Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
| "Chicago" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Frank Sinatra | ||||
| A-side | "All the Way" | |||
| Released | October 1957 | |||
| Recorded | 1957 | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz, swing, traditional pop | |||
| Length | 2:10 | |||
| Label | Capitol Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Fred Fisher | |||
| Producer(s) | Nelson Riddle | |||
| Frank Sinatra singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Chicago" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Sergio Franchi | |
| Released | 1964 |
| Label | RCA Victor |
| Songwriter(s) | Fred Fisher |
| RCA Victor release number 47-8315 | |
"Chicago" is a popular song written by Fred Fisher and published in 1922 by Fred Fisher. The original sheet music variously spelled the title "Todd'ling" or "Toddling." The song has been recorded by many artists, but the best-known versions are by Frank Sinatra, Ben Selvin and Judy Garland. The song alludes to the city's colorful past, feigning "... the surprise of my life / I saw a man dancing with his own wife", mentioning evangelist Billy Sunday as having not been able to "shut down" the city, and State Street where "they do things they don't do on Broadway".
The song made a minor appearance on the U.S. pop charts, reaching #84 in the fall of 1957. It was the first of two charting songs about Chicago recorded by Sinatra. The other was "My Kind of Town" from 1964, which reached U.S. #110.
This song was parodied in 1996 as "Chicago (No Elmos Allowed)" as a satirical commentary on the mass-commercialization of Elmo, as that was when he was at the peak of pop culture saturation with Elmo themed merchandise and Tickle-Me Elmo dolls.