Just a Gigolo is the English version of the Austrian tango Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo, written in Vienna in 1928 by Leonello Casucci with German lyrics by Julius Brammer. In 1929 Irving Caesar adapted it into English, moving the action to a Paris cafe. The song tells of a former hussar who laments his fallen glory and now earns a living as a lonely, paid dance partner, a reflection on post-World War I Austria. It was published in 1929 by Wiener Boheme-Verlag and quickly popular in Germany and beyond, with early recordings by Dajos Béla's orchestra with Kurt Mühlhardt and by Bing Crosby in 1931. Louis Prima fused Just a Gigolo with I Ain't Got Nobody on the 1956 album The Wildest!, a medley that helped relaunch his career. The tune has since been covered by many artists including Village People in 1978 and David Lee Roth in 1985, and it remains a swing and pop staple with a tango origin.
