Sleepy Seas


"Sleepy Seas" was an Australian hit song which was first published in 1920 by Reginald Stoneham while manager of the Melola Salon music store in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. It was an instant popular success with dance halls. The following year sales expanded to other music publishers. This vocal waltz was used to accompany silent movies, in the era before talkies.
Australian audiences found the song lifted their spirits in times of crisis and "Sleepy Seas" achieved unprecedented sales. By 1928 it was universally known across Australia and enjoyed some global success. The song was frequently revived in musical theatre and variety entertainment, more than ten years after publication. The romantic overtones perhaps reflected gender relations in War-time Australia. It was sometimes performed in Islander style with ukulele and grass skirt.
Fortunately, the song escaped the scandals of producer Jack De Garis. Stoneham founded his own music publishing business and sold copies alongside those of fellow Australian composers.
Australia sighed with relief in 1950, as a copy of the music became the singular clue that solved a murder investigation.
The song was erroneously attributed to Australian popular vocalist Jack O'Hagan. Indeed some felt the song was an emblem of Australia.

Recordings

  • 1924 Kenneth Walters in ragtime style
  • 1927 Metro-Gnomes Dance Orchestra Zonophone Record – 3642
  • 1935 Johhny Wade in South Sea Islander style - 78 rpm recording audio online preserved at Australian National Film and Sound archive title number 156344
  • 1946 the 2FC radio dance orchestra

Arrangements

  • Big Band Swing style
  • Brass Band
  • Jazz Sextet
  • Violin trio
  • Symphony orchestra
  • Piano, Accordion and violin trio
  • Piano, cello, violin trio

Performances