"On A Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser published in 1948. The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including a duet between Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby (for their album Fancy Meeting You Here (1958)), Ella Fitzgerald, Joni James, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jimmy Buffett, Fats Domino and Liza Minnelli. In the UK, the biggest hit version was recorded in 1959 by Emile Ford and the Checkmates, which peaked at #3 in the official singles chart. Ronnie Dove recorded the song for his 1966 album Ronnie Dove Sings the Hits for You. Bette Midler and Barry Manilow recorded the song for Midler's album Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook (2003). Miss Piggy performed the song with actor Roger Moore in an episode of The Muppet Show. Paul McCartney sang this song to honor Frank Loesser.

Hit recordings

Idiom

Frank Loesser's daughter, Susan Loesser, authored a biography of her father, A Most Remarkable Fella (1993), in which she writes: The idea is that a slow boat to China was the longest trip one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time.

Media

In film and television

The phrase "a slow boat to China" (or a snowclone thereof) features