Why were these pants so fabulous?
You’re the Top Lyrics
Part of song here (1 meg DL)
My guess: they were probably very clean and well-pressed, with colorful and contrasting piping. Ushers back in those days looked pretty snazzy. “Pants” probably scanned better than “uniform”.
-
Because the pants (on both the boy and girl ushers) were tight and sexy.
-
Because “Russia” and “usher” is a clever rhyme.
Because Porter paid close attention to developments in men’s trousers.
snerk
Also because a lot off the specific things that would be considered superlatives at the time seem pretty darn ordinary now. I mean, do you consider Pepsodent, cellophane, a turkey dinner, broccoli or a Waldorf salad to be “the top” now? Or are they all pretty ordinary everyday things?
The Roxy was the ne plus ultra of New York theaters at the time, and showman Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel spared no expense to make everything as showy as possible. Down to the pants on his ushers, who wore quasi-military costumes and even drilled together. Porter was being sarcastic here, as he was with several other of the superlatives in that song. New York audiences would presumably get the joke references to current events, including magazine ads and celebrities in the news, but they haven’t dated well.
Did the Rutles ever cover any of his songs?
And what the heck is a blop?
You know, that could be a whole Cafe Society topic all to itself: “Songs that haven’t aged well”. I know another example would be Eartha Kitt’s “Monotonous” from the Broadway show “New Faces of 1952”…I’m something of a recent history buff so I recognized most of the folks she mentions, but had to look up the more obscure ones (like Sherman Billingsley).
Well, it was 1934. You felt pretty swell if you could afford to eat anything but potatoes and day-old bread.
Cellophane was still expensive, made from wood pulp, and used only for showy wrappings, and toothpaste was only slowly taking over from the old favorite, tooth powder in a little can.
So much for Porter’s effort to write the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” of 1934…
Fun Interrobang!? trivia: my wife and I read the lyrics of “You’re the Top” to each other as part of our wedding ceremony. I can’t remember who got to be cellophane, though.
By the way, “steppes of Russia”?
Was this some exclusive New York club or something like that, or really just a rhyme? Maybe Cole Porter was a connoisseur of various terrain types.
Also, was “I’m the bottom, you’re the top” as much of a double entendre back then as it is today?
This is anecdotal, but the way I’ve heard it, he drafted the song when he was still at Yale, and in that incarnation it was single-entendre. 
True – but W.S. Gilbert beat him to it by about sixty years.
Anyway, the lyrics may seem obscure now, but I don’t agree that “You’re the Top!” hasn’t aged well. The song’s still as fresh and fizzy as it ever was, even if some of the references may not be instantly recognizable. We get the point of the song without having to identify every last line. Me, I love the fact that the pop culture of the 1930s is integral to the lyrics: it brings the era to life for me! And that – along with the bouncy, sophisiticated melody & witty rhymes – is what makes YTT so much fun!
That, and there are so many infinite variations on the song, that whenever you hear it, it’s always a surprise what things end up being listed.
How many names in the Bells Are Ringing number “Drop That Name” would be recognizable to the average 2005’er?
What! Obscure? He was a star on that television show with Lenny Kravitz’ mother, “The Jeffersons.” Sure, he hasn’t done a lot since then, but he’s hardly obscure!
I don’t know if you were whooshed or not, but you are thinking about Sherman Hemsley.
Yes, there’s just a hint of spoof in Hentor’s post, which I’m going to assume means he wasn’t really whooshed. However, just to clarify, Sherman Billingsley owned the legendary Stork Club…
Of the 59 names, I did not recognize 17. By the way, the people the list says are still alive shows it needs updating.
No, no, no!
He played The Beaver’s mom.