [ ].
The details about birth, death and songs are unconfirmed, but certainly interesting. We will try to follow-up! |
Erwin, Ralph
(ERWIN, VOGI [sic], his true name, HARRY WRIGHT, his pseudonym) German composer. This is the author, with lyricist Fritz Rotter, of the song famous worldwide "Igh Kusse Ihre Hand Madame" [sic] that was translated in Argentina into Spanish by Luis Rebistein under the title "Yo Beso Vuestra Mano Senora", and first sung by Carlos Garel for putting onto a phonograph record [shakey translation!]; it was made in Europe. This composer wrote three more popular German songs: "So Ein Madel Vergisst Du Man Nicht" [ Such a Girl One Doesn't Forget], "Vier Worte Mocht Dir Nur Sagen" [There are Four Words I Want to Say to You], "Wo Hast Du Nur Die Shonen Blauen Augen Her" [Where Did You Get Those Beautiful Blue Eyes]. Erwin was born in Bielitz (Silesia-Germany) on October 31, 1896 and died in a prisoner of war camp in France on May 15, 1943. |
| There is also a Finnish site that lists one (maybe two) songs by Erwin and the singers who sang them. Here is the link. | This site, which has MP3s of WWII military music, has more information
about the song Uraliin. Erwin wrote the music for this Finnish propaganda
song in 1942.
Go to La Secunda Guerra Mondiale: Musiche e Canti d'Epoca and look under Finland for the song Urallin to download the MP3. |
| The granson of Fritz Rotter sent us email in November 2001 and we hope to have more information about the Rotter/Erwin partnership. |