Ethel Smith’s Busy Fingers
Enjoy Ethel Smith performing her signature song “Tico Tico” in the Esther Williams musical Bathing Beauty (taken off an old VHS tape, apparently). I love Ethel Smith. There’s something about the combo of her hyperactive hands and the cheesy “roller rink” sounds emanating from her Hammond organ that is so weirdly compelling. I couldn’t locate any video of her doing “Blame It on the Samba” in the 1948 Disney film Melody Time, a proto-psychedelic whirl of live action and animation. Trust me, it’s wild. More on Ms. Smith, who died in 1996, can be found in this Cool & Strange Music Magazine profile.
