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.
Now Baby Now
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now? (Not now, baby)
When do I want you to cling to me
Now, baby, now
When could it mean everything to me
Now, baby, now
That requires a me, you see
When do I want you to cling to me
Now, (now), now, (now), now, (now)
Baby, now
(I want you to cling to me) Now
(When it means everything to me) Now
(When it's love you should bring to me) Now?
Now!
When should you go into hide from me
Now, baby, now
Though the future is the pleasantest tense
What I want is in the presentest tense
While the fruit is heavy on the bough
When do I want you to cling to me, baby
When could it mean everything to me, baby
Now, now, now, baby, now
The lyrics of "Now Baby Now" by Julie London focus on the urgency of being together with her lover in the present moment. The repetition of "Now?" and "Now!" emphasizes the sense of immediacy and need for physical and emotional closeness. The singer expresses a longing and a need for her lover's presence, which requires a real and immediate response. The lyrics also suggest that the future is uncertain, and that the present is the only moment that really counts.
The use of tense in the lyrics also adds depth to the meaning of the song. The reference to "the pleasantest tense" implies that the future looks bright, but it is in the present that love should be brought to the relationship. The line "while the fruit is heavy on the bough" suggests that the present moment is ripe with possibilities, and that it should not be wasted. In summary, the song is a call to action, urging the lover to seize the moment, to be fully present in the relationship, and to cling to the singer now, in the present moment.
Line by Line Meaning
Now? (Not now, baby)
Asking if the present moment is a good time to be intimate, but deciding it's not
Now? (Not now, baby)
Asking again if the present moment is suitable, but still declining
When do I want you to cling to me
Asking when the singer desires physical closeness
Now, baby, now
Responding that the moment is currently right for intimacy
When could it mean everything to me
Asking when the intimacy is the most important to the artist
Now, baby, now
Again responding that the present moment is ideal
Got a longing and a need, you see
Expressing that the singer has a desire for intimacy
That requires a me, you see
Saying that this need can only be fulfilled by another person
When should you go into hide from me
Asking when the other person shouldn't be around
Now, baby, now
Responding that now is the time for the other person to stay near
Though the future is the pleasantest tense
Recognizing that future possibilities can be enjoyable
What I want is in the presentest tense
Acknowledging that what the artist really wants is in the present moment
While the fruit is heavy on the bough
Making a metaphor about how the moment is ripe for physical intimacy
When do I want you to cling to me, baby
Asking yet again for physical closeness
When could it mean everything to me, baby
Asking when that physical closeness is most significant
Now, now, now, baby, now
Confirming that the present moment is the time for intimacy
Contributed by Layla T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.