"Hot Lips" ("When He Plays Jazz He's Got - Hot Lips") is a popular song written by jazz trumpeter Henry Busse, Henry Lange, and Lou Davis. The song was a #1 hit for Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. Henry Busse was a founding member of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra recorded the song on June 23, 1922 in New York and released it as a Victor 78, 18920-A. The recording was no. 1 for 6 weeks. The Paul Whiteman recording was featured in the Oprah Winfrey movie The Color Purple (1985), directed by Steven Spielberg.
First published in 1922, it was advertised as "A Blues Fox Trot Song" The song is about a trumpet player. The chorus is:
- He's got hot lips— When he plays Jazz,
- He draws out step,— Like no one has,
- You're on your toes,— And shake your shoes,
- Boy, how he goes— When he plays Blues.
- I watch the crowd— Until he's through,
- He can be proud— They're "cuckoo,' too;
- His music's rare You must declare,— The boy is there
- With two hot lips, He's got hot lips.
Read more about Hot Lips: Other Recordings
Famous quotes containing the words hot and/or lips:
“There is little for the great part of the history of the world except the bitter tears of pity and the hot tears of wrath.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“...to many a mother’s heart has come the disappointment of a loss of power, a limitation of influence when early manhood takes the boy from the home, or when even before that time, in school, or where he touches the great world and begins to be bewildered with its controversies, trade and economics and politics make their imprint even while his lips are dewy with his mother’s kiss.”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)