Please note:
- All these street organ arrangements for my modifed Topsy 3 are home-made. Contact me if you want a custom arrangement - whether a modification of a number below or something new - for your own street organ, musical box, barrel piano, or whatever.
- The MP3s below use Virtual Studio Technology: this is NOT the real sound, and someone needs to sing!
- Lyrics or translations can be displayed live on a screen, karaoke-style.
| Title | Artist | La | Year | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naar de speeltuin | Heleentje van Capelle met de Karekieten en het Orkest Zonder Naam | nl | 1987 | |
| Estoy tocando fondo | Viudas e hijas de Roque Enroll | es | 1984 | Where the fondo may be the International Monetary Fund. |
| Aan de Costa del Sol (tingelingeling) | Trad. German-Italian / Johnny Hoes / Zangeres Zonder Naam | nl | 1975? | Waltz, apparently stolen from Trentino in the Tyrol - see the links. |
| Itsy bitsy teenie weenie | Wencke Myhre / Brian Hyland / Caterina Valente | de en | 1975 | Cha-cha |
| One-note samba (demo version) | en | 1965 | Used in how-the-organ-works talks. | |
| Doctor Kitch | Lord Kitchener | en | 1963 | A girl asks a doctor for an injection, but his needle's very big and she moves a lot, and the penicillin ends up in the wrong hole. |
| Brazil / Aquarela do Brasil | Ary Barroso / Jimmy Dorsey / Xavier Cugat | en | 1960 | Samba: Where hearts were entertaining June / We stood beneath an amber moon |
| What a difference a day makes | Dinah Washington | en | 1959 | |
| Inflation calypso | ET Mensah | en | 1958? | Pidgin English highlife from post-independence Ghana, now with extra verse about deflation. Useful for introducing basic economics to small beings. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Tea samba | ET Mensah | en | 1956 | Ghanaian tea ad from the 50s. |
| Sunday Mirror | ET Mensah | en | 1956 | Highlife ad for a 1950s Ghanaian newspaper. |
| Che sarà, sarà / Qué será, será / Whatever will be, will be | Doris Day / José Feliciano / Pink Martini / The Jukebox Sisters / Dave Cash | en es it nl yi | 1956 | Waltz |
| Tulpen uit Amsterdam / Tulips from Amsterdam | Ralf Arnie / Van Aleda / Max Bygraves | nl en | 1956 | Typically Dutch: a German waltz about Turkish flowers. Virtual excerpt: |
| How much is that doggie in the window | Bob Merrill / Patti Page | en | 1953 | The one with the waggly tail. Lita Roza's version was Maggie Thatcher's favourite song. |
| April in Portugal | Pérez Prado Orchestra | 1953 | Cha-cha, with grunting. | |
| Mexico | Zangeres Zonder Naam / Luis Mariano | nl fr | 1951 | Paso doble in de stijl van de film Le chanteur de Mexico |
| Take you meat out me rice | Lord Kitchener | en | 1950 | |
| South of the border | Gene Autry / Patsy Cline | en | 1950 | Bolero |
| Bananas | Machito | en nl ca | 1950 | The mambo king indulges in a bit of self-parody. Available in English, Catalan or Dutch. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Capri-Fischer / Fishermen of Capri (Bella, bella Marie) | Rudi Schuricke / Gerhard Winkler / Ralph Maria Siegel | de en | 1949 | Wenn bei Capri die rote Sonne im Meer versinkt: Lola sings this tango in Fassbinder's Wirtschaftswunderbar, but the version by Gracie Fields is also rather special. |
| Unemployment Compensation Blues | Les Pine / Barbara Dane / George Browne | en | 1949 | And when I'm through with my weekly routine, / I spend my money on Benzedrine. / I've got those 'By the time I get my check, / I become a nervous wreck' blues. |
