Good Old Days (Leroy Shield song)

"Good Old Days", is a 1930 instrumental song written by Leroy Shield, which was the theme song for Hal Roach's Our Gang comedy short films, now known as The Little Rascals.[1]

History

The tune was originally written as score for a prison schoolroom scene in Pardon Us, Laurel & Hardy's first feature film as a team.[2] Shield, a musical director hired by the Roach studio on loan from RCA Victor, had been requested by Hal Roach to also write a theme for Our Gang while he was scoring Pardon Us, and when Roach came to check on progress for the theme, Shield submitted the selection from the Pardon Us score to satisfy the request.[2]

As Pardon Us was delayed and not released in theaters until August 1931,[2] "Goold Old Days" was first heard as the opening and recurring theme for the Our Gang short Teacher's Pet in October 1930.[3] "Good Old Days" was subsequently used as the theme in nearly every subsequent Roach Our Gang comedy (with exceptions such as 1934's Mike Fright and 1937's Our Gang Follies of 1938).

The tune caught on immediately, and NBC Radio Network show Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten also set lyrics to the melody.[3] In 1938, Roach sold the Our Gang unit to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who would produce the comedy shorts until 1944. The MGM Our Gang shorts used a different theme arranged by MGM short-subject musical director David Snell: a medley of "London Bridge Is Falling Down, "Mulberry Bush," and "The Farmer in the Dell."[4]

The tune was among those revived by Dutch revivalist band The Beau Hunks for one of their Leroy Shield tribute albums, The Beau Hunks Play the Little Rascals Music, in 1995.[5] It was also used in Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment's 1994 feature film adaptation of The Little Rascals.[6]

References
  1. "Quarterly Report". Historic Preservation. National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings. 47: 12. 1995.
  2. Skretvedt, Randy (2019-01-15). Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies. Bonaventure Press. pp. 258–262. ISBN 978-1-937878-08-5.
  3. Leonard Maltin, Richard W. Bann Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals p 119 1977 "The series' lilting theme song, "Good Old Days" by LeRoy Shield, is used repeatedly throughout "Teacher's Pet" and would herald every subsequent Roach Little Rascals comedy. The tune caught on immediately, and a popular NBC network radio show entitled Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten set lyrics to the melody and adapted it for the airwaves.
  4. "The Little Ranger". theluckycorner.com. 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  5. Steve Knopper MusicHound Swing!: The Essential Album Guide 1999 p18 "While we giggled at the Little Rascals, a number of Dutch musicians were taking notes. ... The 14-piece band- which can expand to 30 pieces or shrink to a sextet-began with the works of Leroy Shield, who scored Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy films. ... Beau Hunks stay true to the tunes, bringing the background to the forefront. what to buy: Beginning with "Good Old Days," the opening theme of The ..."
  6. "THE LITTLE RASCALS". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2023-06-24.: "From its opening moments, when pudgy Spanky (Travis Tedford) and his loyal mutt Petey sit bored on the porch with that familiar wah-wah theme song The Good Old Days in the background, Spheeris unerringly recreates the magic of Roach's ragamuffins."
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