Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman

Subject: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From:
Date: 02 Jan 97 - 05:23 AM

I remember my Grandfather singing this at parties when many years ago but can find no trace of the lyrics or tune and haven't heard it recently. Anyone any info?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 01 - 10:41 PM

The Laughing Policeman
(Hillside Publications - St. Giles Ltd.)

I notice a policeman
He's always on our street
A fat and jolly red-faced man
He really is a treat
 
He's too kind for a policeman
He's never known to frown
And everybody says
He is the happiest man in town!
 
He laughs while he's on duty
He laughs while on his beat
He laughs at everybody
When he's walking down the street
 
He never can stop laughing
He says he's never tried
But once he did arrest a man
And laughed until he cried!
 
His jolly face is wrinkled
And then he shut his eyes
He opened up his great big mouth
It was a wonderous size!
 
He said: "I must arrest you!"
He didn't know what for
And then he started laughing
Until he cracked his jaw!
 
Now if you chance to meet him
While walking 'round the town
Shake him by his fat ol' hand
And give him half a crown
 
His eyes will glint and sparkle
He'll gurgle with delight
And then you'll start him laughing
With all his girth and might!

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: English Jon
Date: 20 Sep 01 - 05:38 AM

I always thought the first line was:

"I know a fat old policeman"

Not that it matters.

EJ

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Snuffy
Date: 20 Sep 01 - 09:48 AM

As recorded by Charles Penrose, the verses were eight lines, followed by a chorus

Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ha

And I agree with English Jon about the first line

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Scotland the brave
Date: 21 Sep 01 - 09:26 AM

I've got a recording of the song and the first line that Charles Pnrose sings is 'I know a fat old policeman' and also it was recorded in 1926.

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Bernard
Date: 21 Sep 01 - 02:09 PM

Any chance of an MP3?

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 21 Sep 01 - 02:19 PM

There is an mp3 of the Penrose recording available at  Laughing Policeman Wireless Society Downloads

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From:
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 06:38 AM

DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CHARLES PENROSE? iS THERE A BIORGAPHY SOMEWHERE?

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: BanjoRay
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 09:08 AM

Have we got a shouting policeman on the list as well?

Subject: RE: Lyric Req: Laughing Policeman
From: IanC
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 09:53 AM

Also known as Charles Jolly, he seems to have recorded quite a few "laughing" songs (Laughing Major, Laughing Curate etc.) as well as the Laughing Policeman.

No further information, I'm afraid.

:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Steven
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 11:38 PM

Does anyone have the Laughing Policeman recording, as heard on BBC One Foot in the Grave, that I could get a copy of?
Also, I have heard two versions--one with brass band and with guitar--soth supposedly sung by Charles Penrose. Did he sing and record two different versions?
Thank you.
Steven

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 02:22 AM

Hi, Steven - It's on an ASV CD called Vintage Children's Favorites. Send me an e-mail and I think I can help you locate a copy.
--Joe Offer (click to e-mail)-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Nov 03 - 02:52 PM

it was quite normal to record several pressings of popular songs. My book on "British Music Hall" by Brian Rust (Gramophone 1979) has Charles Penrose's first recording of it in June 1922 (as Charles Jolly). Recorded again on April 22, 1926; December 14, 1928; March-April, 1929; June 28, 1929; November 23, 1932 (as Jolliboy); November 21, 1933. He rcorded dozens of laughing songs, including several others in "The Laughing Policeman......" series. Talk about not changing a successful idea! He must have been ....er .... fun....?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Riverman
Date: 15 Nov 03 - 07:27 PM

To Scotland the Brave, any chance you can send me recording of Laughing Policeman?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Tam the Bam (Nutter)
Date: 16 Nov 03 - 05:39 AM

I agree it is ' I know a fat old policeman'

Tom Frae Saltcoats

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 04:58 AM

can I get a copy of the sheet music quickly?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,tom
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 07:45 AM

when print workers were locked out by News International in 1987 they used to sing a version of this song on the picket lines in Wapping :
There is a laughing police man
and he works down Wapping way
he works for Rupert Murdoch
For ninety quid a day
He don't like striking pickets
he thinks that they are yobs
and when he whacks them over the head
he's only doing his job
ha hah ha ha ha ha etc

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Guest: James
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 08:18 AM

I actually have a copy of the re-released version of the single with believe-it-or-not George Formby and Stanley Holloway on the other side!! I must have bought this around, gosh, 1975 or there abouts. Don't have any more info however.

contact: [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 01:20 AM

Charles Penrose' Laughing Policeman (recorded 22 April, 1926), is also on a compilation CD "Radio Fun" CDHD 208, 1993 Conifer Records Ltd, Horton Rd, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 8JL, England.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 09:58 PM

Transcribed from the sound file found at http://www.g8aso.radiouk.com/
(I don't know which recording this is of the several he made.)

THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN
(As sung by Charles Penrose)

I know a fat old p'liceman. He's always on our street.
A fat and jolly red-faced man, he really is a treat.
He's too kind for a p'liceman. He's never known to frown,
And everybody says he is the happiest man in town!

CHORUS: Ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha!
Hoo-hoo hoo-hoo ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha!
Hoo-hoo hoo-hoo ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha!
Hoo-hoo hoo-hoo ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha!

He laughs upon point (?) duty. He laughs upon his beat.
He laughs at everybody when he's walking in the street.
He never can stop laughing. He says he's never tried,
But once he did arrest a man and laughed until he cried! CHORUS

His jolly face is wrinkled, and then he shut his eyes.
He opened his great mouth. It was a wondrous size!
He said, "I must arrest you!" He didn't know what for,
And then he started laughing until he cracked his jaw! CHORUS

So if you chance to meet him when walking round the town,
Just shake him by his fat old hand and give him half a crown.
His eyes will beam and sparkle. He'll gurgle with delight,
And then you'll start him laughing with all his blessed might! CHORUS

[Note: He really does seem to be in control of his "ha's," as he matches each one perfectly to the rhythm of the tune, while making the chorus sound realistically like a laugh. Accordingly, I have tried to transcribe the chorus accurately, at least the first one. Subsequent repetitions of the chorus vary the rhythm somewhat, usually by sustaining one long "hoo" over the first 4 beats of each line.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Lanfranc
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 06:45 PM

Point duty was the (UK) police term for standing in the middle of an intersection directing traffic, usually because the traffic lights had failed. It is an art that seems to have been lost by our present-day guardians of the law. In the old days a skilled copper could keep the traffic moving better than the lights, not so nowadays! Perhaps there's more traffic, but still...

Alan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,andrew
Date: 11 Apr 04 - 02:23 PM

i have a 78 single of laughing policeman on the victory label sung by c penrose can anyone tell me when it was recorded also any other information thanks andrew

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Snuffy
Date: 13 Apr 04 - 08:12 AM

Andrew - if you look at the posting from an un-named guest on 09 Nov 03 - 02:52 PM, you will find details of seven different recordings by Penrose between 1922 and 1933, but it doesn't say which label they were on

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From:
Date: 12 Sep 04 - 04:38 AM

Can someone send me copy of audiable format of Laughing Policeman. Please.

Thanks

K Mohan Raj

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Rasener
Date: 12 Sep 04 - 05:42 AM

Why don't you have a look at this website :-

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/whs/Go.asp?ISBN=5392652&DB=620

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: wildlone
Date: 12 Sep 04 - 01:05 PM

http://monologues.co.uk/Laughing_Policeman.htm
for another version
dave

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Brian Gill
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 08:46 AM

Are there any musicians out there? 'The Laughing Policeman' has a wonderful progression of chords (what the brass band is playing in the background). It seems on the surface to be more or less a 3 chord
job, but it isn't. The chords go all over the place - it's a great bit of arranging.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 01:26 PM

has any one got the guitar tab for it ?.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From:
Date: 02 Apr 05 - 04:43 AM

At a recent U3A 'Any Questions?'meeting someone asked 'Is Laughter the Best Medicine?' We all agreed it certainly is! The recording of THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN was mentioned and we were told that somewhere in India 30minute laughter sessions are compulsory.How can we get hold of a copy to play at a future meeting?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 03:20 AM

I have got two versions of this, one by Charles Penrose, and one by The Carlton Showband, which is I suspect a modern version with banjo etc.

Guest 04.43AM, if you like I can put a copy on CD for you (don't tell anyone). PM me with details if you want one or both.

whb

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Apr 05 - 07:45 AM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 12 May 05 - 11:17 AM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 12 May 05 - 08:30 PM

There was a parody version of the Laughing Policeman recorded on a record made for the Miner's Strike ("Whose Side Are You On"). I can't remember the lyrics for that one though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 16 May 05 - 07:33 AM

Hello, I am a psychologist in Western Australia and I too am looking for a copy of the laughing Policeman for group therapy for severely depressed clients. Dear Wilbyhillbilly would you be so kind as to send me a copy of the Penrose CD. I am prepared to pay for costs associated . In the event that you are comfortable enough to help out how do I get contact details to you

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From:
Date: 06 Jun 05 - 02:50 AM

