On top of Spaghetti

Do you know what Riverdale resident wrote songs that were recorded by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Frank Sinatra, Burl Ives, and Perry Como? He’s also the author of the popular summer camp song…

On top of spaghetti
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed.

That would be Tom Glazer, onetime resident of 5555 Netherland Ave in Riverdale:

I came across this article when I was researching my presentation about Kingsbridge in the 1950s. Glazer had a fascinating background before becoming a popular musician. From Wikipedia:

Thomas Zachariah Glazer was born in Philadelphia on September 2, 1914, to Russian Jewish émigré parents from Minsk. His father, a carpenter in a shipyard, died during the 1918 flu pandemic, and Glazer was brought up by a series of relatives before being placed in the Hebrew Orphan Home in Philadelphia with his two brothers; his younger brother Sidney Glazier became a producer, most notably of Mel Brooks’s The Producers. Their father’s record collection influenced Glazer musically, and at school he learned to play the tuba, guitar and bass. At 17, he hitchhiked to New York, where he took night courses to complete his education while working at Macy’s during the day. He subsequently attended City College of New York for three years. He is of Jewish descent.

He made many records for kids including this one:

He recorded some really nice Christmas music…

in addition to kids’ songs in Hebrew and many other records:

I grew up singing on top of spaghetti so I was surprised to learn about his serious music career and connection to Riverdale.