DESCRIPTION:
"An Occasional Man" is a 1955 song by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. The song is about an island paradise from the point of view of a woman who treats men as just another fun thing to enjoy on the island, like papayas and peaches. It was featured in the 1955 film Girl Rush starring Rosalind Russell's and performed in the movie by Gloria DeHaven.

Jeri Southern was an American jazz pianist and singer. Born Genevieve Hering in Royal, Nebraska, Southern began playing piano at age three, and at age six started formal study in classical piano. She studied classical piano and voice at Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska, where she became interested in jazz.

After beginning her career at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, she joined a United States Navy recruiting tour during World War II. In the late 1940s, she worked in Chicago clubs where she once played piano for Anita O'Day. She became known for torch songs.

She signed with Decca Records in 1951 and became known both for pop and jazz. The 1950s saw her at the height of her career. In 1955 her recording of "An Occasional Man", reached #89 in the Billboard pop chart. In that decade she sang in a few films and in 1957 she had a Top 30 hit with "Fire Down Below." The track peaked at #22 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1957. After her switch to Capitol Records, she had success doing interpretations of Cole Porter with Billy May arranging some of the more humorous examples.

In the 1960s she gave up the music industry to teach, and later moved to Hollywood, California to work on film composing with Hugo Friedhofer. She wrote Interpreting Popular Music At The Keyboard during her final years.

Southern died in Los Angeles of pneumonia in 1991, at the age of 64.

Video dedicated to the late Esther Williams with photo stills from some of her movies! Esther Jane Williams was an American competitive swimmer and MGM movie actress.

Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold medal winner and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller. It was at the Aquacade that Williams caught the attention of MGM scouts. After appearing in several small roles, alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and future five time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronized swimming and diving.

From 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film listed among the 20 highest grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which would go on to become her nickname while at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.

Following her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams became a businesswoman, and lent her name to a line of swimming pools and retro swimwear, instructional swimming videos for children, and serving as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

I've got an island
In the Pacific
And everything about it
Is terrific

I got the sun to tan me
Palms to fan me
And
An occasional man

I love my island
It's very lazy
If I should ever leave it
I'd be crazy

I've got papayas,
Peaches,
Sandy beaches, and
An occasional man

When I go swimmin'
I am always dressed in style
'Cause I go swimmin'
Wearin' just a great big smile

My little island
Was made for pleasure
And in the cool of evening
It's a treasure

And when the hour grows later
What is greater than
An occasional man

When I go swimmin'
I am always dressed in style
'Cause I go swimmin'
Wearin' just a great big smile

My little island
Is such a beauty
You may forget
To heed the call of duty

But if you give a slip
To your ship,
Miss the trip,
Take a tip and blame
An occasional dame