Before Ringo Starr became a Beatles legend, he played cover songs with lesser-known rock musicians. One of his signature tunes back then was a track about a caveman, but not just any caveman: a comic strip caveman. Somehow, this all connects to “Monster Mash.”
Ringo Starr played a song about a caveman to German audiences
In a 2019 Rolling Stone article, Ringo and Nirvana’s Dave Grohl interviewed one another. Grohl asked Ringo if he would sing songs as part of his pre-Beatles bands. “I’d do ‘Watch Your Step,’ and I’d do ‘Alley Oop,'” Ringo replied. “Watch Your Step” is a blues-rock hit by Bobby Parker while “Alley Oop” is a novelty song about the comic strip caveman of the same name. Between “Alley Oop” and The Flintstones, cavemen appeared to be in vogue at that time.
Ringo discussed the reaction to “Alley Oop.” “In Germany, all the...
Ringo Starr played a song about a caveman to German audiences
In a 2019 Rolling Stone article, Ringo and Nirvana’s Dave Grohl interviewed one another. Grohl asked Ringo if he would sing songs as part of his pre-Beatles bands. “I’d do ‘Watch Your Step,’ and I’d do ‘Alley Oop,'” Ringo replied. “Watch Your Step” is a blues-rock hit by Bobby Parker while “Alley Oop” is a novelty song about the comic strip caveman of the same name. Between “Alley Oop” and The Flintstones, cavemen appeared to be in vogue at that time.
Ringo discussed the reaction to “Alley Oop.” “In Germany, all the...
- 1/12/2024
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Tl;Dr:
Neil Sedaka wrote three Monkees songs, one of which Davy Jones released as a solo song. One of the songs in question uses a lot of ape metaphors. Another one of the songs was co-written by an important professional songwriter. Neil Sedaka | Gab Archive / Contributor
Neil Sedaka’s songs continue to fascinate classic rock fans to this very day. In addition to writing his own material, Sedaka also wrote a few Monkees songs. One of the tunes he wrote became Davy Jones’ only charting solo single.
3. ‘I Go Ape’
The early 1960s was a golden age for novelty songs, producing such hits as Brian Hyland’s “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini,” Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” and Elvis Presley’s “Rock-a-Hula Baby.” The arrival of The Beatles mostly put an end to this trend, though they occasionally wrote similar songs like “Yellow Submarine.
Neil Sedaka wrote three Monkees songs, one of which Davy Jones released as a solo song. One of the songs in question uses a lot of ape metaphors. Another one of the songs was co-written by an important professional songwriter. Neil Sedaka | Gab Archive / Contributor
Neil Sedaka’s songs continue to fascinate classic rock fans to this very day. In addition to writing his own material, Sedaka also wrote a few Monkees songs. One of the tunes he wrote became Davy Jones’ only charting solo single.
3. ‘I Go Ape’
The early 1960s was a golden age for novelty songs, producing such hits as Brian Hyland’s “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini,” Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” and Elvis Presley’s “Rock-a-Hula Baby.” The arrival of The Beatles mostly put an end to this trend, though they occasionally wrote similar songs like “Yellow Submarine.
- 4/3/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Paul Vance, one of the most successful songwriters of the bubblegum pop era in the early 1960s, died May 30 at age 92.
Born Joseph Paul Florio, Vance and cowriter Lee Pockriss were a songwriting machine as staff writers in the famed Brill Building hit factory in New York. Vance was credited with more than 300 songs, including hits Catch A Falling Star, Playground of My Mind, and Tracy.
But it was Brian Hyland’s rendition of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini that dominated Am radio of the era, making Hyland a teen idol in the process. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboad Hot 100 and was a hit around the world. The song was allegedly inspired by Vance’s daughter, who was too shy to wear a bikini in public.
The success was a double-edged sword for the songwriting team, who became somewhat pigeonholed as novelty songwriters. Their next hit...
Born Joseph Paul Florio, Vance and cowriter Lee Pockriss were a songwriting machine as staff writers in the famed Brill Building hit factory in New York. Vance was credited with more than 300 songs, including hits Catch A Falling Star, Playground of My Mind, and Tracy.
