Cole Porter "Let's Misbehave" Irene Bordoni with Irving Aaronson & His Commanders (1928) LYRICS HERE

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Irene Bordoni sings Cole Porter's "Let's Misbehave."

She is backed by Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, which is fitting because Aaronson and his musicians were in Cole Porter's show starring Bordini.

Aaronson and his men were a sensation in the second act of the show Paris.

This fine recording was not issued in 1928 when it was made. This take seems to have stayed in a vault for many years until RCA finally put it out though I'm not sure when (during the LP era?).

Instead, in 1928 Victor issued a wonderful take recorded by Irving Aaronson and His Commanders without Bordini singing--I refer to Victor 21260.

Nonetheless, this Bordini take is noteworthy for several reasons. One is that she sings original lines by Cole Porter that are dropped by other singers, including the opening lines.

Cole Porter wrote "Let's Misbehave" in 1927 with Irene Bordini in mind since she was female lead of his first major production, Paris, which began rehearsals in early 1928. He wrote some of the numbers while in Venice, Italy, in 1927.

This song was taken out of the show before the Broadway opening on October 8, 1928, at the Music Box Theater. The song was in early shows in cities before the traveling show finally hit Broadway. The Cole Porter song that replaced "Let's Misbehave" before the Broadway opening was just as wonderful: "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love."

HERE ARE LYRICS TO "LET'S MISBEHAVE":

You could have a great career,
and you should! Only one
thing stops you, dear: you're
too good! If you want a
future, darlin', why don't you
get a past? 'Cause that fateful
moment's comin' at last...

We're all alone. No chaperone
can get our number. The
world's in slumber--let's
misbehave! There's something
wild about you, child, that's so
contagious. Let's be
outrageous--let's misbehave!

When Adam won Eve's hand he
wouldn't stand for teasin'. He
didn't care about those apples
out of season. They say that
spring means just one thing
to little lovebirds. We're not
above birds--let's misbehave!

It's getting late, and while I wait,
my poor heart aches on.
Why keep the brakes on? Let's
misbehave!

I feel quite sure un peu d'amour
would be attractive.
While we're still active, let's misbehave!

If you would just be
sweet and only meet your
fate, dear, would be the
great event of 1928, dear.
I always squeeze my
Pekingese whenever he's good.
Your pedigree's good. Let's misbehave.

The hour is prime
We're wasting time
procrastinating.
Start osculating.
Let's misbehave.

Irene Bordoni was born on January 16, 1895, in Ajaccio, Corsica.. The chanteuse made her stage debut in Paris.

She arrived in the United States in 1912 and became popular in revues and vaudeville. She first appeared in New York in "Broadway to Paris" (1912).

She introduced "Do It Again," with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Buddy De Sylva, in a show that opened on February 20, 1922. According to Gershwin's own account quoted in Robert Kimball and Alfred Simon's The Gershwins (Atheneum 1973), Irene Bordoni heard the composer play the new song at a party, "whereupon Irene Bordoni rushed across the room and cried, 'I must have that song! It's for me!' Needless to say, Irene got what she wanted, and sang the song in a show called The French Doll." A caricature of Bordoni is on the sheet music cover.

Her first Victor session was on November 5, 1923, following her success in the show Little Miss Bluebeard. She recorded "So This Is Love" (the take was rejected) and "I Won't Say I Will," which was backed with another take of "So This Is Love" recorded on November 13 (19199).

In early 1926 she recorded again for Victor, cutting numbers from the show Naughty Cinderella.

In 1928 she introduced on stage in Paris the Cole Porter classic "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)," performing it with Arthur Margetson. She also introduced "Let's Misbehave" during try-outs of the show though it was dropped from the show before it hit Broadway on October 8.

The dance band Irving Aaronson and His Commanders was in the original production of Paris, and in mid-1928 Bordoni recorded numbers from the show with this ensemble though Victor issued only "Don't Look At Me That Way" and "The Land of Going To Be."

A movie version of Paris--with Porter's score dropped, the story changed--was released by Warner Brothers in 1929 with Bordoni as its star performer (Fanny Brice and Sophie Tucker were also in it), and in September she cut four numbers for Columbia, two of them from the film's score. Sadly, no prints of the film are known to have survived.

She was married to composer and producer E. Ray Goetz.

She died on March 19, 1953.










Cole Porter "Let's Misbehave" Irene Bordoni with Irving Aaronson & His Commanders (1928) LYRICS HERE