Colonel Bogey March

From Free net encyclopedia

The Colonel Bogey March is one of the most successful marches ever published. It was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F J Ricketts (1881-1945), a military bandmaster who was Director of Music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. Since at that time Service personnel were not encouraged to have professional lives outside the armed forces, Ricketts published 'Colonel Bogey' and his other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford.

Supposedly, the tune was inspired by a military man and golfer who whistled a characteristic two-note phrase (a descending minor third interval) instead of shouting "Fore!". It is this phrase that begins each line of the melody. [1]

The sheet music was a million-seller and the march was recorded many times. The English composer Malcolm Arnold added a counter-melody for its use in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, and to this day, it is still strongly identified with its use in the movie, symbolizing indomitability in the face of oppression and hardship, although many people don't realise the film version is not the original. Note that Arnold has written a march of his own for use in this movie, which is called "The River Kwai March" and has nothing to do with Alford's march that is nowadays falsely known under that name. There was a minor diplomatic flap in the early 1970s when the "Colonel Bogey" march was played—perhaps to cause embarrassment, perhaps not—during a visit by the Japanese prime minister to Australia.

"Colonel Bogey" is the authorized march of The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) of the Canadian Forces.

Many humorous or satirical verses have been sung to this tune, most of them vulgar. One parody, "Comet", is sung by schoolchildren and deals with the effects of consuming household cleanser.

The tune was used to great effect in an episode of the UK cult TV series The Avengers and in the U.S. movies The Parent Trap, The Breakfast Club and Spaceballs. It has also been frequently used in British and American television commercials, including for Mastercard. It was the theme to The Johnny LaRue Show sketch on SCTV. And on a Weekend Update sketch that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sing The Bobo Shoes song to the tune of Colonel Bogey March.