| Aan de Amsterdamse grachten | Pieter Goemans / Johnny Kraaijkamp / Wim Sonneveld | nl | 1949 | Nostalgic waltz. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Diep in m'n hart | Jaap Valkhoff / Ernst van ’t Hoff / Willeke Alberti | nl | 1944 | Slow foxtrot |
| Stalin wasn't stallin' | Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet | en | 1943 | An American gospel quartet lauds Uncle Joe's revenge on his old friend Hitler. Not sure whether this will ever work again, after the Ukraine war. |
| Als op Capri de rozentuinen bloeien | Han Dunk / The Ramblers / Eddy Christiani | nl | 1942 | Foxtrot |
| Begin the beguine | Cole Porter / Les Paul | en | 1940 | Beguine |
| Perfidia | en | 1940 | Bolero | |
| You are my sunshine | Jimmie Davis / Charles Mitchell / Pine Ridge Boys | en | 1939 | Foxtrot |
| When I'm cleaning windows | George Formby | en | 1936 | From the film, Keep Your Seats, Please |
| Shave 'em dry | Lucille Bogan | en | 1935 | I've got nipples on my titties big as the end of my thumb / I got something tween my legs 'd make a dead man come. |
| Rosetta | George Handy / Bob Wills | en | 1935 | Western swing |
| Your feet's too big | Ada Benson / Fred Fisher / The Ink Spots | en | 1935 | |
| Утомлённое солнце (Weary sun)/To ostatnia niedziela (This is the last Sunday) | Jerzy Petersburski / Zenon Friedwald / Iosif Alvek / Pavel Mikhailov | ru | 1935 | Polish tango about failed love, also done in a Russian, Black Sea-ish version. Featured in Yuriy Norshteyn's stunning Tale of Tales. Video, possibly from another time or person: |
| Isle of Capri / C'est à Capri | Will Grosz / Jimmy Kennedy / Lew Stone | en nl fr | 1934 | Sometimes with lyrics featuring the River Lea / Lee in East London: Twas on the banks of the Lea that I met her / Under the shade of an old apple tree / Now I can still hear the sirens around me / As I lie bleeding in A and E. |
| Youkali | Kurt Weill | fr | 1934 | Possibly the best tango ever. |
| Oh zwarte zigeuner / Oh, play to me gypsy (Cikánka) | Harry de Groot / Karel Vacek / Melody Boys / Willy Derby / Willy Alberti / Johnny Jordaan / Gracie Fields | nl en | 1931 | Slow foxtrot. |
| Organ grinder's swing | Jimmie Lunceford | en | 1930 | Slow foxtrot |
| Chinatown, my Chinatown | Jean Schwartz | en | 1930 | Jackie Chan edition. Virtual excerpt: |
| It's only a paper moon | Harold Arlen | en | 1930 | |
| La gallina Papanatas | Monreal | es | 1930 | Mexican corrido about a prolific hen. |
| Rumba tambah | Lecuona Cuban Boys | es | 1930 | Rumba |
| Mijn kleine groene cactus | Comedian Harmonists / Gerrit Bellers | nl de | 1930 | Dutch text by Gerrit Bellers: Bloemen en planten, zoals chrysanten, / Of rozen, tulpen en narcissen, / Willen de mensen, zo zijn hun wensen, / Ik hoef ze niet, ik kan ze missen. |
| Breakaway (Fox Movietone Follies of 1929) | Jack Hylton | en | 1929 | Foxtrot. It's got the snappiest syncopation. |
| Sheik of Araby | Smith-Wheeler-Snyder / Mr. Goon-Bones / Ted Baxter | en | 1921 | I'm the Sheikh of Araby, this sand belongs to me. Foxtrot |
| Five foot two, eyes of blue | Henderson | en | 1920 | Foxtrot |
| On the sunny side of the street | en | 1920 | Foxtrot | |
| El nuevo Ford | Cubano | es | 1920 | |
| Ya hemos visitado el Astillero | Los Moros Babucheros | es | 1891 | Working conditions in the factory at San Severiano, Cádiz could certainly be improved |
| Qué pena siente el alma | Violeta Parra | es | Classic Chilean organ-grinder waltz. |
Update: 2023/03/06