Thanks go to Jim Adams at A Unique Title for Me for finding this little gem of a song to feature for this week’s Novelty Song Friday.

Per wikipedia:
“Pink Shoe Laces” (or “Pink Shoelaces”) is a song composed by Mickie Grant that was recorded by Dodie Stevens, accompanied by Bobby Hammack and his Orchestra, and released as a single in 1959. The verses of the song are spoken rather than sung.

Dodie Stevens (born Geraldine Ann Pasquale, February 17, 1946) is an American rock and pop singer. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. She and her family moved to the San Gabriel Valley in California when she was three, where she soon started taking singing and dancing lessons. In 1954, at the age of eight, she recorded her first song, “Merry-Go Merry-Go Round.” The song was performed on the Art Linkletter’s House Party TV show and was issued on Gold Star Records under the name Geri Pace.

The president of Crystalette Records, Carl Burns, happened to see her in a local show called Strictly Informal. He gave her the name Dodie Stevens and the song “Pink Shoe Laces”. Although Stevens did not initially like her new name or the song, she recorded “Pink Shoe Laces” in 1959 for the Crystalette label (which was picked up by Dot for National distribution). The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Following the song’s success, Dot Records signed her to a recording contract. Her first Dot recording was “Mairzy Doats” (Dot 16002) in 1959. In the early 1960s, she had several minor hit singles on Dot including “No” (Dot 16103) and “Yes I’m Lonesome Tonight” (Dot 16167), as well as “Merry, Merry Christmas Baby” (M. Sylvia / G. Lopez) (Dot 16166), which continues to enjoy airplay during the Christmas season. Dot also released Dodie’s cover of the Patsy Cline hit “I Fall to Pieces” (Dot 16200) in 1961, and a remake of “Pink Shoe Laces” (Dot 16389) in 1962.

Stevens married at the age of sixteen and moved to Missouri to live on a farm. A few years later, she had a daughter, Stephanie. Soon thereafter, in 1966, she ended her marriage and resumed her singing career. In 1969, she once again appeared in the Billboard charts, peaking at #117 pop, #57 country, with “Billy, I’ve Got to Go to Town” (an answer record to “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town”), recorded under the name Geraldine Stevens. She took additional vocal lessons and in 1972 began appearing and recording with Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ’77. In the ensuing years she toured as a backup singer with such recording artists as Loretta Lynn, Frankie Avalon, and Boz Scaggs, and for twelve years with Mac Davis. In the 1990s, as Geri Stevens, she toured with Fabian and her own company “Dodie Stevens and The Pink Shoe Laces Review.” Recently, she has performed with her daughter Stephanie and appeared at oldies concerts across the country. She also teaches singing and stage performance out of her studio in San Diego County.

“Pink Shoe Laces” has appeared in the game LittleBigPlanet 3 and the television show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Now I’ve got a guy and his name is Dooley
He’s my guy and I love him truly
He’s not good lookin’, heaven knows
But I’m wild about his crazy clothes

He wears tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh

He takes me deep-sea fishing in a submarine
We got to drive-in movies in a limousine
He’s got a whirly-birdy and a 12-foot yacht
Ah, but that’s-a not all he’s got

He’s got tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Now Dooley had a feelin’ we were goin’ to war
So he went out and enlisted in a fightin’ corps
But he landed in the brig for raisin’ such a storm
When they tried to put ’em in a uniform

He wanted tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
He wanted tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh

Now one day Dooley started feelin’ sick
And he decided that he better make his will out quick
He said “Just before the angels come to carry me
I want it down in writin’ how to bury me.”

A’wearin tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Give me tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band

Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh

And a big Panama with a purple hat band!!
Songwriters: Mick Grant