Looked it up and here are the boring details. Parodies of Sousa’s lyrics of 1896 started showing up in the ‘30s on college campuses and in the ’40s at USO performances. First recording I found of Arlo’s particular version was by Mitch Miller in the ’50s. It of course was a regular feature on Sing Along With Mitch.
One interesting tidbit, according to an article in Wikipedia: "In show business, particularly theater and the circus, this piece is called “the Disaster March”. It is a traditional code signaling a life-threatening emergency. This helps theater personnel to handle events and organize the audience’s exit without panic."
Looked it up and here are the boring details. Parodies of Sousa’s lyrics of 1896 started showing up in the ‘30s on college campuses and in the ’40s at USO performances. First recording I found of Arlo’s particular version was by Mitch Miller in the ’50s. It of course was a regular feature on Sing Along With Mitch.
One interesting tidbit, according to an article in Wikipedia: "In show business, particularly theater and the circus, this piece is called “the Disaster March”. It is a traditional code signaling a life-threatening emergency. This helps theater personnel to handle events and organize the audience’s exit without panic."