The Laughing Policeman (song) The Laughing Policeman (song) "The Laughing Policeman" is a music hall song by Charles Penrose (published under the pseudonym Charles Jolly). In June 1922, Penrose made the first recording of this song, which was released on Regal Records G-7816. The version more usually heard was recorded on 22 April 1926 and released on Columbia Records 4014 and later FB 1184. The composition of the song is officially credited to his wife Mabel under the pseudonym "Billie Grey"; however, the music and melody are taken from "The Laughing Song" by George W. Johnson which was originally recorded in the 1890s. The
The Man Who Died in His Boat album, "Drowned in Sound" columnist Tim Peyton writes: "The mysterious pathos of this incident suits Grouper well. As Harris explains, 'the boat never crashed or capsized... (it) just slipped off somehow. And the boat, like a riderless horse, eventually came back home.' This haunting return of an unmanned vessel is spooky in a similar way to Harris's ethereal, multi tracked vocals." The aggregate review site Metacritic assigns an average score of 81 out of 100 to "The Man Who Died in His Boat" based on 17 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The song "Vital" was chosen as "Best New Track" by