Anita O'Day (October 18, 1919 - November 23, 2006) was an American jazz sin… Read Full Bio ↴Anita O'Day (October 18, 1919 - November 23, 2006) was an American jazz singer.

Few female jazz singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Her improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her more than just another big-band canary. At a time when most female vocals tended to emphasize the sweet timbres of their voice, she chose to emphasize a path blazed by the one major jazz singer who emphasized message over medium - Billie Holiday. Like Holiday, O'Day combined the soaring freedom of jazz instrumentalist with the storytelling lyricism of a poet.

After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era.

During the late Forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September of 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1962.

Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1956 for the newly established Verve Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October of 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the Fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.

As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story , singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959 she toured Europe with Benny Goodman; according to her autobiography, when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.

After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.

O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir, High Times, Hard Times.

Her version of the standard, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3 in 2005.

2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.

Ten Cents a Dance
Anita O'Day Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I work at the Palace Ballroom, but,
gee that Palace is cheap;
When I get back to my chilly hall room
I'm much too tired to sleep.
I'm one of those lady teachers,
a beautiful hostess, you know,
the kind the Palace features
for only a dime a throw.

Ten cents a dance
that's what they pay me,
gosh, how they weigh me down!
Ten cents a dance
pansies and rough guys,
tough guys who tear my gown!
Seven to midnight I hear drums.
Loudly the saxophone blows.
Trumpets are tearing my eardrums.
Customers crush my toes.
Sometime I think
I've found my hero,
but it's a queer romance.
All that you need is a ticket,
Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance.

Fighters and sailors and bowlegged tailors
can pay for their ticket and rent me!
Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbors
are sweethearts my good luck has sent me.
Though I've a chorus of elderly beaux,
stockings are porous with holes at the toes.
I'm here till closing time,
Dance and be merry, it's only a dime.

Sometime I think
I've found my hero,
But it's a queer romance.

All that you need is a ticket.
Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance.

Overall Meaning

In Anita O'Day's song "Ten Cents a Dance," she portrays the life of a lady teacher who works as a hostess at the cheap Palace Ballroom. She explains that the long hours of work leave her so tired that she cannot sleep, yet she must endure seven hours of saxophone and trumpet sounds, crushing toes, and rough customers who tear her gown. She adds that she encounters fighters, sailors, tailors, butchers, barbers, and rats from the harbors who are willing to purchase her services "for only a dime a throw."

Thus, Anita's lyrics relate the story of a woman who is struggling to make ends meet by working in an environment that is less than sympathetic. The men who come to the Palace Ballroom are seeking companionship and often see the hostesses as dispensable. However, the lady teacher is hopeful that one of the men will be her savior, but this never materializes. She remains a mere object in the eyes of the customers who do not value her worth or dignity.

In summary, "Ten Cents a Dance" sends a poignant message of the harsh reality of life for women in the early twentieth century who were forced to work in establishments where their bodies and dignity were merely commodities to be bought and sold.

Line by Line Meaning

I work at the Palace Ballroom, but,
Despite my employment at the Palace Ballroom, I face significant exploitation.

gee that Palace is cheap;
The Palace Ballroom's pervasive poverty and parsimony is striking.

When I get back to my chilly hall room I'm much too tired to sleep.
I am absolutely exhausted after a long day's work and cannot even manage to rest in my humbly cold living quarters.

I'm one of those lady teachers, a beautiful hostess, you know, the kind the Palace features for only a dime a throw.
I am a talented and strikingly good-looking performer that the Palace employs and features for an extremely low cost to customers.

Ten cents a dance that's what they pay me, gosh, how they weigh me down!
I am exhaustively overworked and underpaid, my spirit weighed down by the ten cents I receive for each dance.

Ten cents a dance pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown!
The men who pay me ten cents a dance vary greatly; there are delicate men and rough ones who have even ruined some of my clothing.

Seven to midnight I hear drums. Loudly the saxophone blows. Trumpets are tearing my eardrums. Customers crush my toes.
The intense, relentless nature of my work is pervasive; I experience loud music, painful foot injuries due to pressing customers, and general difficulties from 7PM to midnight.

Sometime I think I've found my hero, but it's a queer romance.
Occasionally, I am hopeful that I will meet someone and fall in love, but such a thought in this environment is a strange one indeed.

All that you need is a ticket, Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance.
All that is required for a man to receive a dance from me is ten cents; and so, come hither, my big, bold potential customers.

Fighters and sailors and bowlegged tailors can pay for their ticket and rent me!
Men involved in a variety of careers, like fighters, sailors, and tailors with bowlegs, are able to pay ten cents for a dance with me.

Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbors are sweethearts my good luck has sent me.
I've even encountered folks like butchers, barbers, and even rats from the local harbors who've become fond of me.

Though I've a chorus of elderly beaux, stockings are porous with holes at the toes.
Even though I have a chorus of older gentlemen pursuing me, my stockings are worn out and even have holes in the toes.

I'm here till closing time, Dance and be merry, it's only a dime.
I'll be at the ballroom until it closes, dancing with folks and encouraging them to have a good time, despite the fact that it only costs ten cents.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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