Dear Wilbyhillbilly, I,ve finally found someone with a copy of the laughing policeman, my eldest son is a policeman and I'd like to purchase your cd if at all possible, I've often told him about the song but never been able to let him hear it. I remember hearing it often on radio in the U.K as a child growing up.Finding so many people interested in it renewed those old memories. It would be great if you could help me
From A 62 year old Pom

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 06 Jun 05 - 03:03 AM

The link I provided nearly four years ago is obsolete now, but you can hear the record -at present- at

http://www.funnyfair.com/policemanfl.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Ian
Date: 20 Jun 05 - 09:34 PM

Many thanksJohn,I have received your copy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 21 Jun 05 - 12:54 AM

Glad it got there OK. Happy listening, don't laugh too much.

whb

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 11:58 AM

could anyone tell me ANYTHING about Charles Penrose please?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Barrie Roberts
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 12:56 PM

Can't tell you anything about Charles Penrose, but wasn't 'The Laughing Policeman' adapted from an American song called (forgive me) 'The Laughing Coon'?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Aug 05 - 10:53 PM

I couldn't find a song called THE LAUGHING COON, but I did find these songs with similar titles:

Indiana University Sheet Music Collections has these songs:

THE LAUGHING LITTLE RED-HEAD COON, by Ellis G. Berg, 1899.

LAUGHING LUCAS by Florence McPherran, 1901. (Tune only; no words, but the cover features caricatures typical of the "coon song.")

The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music has:

LAUGHING DARKIES, by E. Renzlus, 1851.

I'M THE NIG' THAT'S ALWAYS LAUGHING, by George Wilson and Anthony Nish, 1883.

I haven't checked to see whether any of these songs is actually similar to THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN, however.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,cambo
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 09:57 AM

I always thought that the Laughing Policeman was recorded by a fellow named Billy Bowden.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Alan Day
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 06:11 PM

Charles Penrose used to do a double act with Billy Whitlock.They used to sit on a park bench as part of their act.
Billy was a Xylophone player and wrote The Laughing Policeman and many other tunes for Charles.He also wrote many fun tunes, one of which I play on Anglo International taken from an old 78 and part of the Jim Ward collection.I have been playing the tune for about twenty years and called it the Wiggle Woggle Jig only to find the 78 at Jim's and it wasnt the tune I was playing but another one of Billy's.
We have yet to find the name of the tune I play.
I hope this info is useful.
Al

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,simply google
Date: 17 Apr 06 - 02:25 AM

Doesn't anyone use Google?

http://www.funnyfair.com/policemanfl.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,gREmLiN
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 04:28 AM

I agree with 'GUEST,simply google', Doesn't anyone use Google?

Biog on Charles Penrose

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,gREmLiN
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 04:40 AM

Oh... and you can download the song via this link:


The Laughing Policeman.mp3 (zipped)

Enjoy :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Copper Brown
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 07:21 PM

Is Nothing Sacred

"The Laughing Policeman" Based on the performance by Traditional
"The Farting Policeman" Parody by Phil Alexander
Just a quick note: IST is, of course, the Iraq Survey Team.

I know a fat old policeman
He alway makes a smell
A flatulent and red-faced man
He really stinks to hell

It's more than indigestion
I'll bet his pants are brown
And everybody says
It's time to fumigate this town

Chorus:
Prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp, prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp
Prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp, prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp
Prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp, prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp
Prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp, prrp prrp prrp prrp prrp

He farts upon point duty
You smell their sweet perfume
He farts at suspects inside the
Interrogation room

He always gets confessions
His suspects always tell
(Though once he did arrest a man
Without a sense of smell)

Chorus

He went to train some new police-
Men over in Iraq
We hope and pray that he will stay
And never will come back

But when he showed his technique
To bring baddies to their knees
IST came round, they thought they'd found
Some WMDs

Chorus

So if you chance to meet him
And fear for your own death
Shake him by his fat ol' hand
But be sure to hold your breath

Then make sure you get out of there
Make haste and do not fail
'Cause when he starts a-farting
Measures on the Richter scale

Chorus

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: fat B****rd
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 06:28 AM

Also available by Tiny Tim.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: Scrump
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 08:05 AM

I've always thought the tune of "Laughing Policeman" is very similar to the traditional song "Howfen Wakes" (as recorded by the Houghton Weavers). Although I understand Charles Penrose was from Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, I assume it's possible he could have travelled to Lancashire and heard the song there, and based the tune for "Laughing Policeman" on it.

Can anyone throw any light on this? It's only speculation on my part, based on the (IMO) marked similarity between the two tunes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Laughing Policeman
From: GUEST,Phil Alexander
Date: 30 Nov 06 - 05:09 PM

> Is Nothing Sacred
Nope. Should anything be?

:-)