Tall Paul

"Tall Paul" is a song recorded by Annette Funicello and written by the Sherman Brothers. It marked the first time that a female singer reached a top ten slot for a rock and roll single. It also spotlighted Annette from amongst the other Mouseketeers on the Mickey Mouse Club and paved the way for the movie career which followed. Walt Disney personally took notice of the string of chart toppers which the Sherman Brothers were writing for Annette and subsequently asked the songwriters to work for him exclusively. The Sherman Brothers went on to win two Oscars for Mary Poppins several years later.

This article is about the late 1950s pop song. For the English DJ, see Tall Paul (DJ). For the English basketball player Paul "Tiny" Sturgess (also known as Tall Paul), see Paul Sturgess (basketball).

"Tall Paul" was credited to Annette and the Afterbeats and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959.[1] It was the highest-charting song by Annette Funicello and also one of the shortest, clocking in at 1 minute and 38 seconds.[2] The version included on Annette: A Musical reunion With America's Girl Next Door lists the song at 1 minute 52 seconds.[3]

It was rumored that the song was about Paul Anka, but Anka denied this, saying that he was not tall. (Source: A&E Biography on Annette Funicello.) Anka and Funicello did have a brief relationship before Walt Disney, who was overprotecting Funicello, kept them apart.

Annette Funicello made a cameo appearance as herself in the 1989 film Troop Beverly Hills, while jogging she's singing the first line of "Tall Paul": "Chalk on the sidewalk/Writing on the wall/Everybody knows it/I love Paul", and being pursued by Frankie Avalon, also playing himself.

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Eighth ed.). Record Research. p. 30.
  2. Song list and timing on album back cover of Vista BV-4037, released 1972
  3. Annette: A Musical Reunion With America’s Girl Next Door, CD 1, Walt Disney Records, Burbank, CA, 1993,


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