"Playmates" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 ostensibly written by Saxie Dowell

Saxie Dowell

Horace Kirby "Saxie" Dowell was an American jazz and pop music bandleader and singer and songwriter.Dowell was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill where he met Hal Kemp. He joined Kemp's orchestra as a reed player and vocalist in the fall of...

. The main theme was note-for-note plagiarized from the 1904 intermezzo "Iola" by Charles L. Johnson

Charles L. Johnson

Charles Leslie Johnson was an American composer of ragtime and popular music. He was born in Kansas City, Kansas, died in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived his entire life in those two cities...

, for which Johnson sued, settling out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Recordings in 1940

1940 in music

-Events:*July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart".*May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance.*August - Edmundo Ros forms his own rumba band.*November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premièred....

 were made by Kay Kyser

Kay Kyser

James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...

 and his orchestra (vocals: Sully Mason & His Playmates), by Mitchell Ayres

Mitchell Ayres

Mitchell Ayres was an orchestra leader, music arranger, composer and performer. He is best known for his many years of work with Perry Como on radio, records, and television and as the musical conductor for The Hollywood Palace.-Early years:Born Mitchell Agress in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he...

 and His Fashions In Music (vocals: Mary Ann Mercer & Tommy Taylor), and by Hal Kemp

Hal Kemp

James Harold "Hal" Kemp was a jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. He was born in Marion, Alabama and died in Madera, California following an auto accident...

 and The Smoothies.

The Kay Kyser

Kay Kyser

James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...

 recording was released by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 as catalog number

Catalog numbering systems for single records

This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...

 35375. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on July 20, 1940 (the first week that Billboard listed a chart) and lasted 1 week on the chart, at #4.

The song was revived in a 1955

1955 in music

-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...

 recording by The Fontane Sisters

The Fontane Sisters

The Fontane Sisters were a trio from New Milford, New Jersey.-Early years:Their mother, Louise Rosse, was both a soloist and the leader of the St. Joseph's Church choir in New Milford. Bea and Marge started out singing for local functions, doing so well, they were urged to audition in New York City...

. The recording was released by Dot Records

Dot Records

Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...

 as catalog number

Catalog numbering systems for single records

This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...

 15370. The song was on the Cash Box magazine

Cash Box magazine

Cashbox magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996...

 chart for 3 weeks, peaking at #37.

A performance by the Kipper Kids features in the film "The Addams Family

The Addams Family (film)

The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams....

" (1991).

Katie Herzig has also covered this song, however, titles it "Forevermore". This version was featured in an Australian Target commercial in 2010.