No School Tomorrow – Dana Valery
Every since school was invented, kids have loved hearing 3 little words – ‘No School Tomorrow’. I am sure even back in Plato day’s when the Greek Philosophers schooled the youngesters, the kids then would have jumped for joy when there was a break from being at school for, as they say, all word and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
It is therefore not too surprising that Dana Valey’s 1963 hit, ‘No School Tomorrow’ is jammed packed with joy. The song bounces along on a 50’s rock ‘n’ roll tune with the obligatory Bowser-esque (I grew up with Sha-Na-Na on TV) bom-bom-bom bom’s playing against Dana’s joy-filled vocals.
The fact that we have this song was a result of imported talent as Dana was born in Italy but moved to South Africa when she was 4 and it was written by Charles Segal who was born in Lithuania but moved to South Africa when he was 2. I don’t know who does the girlie ‘la-la-la-las’ that accompany Dana. They may have been locally born talent but it’s not that important. What is important is that the song was a South African product and it brought joy to all who heard it, even, I am sure, to those no longer in school but who, like all of us, fondly remember those last day of terms.
Where to find it:
Various Artists – The Best of SA Pop Volume 1 (1994) GMP, CDGMPD 40485 (CD)
Video: