An Old Dragnet Story
On April 12th of this year, I noticed the 4–12 on a memo I was reading. It reminded me of a recording from back in the late 1950s called Saint George and The Dragon. I always believed it was performed by Allan Sherman though I cannot find it within his many recordings. I searched for it throughout the internet and on YouTube. I did find his Hello Motha Hello Fatha which is his most famous song. So, I apologize for not having the exact person or persons who actually produced this memorable recording.
The story goes that the Dragon is a criminal who is being sought after by Joe Friday of the Los Angeles police department. Friday is the main character in the TV show Dragnet that was popular back when this recording was made. The recording goes on with a lot of silly lines that eventually find Friday cornering the Dragon.
Upon capturing the Dragon he says, “I am arresting you on a 4–12!” The Dragon comes back screaming at the top of his lungs with “What’s a 4–12?”. Friday comes back with, “Overacting!”
The piece finishes with the Dragnet music theme from the TV show. DA DA DA — DA DA DA DA — DA DA DA — DA DA DA.
(This is a short story from the Wolrad Collection #84)
