untamed youth

Posted over 2 years ago

Artist:
- PLAY
Mamie Van Doren
Track:

Oo-Ba-La-Baby (possibly)

If Tarantino were to make a '50s (instead of '70s) inspired version of "Grindhouse," it might look something like "Untamed Youth," a B-movie from 1957 featuring the go-to chick for teen exploitation flicks, Mamie Van Doren. Here, as a bunch of disreputable kids do a wild dance in what looks like a grungy diner, Mamie shakes her stuff and sings a number that might be called "Oo-Ba-La-Baby," but who can be certain?

Mamie was a standby in the cinematic work of Albert Zugsmith, the man behind such classics as "High School Confidential" (and its less-cool successor, "College Confidential" starring Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows and Conway Twitty), "The Private Lives of Adam & Eve" (I think Mickey Rooney and Paul Anka are in that one), and the completely outrageous "Sex Kittens Go To College."There are two versions of the latter film. One has a scene where a woman does a strip tease to entice a robot. It is, for its time, quite an advanced strip tease (i.e., little tease involved). The more common version is tamer, but no less stupid.The trailer will give you some idea of the preposterousness:

To close out our tribute to Mamie, here are the rockabilly brother-sister act The Collins Kids doing the theme from "High School Confidential":

Comments (6)

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MilesTrane says excellent post - thanks

Permalink posted 07/29/2007
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ye-ye girl says Love Mamie. Reminds me of a sordid incident where The Beatles go clubbing with Jayne Mansfield, and George Harrison accidentally throws a drink at Mamie van Doren- while he actually intended to hit the the overzealous paparazzi. Go her and read her "bedtime stories" http://www.mamievandoren.com/home.html- pretty cheeky stuff.

Permalink posted 07/29/2007
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chucky says I just checked netflix and sadly they don't have Sex Kittens go to College - which is a damn shame because it looked highly entertaining. :) But, they do have High School Confidential so it's in my queue. I gather it's a 50s 21 Jump Street? Should be fun.

Permalink posted 07/29/2007
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dermahrk says I watched all of the three videos - unusual for me but well worth it! It takes at least 3, maybe 4 minutes for Mamie to start singing in "Untamed Youth" - the longest intro in rock history? Stephen Bishop did a short song called "Sex Kittens Go To College" on his third LP, obviously based on the movie title, which ends "I wonder what they're studyin' tonight?" Great clip! I checked The Video Beat, but they don't have this title for sale, either. The Collins kids? I was exposed to them through a couple of tracks on the "Rockin' Bones" Rhino box and loved them. I had NO idea there would be live footage of them, so this was a real treat. That kid is insane! And the sister is no kid!

Permalink posted 07/30/2007
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cosmo says Whenever I hear the name Mamie Van Doren I think of Bo Belinsky who pitched for the LA Angels in the early '60s. He had a brief career in the Show (where he once pitched a no-hitter) but was better known as the bon vivant athlete of his era. He dated his share of Hollywood starlets, including Mamie. He washed out of baseball after a few years and wasn't heard from again.

Permalink posted 07/30/2007
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emscee says And just to complete a loopy circle back to pop (sorta) music, when I think of Bo Belinsky, I think of a reference made to him by Allan Sherman on "Oh Boy," a track on his smash comedy LP "My Son, The Folksinger."

Permalink posted 07/30/2007