The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-07

FIRST WROTE RAaTIME.
Ernest Hogan, Now Famous as a
Vaudeville Star.

The Kansas City Journal says: Ernest
Hogan, whom the vaudeville managers
call the unbleached American, is at the
Orpheum theater his week. He is paid
a big salary, and the theaterg going pub
| lie counts him q success. On the pro-
| gramme and on the billboards the name
of Ernest Hogan is printed in large
| type and he is receiving all the other
| honorS that the average theatrical as
pirant longs for.
Not many years ago Ernest Hogan
was very ordinary piano player. His
home was in Kansas City and it was
| while in this town that he composed
| the words and music to the famous
coon song, Pas Mala." This was real
| ly the first ragtime number ever per-
| petrated upon the public and it will
surprise great many people to know
that the coon song got its first start
in Kansas City, L. S. A.
Hogan sold Pas Mala" TO a local
publisher for the princely sum of s25.
He wouldn't have done it, but, as he
says himself, he needed the money
Three months after its publication the
catchy tune Of Pas MaIa" was on
every tongue. Managers in the East
began sending to Kansas City for the
orchestra score. Hogan was elated.
He concluded that If his song could
go in the East that it's author could
make a hit there also. He journeyed
toward New York. Before he left Kan
sas City he had begun the composition
of another coon song. He completed il
after he arrived in New York. This
song is known to nearly every person
in the United States. It's title has been
used as a catch phrase a thousand
times. 1t was one of the most popular
coon songs ever written and its name is
IAN Coons Look Alike TO Me-" Ernest
Hogan. the very ordinary Kansas city
piano player. wrote the words and music
10 that song.
While In the East Hogan wrote a let
ter TO the Kansas City man who had
published his first song, telling him that
he had another and asking if he would
publish it on a royalty basis. The Kan
sas City man answered by telling Ho-
gan that he wouldn't give him royalties,
but he would double the price of Pas
Mala" and give him $50 for his "AlI
CoonS Look Alike 10 Me" Hogan
laughed at this proposition, for there
were a dozen big music publishing con-
Germs anxious to do the work at the
authors own terms ''All Coons Look
Alike to Me" made a fortune for Hogan
and the man who published it, In
cidentally, it gave Hogan a standing as
q vaudeville artist
Hogan had tried his hand at acting. |
He started out Of Kansas City in a play |
called I'm Old Tennessee" The play
was all right in construction, but the |
title indicated a copy of In Old Ken |
lucky" and the show busted" Hogan |
did good work in this play in the char !
acter of an old negro. He had a good |
voice, TOO, and his songs went well. |
Last summer he was featured on the /
bills of the summer vaudeville houses.
In one New York roof garden he played |
for six straight weeks.
Hogan Is making money hand over
list, as the Irishman would say. Besides
his salary as a tOp-line artist in vaude-
Vile, the royalties from his songs fur
nish an amount sufficient to keep
whole pack Of wolves from the door. Il