1954 Lost Crooner Song for Creature from the Black Lagoon – LOVE ME UNDER THE LAGOON

Описание: A newly unearthed 1954 crooner song recorded as a tie-in for the film Creature from the Black Lagoon.

While Universal Pictures had never quite cracked the movie tie-in song market, the studio was determined to make it work for their upcoming monster picture, Creature from the Black Lagoon.

To that end, they hired lounge singer Smoogle Scaramuchi to record a romantic vocal meant to humanize the film’s aquatic antagonist.

Smoogle, not known for questioning creative direction, agreed immediately. His only request was that he be allowed to borrow the Gill-man suit during the session, insisting he needed to “feel the creature” in order to sing authentically.

The song, “Love Me Under the Lagoon,” was recorded in a single afternoon inside a small studio apartment located behind Musso & Frank’s, Smoogle’s favorite chicken parm joint. While some studio executives were privately confused by the romantic angle, early reactions to the track were overwhelmingly positive.

Problems arose later that evening.
When studio pages arrived to retrieve the Gill-man suit, they instead found Smoogle in the Musso & Frank’s parking lot, eight whisky sours deep, crooning to passing cars while still fully suited. When the pages attempted to escort him back inside, Smoogle reportedly shouted, “YOU’RE STRETCHING IT!”

He then dove into a waiting valet car that was not his.

Smoogle was arrested several blocks away on Gower Street and charged with DWC (Driving While Crooning), a statute no longer on the books but aggressively enforced in 1950s Los Angeles. Notably, drinking and driving, as well as operating a motor vehicle while wearing a Gill-man costume, were both perfectly legal at the time.

The incident effectively ended Smoogle’s career overnight.

Universal quietly shelved the recording and buried all mention of the song, unwilling to be associated with a driving crooner. For decades, “Love Me Under the Lagoon” was believed lost to history, and the depths of the black lagoon itself.
Until now.

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