"(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1948.
The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including a duet between Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby (for their album Fancy Meeting You Here (1958)), Ella Fitzgerald, Joni James, Jimmy Buffett, Fats Domino and Liza Minnelli.
In the UK, the biggest hit version was recorded by Emile Ford and the Checkmates peaking at #3 in the official singles chart in 1960.
Ronnie Dove recorded the song for his 1966 album Ronnie Dove Sings the Hits for You.
Bette Midler and Barry Manilow recorded the song for Midler's album Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook (2003).
Miss Piggy performed the song with actor Roger Moore an episode of The Muppet Show.
Paul McCartney sang this song to honor Frank Loesser.
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Hit recordings
Idiom
Frank Loesser's daughter, Susan Loesser, authored a biography of her father, A Most Remarkable Fella (1993), in which she writes:
The idea being that a "slow boat to China" was the longest trip one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time.
Media
This song is:
- Featured prominently in the Peter Greenaway film 8½ Women.
- Featured in the Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master (2012 film).
- Featured briefly in the Adventure Time episode "Bad Timing", sung by Tree Trunks.
- Briefly sung by "Mother" (played by June Whitfield) in an episode of the long running BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous called "Fish Farm".
- A jazz version of "Slow Boat to China" is performed in the novel Never Split Tens! (2017).
The phrase "a slow boat to China" (or a snowclone thereof) features:
- The title of Gavin Young's break-through book, recounting a journey from Piraeus to Canton
- The title of a novel by Chen Danyan in Shanghai, China
- The title of a short story by Haruki Murakami, translated into English in the collection The Elephant Vanishes.
- Played on in the title of the song "Slow Hole to China" on the 2003 album of the same name by the band Clutch.
- Referred to in Only Fools and Horses; an episode is called "Slow Bus to Chingford".
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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