Are You Ready Hezzie
It's fair to say that a little slide whistle goes a long way. That said, the Hoosier Hot Shots made a name for themselves by turning that truism on its ear and giving it a good goosing. The group got its start in the 1920s when three of the four stalwart members came together at an Indiana Fair 4H club meeting. By 1933, they'd parlayed their brand of what now might be considered whoopee-cushion Western swing into a featured spot on the popularNational Barn Danceradio show. A recording group from 1934 to 1942, they eventually moved over to film work and, while their popularity faded in the '50s, they remained a going concern until 1992, when founding member Gabe Ward died at age 87.Are You Ready, Hezzie?(the title comes from the quartet's catch phrase) offers 25 novelty tunes from the fellas; titles like "The Coat and Pants Do All the Work and the Vest Gets All the Gravy," "I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones," and "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" say it all. If you have a taste for spirited, well-played cornball novelty numbers, it's tough to beat the Hot Shots. And you have to love an anthology that prompts the complaint: "What, no 'From the Indies to the Andies in His Undies'?"--Steven Stolder