A Brief History
On July 9, 1994, the world suffered the loss of another Bill, this time Bill Mosienko, a Ukrainian-Canadian former pro hockey player. Scoring a “hat trick” in an NHL record 21 seconds and being named “the most gentlemanly player in the league” by winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1945 are feats worthy of a song being sung about this Hall of Fame skater.
Digging Deeper
The name “Bill” appears in many notable songs, which today we list, asking you what “Bill” songs you would add?
“Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” a plea to a guy named Bill by Johnny Cash in 1959.
“Don’t Mess With Bill,” by the Marvelettes in 1965.
“Wedding Bell Blues” by the 5th Dimension in 1969.
“My Girl Bill,” a novelty song by Jim Stafford in 1974.
And, “I’m Just a Bill” by Jack Sheldon in 1976, our pick as the greatest “Bill” song!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What Bill would you write a song about?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Bell, Ed. How to Write a Song. The Song Foundry, 2020.
Dilello, Ty. Mosienko: The Man Who Caught Lightning In A Bottle. Great Plains Publications, 2021.
The featured image in this article, a Bill Mosienko Topps ice hockey cards (NHL), is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart and the copyright renewal logs.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
