Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh

For the board game, see Camp Granada.

"Hello Mother, Hello Father (A Letter from Camp)"
Song by Allan Sherman from the album My Son, the Nut
Released	1963
Genre	Novelty song
Writer	Allan Sherman

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)" is a Grammy Award-winning novelty song by Allan Sherman, based on letters of complaint he received from his son Robert while Robert attended Camp Champlain in Westport, New York.^[1] The song is a parody that complains about the fictional "Camp Granada" and is set to the tune of Amilcare Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours". The name derives from the first lines:

Hello Muddah,
Hello Fadduh.
Here I am at
Camp Granada.
Camp is very
entertaining.
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.

After the song scored #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks beginning August 24, 1963, Sherman wrote a new "back at Camp Granada" version, Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!,^[2] for a May 27, 1964 performance on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Sherman wrote a third version for, and acted in, a 1965 TV commercial for a board game about Camp Granada, a "real rotten camp".^[3]

The song won a 1964 Grammy Award for comedy. The song has been played numerous times on the Dr. Demento Show and is featured on the Rhino Records compilation album, Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection. Variations of the song include translations in Swedish ("Brev från kolonien" by Cornelis Vreeswijk), Finnish and Norwegian ("Brev fra leier'n" by Birgit Strøm).

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (book)

In the Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!^[4] children's book, a wide-eyed, snaggled-tooth narrator seems befuddled by problems at Camp Granada.^[5]

Camp Granada board game based on Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!

Board game

Further information: Camp Granada

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (musical revue)

The Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (note the slightly different spellings of the names of the original song, the 1964 song, the musical review, and the book) musical revue develops the song as the life story of Barry Bockman and Sarah Jackman through birth, school, summer camp, marriage, and parenthood in suburban New York to Florida retirement. Songs include the title song, "Harvey and Sheila" (with the melody of Hava Nagila), and "Glory, Glory Harry Lewis" (with the melody of the Battle Hymn of the Republic).^[6][7]

See also: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah! (musical review & children's book)

References and notes

1. ^ Paul Lieberman (August 16, 2003). "The Boy in Camp Granada". Lifestyle. LA Times. http://www.petabit.com/steve/LATimes_Granada.html. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
   NOTE: Sherman's son, Robert (born 1949) was dismissed from Camp Champlain.
2. ^ Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!
3. ^ "LikeTelevision - Camp Granada by Milton Bradley". liketelevision ...only better. LikeTelevision. http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=578&format=tv&theme=toyland. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
4. ^ NOTE: The 1963 song title is spelled differently from the titles for the 1964 song, the musical review, and the book.
5. ^ Green, Lynn. "Here I am at Camp Granada". Children's BookPage©. http://www.bookpage.com/0407bp/children/hello_muddah.html. Retrieved 2008-02-20. 
6. ^ Klein, Alvin (1993-12-19), "'Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!' Opens", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/19/nyregion/theater-hello-muddah-hello-fadduh-opens.html, retrieved 2009-12-28 
7. ^ Domingo, Aristotle. "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh - The Allan Sherman Musical opens in Toronto". Archived from the original on 2004-12-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20041204100042/http://www.musicalstages.co.uk/international/canada/hellomuddah_canada.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-20. 

External links

• Hear the song at Alan Sherman Radio Accessed October 2009

Preceded by The First Family (album) by Vaughn Meader

Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance 1964

Succeeded by I Started Out as a Child by Bill Cosby