London's 35-year acting career began in films in 1944 and included playing opposite Gary Cooper in Man of the West (1958) and Robert Mitchum in The Wonderful Country (1959). She achieved continuing success in the TV medical drama Emergency! (1972–1979), co-starring her real-life husband, Bobby Troup, and produced by her ex-husband, Jack Webb, in which London played the female lead role of nurse Dixie McCall. She and Randolph Mantooth, who played one-half of her medical students, a paramedic, in the series, were very close to her family, until her death in 2000.
Born in Santa Rosa, California, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team. When she was fourteen the family moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional High School in 1945.
London began singing under the name Gayle Peck in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by talent agent Sue Carol (wife of actor Alan Ladd), while working as an elevator operator. Her early film career, however, did not include any singing roles.
London recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. She was the subject of a 1957 Life cover article in which she was quoted as saying, "It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate."
London's debut recordings were for the Bethlehem Records label. While shopping for a record deal, she recorded four tracks that would later be included on the compilation album Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1955. Bobby Troup backed London on the album, for which London recorded the standards "Don't Worry About Me", "Motherless Child", "A Foggy Day", and "You're Blasé".
London's most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high-school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by Troup. The recording became a million-seller after its release in December 1955 and also sold on reissue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson cover. London performed the song in the film The Girl Can't Help It (1956), and her recording gained later attention in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006). The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO television series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album. London's "Must Be Catchin'" was featured in the 2011 premiere episode of the ABC series Pan Am. Her last recording was "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine (1981).
Other popular singles include "Hot Toddy", "Daddy", and "Desafinado". Recordings such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and playfully sensual.
She was married to Jack Webb, of Dragnet fame. Her obvious beauty and self-poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted with his pedestrian appearance and stiff-as-a-board acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from his and her love for jazz; their marriage lasted from July 1947 to November 1953. They had two daughters, one who was killed in a traffic accident in the 1990s and one who survived London. In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Jack Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup at a club on La Brea Blvd. They married on December 31, 1959 and remained married until Troup's death in February 1999. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons.
London suffered a stroke in 1995, and was in poor health until her death in Encino, California, at the age of seventy-four, survived by four of her five children. She died on18th October 2000, and was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Julie London's song "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" expresses intense emotional feelings of love, longing, and heartbreak. The song signifies the struggle between loving someone who doesn't treat you right and not being strong enough to let go. The singer is very emotional and sentimental, expressing that her poor heart is not made of wood. She is so mad about him, yet she knows deep down that he doesn't love her the way she loves him, and he doesn't treat her sweetly and gently as he ought to. Nonetheless, she can't help but still love him, and it shows in the way she prays with him and "sins" with him as they walk through life together.
The singer is conflicted and frustrated, as she is unable to move on and save her tears. She is so absorbed in the love she feels for him that she has completely lost herself. This song's theme is relatable, as many people have experienced the same feelings of heartache and desperation to hold on to a love that may not be healthy for them. The song's mournful and melancholy melody beautifully captures the desperate hopelessness felt by the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
Though folks with good intentions
Tell me to save my tears
Even though people with good intentions advise me to stop crying
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
I am so deeply in love with him, that I cannot bear to live without him
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
He does not treat me with the tenderness and kindness that I deserve
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
I am deeply infatuated with him, but it is not a healthy or good thing
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
My heart is soft and emotional, it is not unfeeling
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
But even though he does not love me the way I love him, we still spend time together on weekends, drinking, praying and indulging in some vices
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
He does not reciprocate my love the way he should
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
I am caught in the grip of an unhealthy, unrequited love and it is not a good thing
Lyrics © GUY WEBSTER/WEBSTER MUSIC , Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: EDWYN STEPHEN COLLINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind