[SHEET MUSIC] My Chinee girl : song by COURTNEY, Vince (words and music)

Cover: Successfully introduced into Fuller's brilliant Australian pantomime, ""The Bunyip,"" by Vince Courtney. Sydney : W. J. Deane & Son, [1917]. Quarto (295 x 250 mm), original cloth-backed printed wrappers, with the original owner's inscription in ink '21st November 1918 / Cecil Holl'; [4] pp. music notation (arrangement for voice and piano); slightly trimmed at top and bottom edges, but a good copy. The highly successful pantomime The Bunyip, with music and libretto by Australian composer Vince Courtney, was staged by entrepreneur Benjamin Fuller in 1916 at the Grand Opera House, Sydney; in 1917 at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, and the Majestic Theatre, Adelaide; and in 1918 at the Empire, Brisbane. It seems reasonable to assume that the original owner of this sheet music for one of the show's tunes, My Chinese girl, purchased it after seeing the Brisbane production. Although its title contains the racist epithet Chinee, there is actually little difference between the sentiment in the lyrics of this song and those in David Bowie and Iggy Pop's China Girl (1977), which was apparently inspired by Iggy's infatuation with Vietnamese woman Kuelan Nguyen. 'Vince Courtney was an Australian songwriter, entertainer, singer and radio personality during the vaudeville era. Born in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1887. He was prominent in the early twentieth century. He was born in Newcastle, New South Wales. Although it is unusual for an Australian artist, Courtney was regarded as universally published and a household word from his gramophone recordings and radio broadcasts. He often performed with his wife, Eva. For several years he was a key member of impersonator revue Stiffy and Mo, with fellow vaudeville personality Roy Rene. He contributed songs to pantomime The Bunyip (1916). Many of his songs were written for other leading variety performers. On 17 August 1951 he collapsed in a Dubbo hotel lobby and died suddenly. He is buried in Randwick, New South Wales.' (Wikipedia)