“Ling, Ting, Tong” (1954) – The Five Keys * Written by Mable Godwin * 45: “Ling, Ting, Tong” / “I’m Alone” * Label: Capitol
The “Hong Kong” sound settles in early with a yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer) that is possibly just piano strings. Although the Five Keys (from Newport News, Virginia) kill it on this single, and its arrangement pops like fifties neon-lit Chinatown on Saturday night, the cartoonish cultural stereotype approach dooms it to the artifact bin. A 2010 Playstation video game called Mafia II, even so, has used it within the context of its subject’s already politically incorrect context. Songwriter Mable Goodwin (from Suffolk, Virginia) was a beloved mainstay as a singer and pianist at Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village from 1960 to 1993. Her only additional writing credit of note was another politically incorrect boo boo recorded by the Five Keys: “Me Make Um Pow Wow.”