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.
Saturday Night
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cause that's the night that my sweetie and I
Used to dance cheek to cheek
I don't mind Sunday night at all
Cause that's the night friends come to call
And Monday to Friday go fast
And another week is past
I sing the song that I sang for the memories I usually seek
Until I hear you at the door
Until you're in my arms once more
Saturday night is the loneliest night in the week
Mm Saturday night is the loneliest night in the week
I sing the song that I sang for the memories I usually seek
Until I hear you at the door
Until you're in my arms once more
Saturday night is the loneliest night in the week
Until I hear you at the door
Until you're in my arms once more
Saturday night is the loneliest night in the week
Julie London's song "Saturday Night" is a melancholic but sentimental ballad that speaks about the loneliness experienced by the singer during Saturday nights. She feels the absence of her lover who used to go out dancing with her during these nights. The first stanza reflects on the memories of dancing cheek to cheek with him, highlighting that Saturdays are now the loneliest night because of his absence. The second stanza provides a glimmer of hope with the arrival of friends and how their coming over on Sunday nights makes that evening less lonely. Furthermore, Mondays to Fridays go by fast, indicating that they are eventful and busy days; hence, they do not feel lonely. However, the chorus brings back to focus the theme of loneliness, making it clear that only the return of her lover could make her feel complete.
The last section, "Until I hear you at the door, Until you're in my arms once more, Saturday night is the loneliest night in the week," concludes the song with the hope that, one day, he will come back, making Saturdays as enjoyable and exciting as they were before. The song's lyrics portray the feeling of nostalgia through a simple melody that underscores the contrast between the present and the past.
Line by Line Meaning
Saturday night is the loneliest night in the week
The singer feels most alone and desolate on Saturday nights
Cause that's the night that my sweetie and I Used to dance cheek to cheek
This was the time when the singer used to spend their Saturday nights with their significant other dancing in close proximity
I don't mind Sunday night at all Cause that's the night friends come to call
Sunday nights are not so bad because friends come over to spend time with the singer
And Monday to Friday go fast And another week is past
The artist is saying that time flies by so fast from Monday to Friday as the week passes by quickly
I sing the song that I sang for the memories I usually seek
The artist recollects their past memories and sings this song to relive them
Until I hear you at the door Until you're in my arms once more
The singer eagerly waits for their sweetie to arrive and hold them tight once again
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind