"Take me to your leader" is a popular catchphrase said by an extraterrestrial alien who has just landed on Earth in a spacecraft to the first human it happens to meet. . It started, presumably, with a 1953 cartoon by Alex Graham in The New Yorker magazine. This showed two aliens telling a horse “Kindly take us to your President!”.
I was quite surprised to find, during a research, a profusion of songs copyrighted in 1958 and 1959. The very first, by Timmie Rogers, obviously inspired by Chuck Berry, was on Cameo Records. What has stimulated that music craze in the late fifties is not known. Perhaps a popular sci-fi sitcom or a TV show ?
Record | Credits | © date |
|---|---|---|
| Not recorded? | w & m Carl Kent; | Jan. '58 |
 | Take Me To Your Leader w Kal Mann m Bernie Lowe Timmie Rogers Cameo C131 | Feb. '58 |
 | Take Me To Your Leader w & m Eddie Safranski & George Spota © Erica Music Jonathan Winters With The Martians Coral 9-61988 | Apr. 58 |
| Not recorded? | w & m Berdie Abrams & Hank Levine; 12 May58 | May '58 |
 | Take Me To Your Ladder (I'll See Your Leader later) w & m Robert H. Babcock & Marvin Milligan Buddy Clinton Madison M144 | Jul. '58 |
| Not recorded? | w & m Nathan Starr; 11aug58 | Aug. '58 |
 | Take Me To Your Leader, Cha Cha Cha w Mel Mandel, m Danny Davis © Knollwood Music Corp. Sam Space And The Cadets Cabot CA-127 | Dec. '58 |
 | Take Me To Your Leader w & m Marc Mittendorf & Dee Da Costa ©Alan-Edwards, Inc. The Lancers Imperial X5564 | Jan. '59 |
 | Take Me To Your Leader Nick Smith and Rae Temple Arr. Nick Smith The Vi-Counts Donick DR 100 | Mar. '59 (or earlier) |
| Not recorded? | m Hugh Halliday & Homer Denison 27Mar59 | Mar. '59 |
 | Take Me To Your Leader w, m & arr. Ben Hunter & Steve Steventon (G.H. Steventon) Bernie Parke on Dynasty | Apr. '59 |
| Not recorded? | w & m Everett J. Welsh 22Apr59 | Apr. 59 |
| Not recorded? Not recorded? | w & m Stephen Ondek, 23may61 Louise Waller & Leslie Waller. 1961-07-26 | May '61 Jul. '61 |
1973 U.F.O. (TN) 45 - 000 : Tommie Peairce & The Country Gentleman - Take Me To Your Leader (DrunkenHobo / Apesville) if you need mp3 let me know Dean
ReplyDeleteThanks Apesville, I've it. In my post, I've limited the tracks to the 1958/1959 years only.
DeleteIf your limits are 1958 and 1959, then April 1958 should also include Jim Lowe's DOT release, "Take Us To Your President", the phrase that seems to have started it all.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.45cat.com/record/4515753
Thanks Fred Clemens for the addition. Jim Lowe has not started it all : his "Take Us To Your President"; w Fred Hertz, m Joel Herron © 18Apr58.
DeleteThis is sensational, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI was referring to the phrase, not Jim Lowe. You mentioned above the listing about a 1953 cartoon that said "Kindly take us to your President".
ReplyDeleteOK Fred. As it's the case for so many catchphrase, it's difficult to find the very first use that started it. See for instance:
Deletehttps://wordhistories.net/2020/06/09/take-me-to-your-leader/
Interesting. Thank you.
ReplyDelete