Stand by it all you like, but there’s really no resemblance to the tune Johnny L.A. and I are referring to.
Any chance Terenti is looking for “Turkey In The Straw” sound-likes? His (her) links aren’t remotely similar to Biffy’s Theme (giggle) which I also remember from 1950’s San Diego.
A couple of data points about the theme in question, both of which would place it in Los Angeles as well as San Diego:
It serves as a link between the third and fourth Firesign Theatre albums, appearing at the end of *Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers *(causing George Tirebiter to revert to childhood and run after the truck), and at the beginning of I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus.
Sometime in the '70s or '80s I heard Dr. Demento play a novelty song *about *the ice cream man set to this tune. (The song was modern, and obviously the truck theme was the source for the song and not the other way around.)
That’s exactly it.
This came to mind again when a friend posted this NPR article that says the tune from Turkey In The Straw was co-opted for use in blackface minstrel shows with lyrics that ‘dripped with racism’.
So now that I’m here, I thought I’d click on Biffy’s video, but it’s gone. Still wondering what the name of the song is.
This site claims it’s “Stodola Pumpa”, a Czech/Polish folk song. They’re quite similar, although I’m not necessarily convinced they’re exactly the same. The melody sounds like something that could have just been composed for Good Humor trucks and coincidentally resembles this song (or it could really be that Czech/Polish folk song, or it could just be a melody based on the song, but slightly modified–I guess.) It’s kind of a simple melody, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the resemblance is purely coincidental.
ETA: Actually, here’s another site that does claim “Stodola Pumpa” as the source of the Good Humor jingle.
Actually, I’m convinced now that the source is truly “Stodola Pumpa.” I see more cites of it here in Google Books.
“Stodola Pumpa” was proprietary to Good Humor of California until 1962, when the company’s assets were brought under new ownership and the music changed to “Danny’s Dream,” written by the company’s new owner, Dan Tropp. However, “Stodola Pumpa” had already become an iconic part of southern Californian culture. For example, it was the basis for “Come and Get It,” a 1963 single recorded by a Beach Boys side project called the “Tri-Five”; later that year, it was used again for “The Rocking Surfer,” an instrumental included on the Beach Boys’ Surfer Girl album
I’m all alone, I got the clone, maybe we’ll run into each other on the Funway!
…
(haven’t heard that since the 70s, but it’s etched in the ol’ brain, just like Nick Danger and The Giant Rat of Sumatra)