“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” songwriter Paul Vance passed away May 30 at the age of 92. His cause of death was not revealed.
Paul Vance’s daughter Paula made the following announcement on her Facebook page: His father died while they listened to “Playground in My Mind,” a Vance song that features Philip as a vocalist.
“Only you, Dad,” she posted. “It’s as if he wrote the way he would take his last breath on Earth.”
When Joseph Paul Florio was born on November 4, 1929, he recorded the songs “Catch a Falling Star” and “Tracy,” as well as many others. He collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, and Robert Goulet to provide the music for his songs.
“Itsy Bisty Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” became a worldwide hit in 1960, spending 13 weeks on the Billboard top 40, with one week at No. 1.
After Paula put on her first two-piece swimsuit, Vance was inspired to write his most famous tune. According to Paula’s Facebook statement, she was actually 2 years old when she emerged from the dressing room covered in a towel — not 9 as reported.
“My dad the storyteller,” she said, “making me 7 years older with that story!”
From the legendary Brill Building in New York City, Vance and his co-writer Lee Pockriss wrote tunes that were big hits. According to Billboard magazine, their songs had sold more than 50 million copies by 1966. In 2011, Pockriss passed away.
The pair also composed the catch song “Leader of the Laundromat,” which parodied the Shangri-Las hit “Leader of the Pack.” David Geddes’ last major success was Vance’s 1975 tune “Run Joey Run.”
He boxed professionally while serving in the military and ran an auto salvage firm before entering the music business, according to the Washington Post. He became a horse owner and breeder after quitting the songwriting business.
In 2006, Vance was shocked to learn his own death had been announced on TV. Paul Van Valkenburgh of Connecticut claimed to be the author of “Itsy Bisty Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” which he wrote under the name Paul Vance, and upon his death, his family included this information in his obituary. After which, when Vance’s music publisher confirmed that it was not Van Valkenburgh who had written the song, not everyone believed him.
Paula Vance and Connie Vance Cohen, as well as his son Joseph Vance, survive him. His wife, Margaret Curte Vance, and his son Philip Vincent died before him.