But it was Brian Hyland’s rendition of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini that dominated Am radio of the era, making Hyland a teen idol in the process. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboad Hot 100 and was a hit around the world. The song was allegedly inspired by Vance’s daughter, who was too shy to wear a bikini in public.
The success was a double-edged sword for the songwriting team, who became somewhat pigeonholed as novelty songwriters. Their next hit...
- 6/4/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The bright horns and slapping bass of Dolly Parton’s “Sure Thing,” the disco harmonies of Conway Twitty’s “Night Fires,” and the swagger of Ronnie Milsap’s “Get It Up” all get their due on Country Funk Volume III (1975-1982), the latest installment of Light in the Attic Records’ compilation series.
Slated for release on August 6th, the 17-track set is the first in the series to include music from the Eighties. Twitty’s Heart & Soul album, which featured the machismo-heavy “Night Fires,” was released in 1980; Jerry Reed...
Slated for release on August 6th, the 17-track set is the first in the series to include music from the Eighties. Twitty’s Heart & Soul album, which featured the machismo-heavy “Night Fires,” was released in 1980; Jerry Reed...
- 7/1/2021
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Tony Sokol Apr 27, 2019
Who would have thought the British Invasion would lead to a Zombie apocalypse? The Rock Hall of Fame did.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2019 includes a witch, a Goth band which celebrated disintegration, and a reanimated squad of necromantic romantics who stormed America as part of the British Invasion. The Zombies should have been the retro rock band of the zombie apocalypse. The off-kilter drum, bass and breath which heralded the oncoming melodic horde of chords of the song "Time of the Season" perfectly suited the march of the undead which altered the world in World War Z. What could be more frightening than being out on patrol with Carol, the most adept walker deterrent on The Walking Dead, running into a bunch of munchers and realize: she's not there? The band never truly embraced horror in a direct musical assault, but they...
Who would have thought the British Invasion would lead to a Zombie apocalypse? The Rock Hall of Fame did.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2019 includes a witch, a Goth band which celebrated disintegration, and a reanimated squad of necromantic romantics who stormed America as part of the British Invasion. The Zombies should have been the retro rock band of the zombie apocalypse. The off-kilter drum, bass and breath which heralded the oncoming melodic horde of chords of the song "Time of the Season" perfectly suited the march of the undead which altered the world in World War Z. What could be more frightening than being out on patrol with Carol, the most adept walker deterrent on The Walking Dead, running into a bunch of munchers and realize: she's not there? The band never truly embraced horror in a direct musical assault, but they...
- 4/27/2019
- Den of Geek
A review of tonight's "Mad Men" coming up just as soon as I get The New York Times to print "Mein Kampf" on the front page... "This was a hell of a boat, you know?" -Roger There's a moment late in "Lost Horizon" that, if you've been on social media tonight, you've likely seen in gif form a few dozen times (or, like me, just kept it on in a loop in the background while writing about the episode). Peggy finally enters the McCann offices, Bert Cooper's infamous octopus painting under her arm, sunglasses concealing her hungover eyes, a cigarette dangling smugly from her lips. She has come a long, long way, baby, from the shy mouse whom Joan had to lead around the old Sterling Cooper office, and she is here to grab everything she's ever wanted, all on her way to one day having her name on...
- 5/4/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Surely the problem is not Gwyneth Paltrow's bikinis for pre-teens but a social association of skin exposure with sexual availability
Everyone's favourite dieting guru and carb-botherer Gwyneth Paltrow came under fire this week, but surprisingly it wasn't for putting her children on an elimination diet (do you feed your offspring eggs, wheat or deep-water fish? Can you name a deep-water fish? No? Shame on you!) but for selling a bikini designed for pre-teen girls on her alluringly named website, Goop.
The offending article, which is the result of a collaboration between Paltrow and renowned beachwear designer Melissa Odabash, is a plain black triangle top with matching bottoms; pretty inoffensive in itself, you might wager. However, a considerable amount of people, including those at the charity Kidscape, weighed in on how offensive they found the bikinis. To quote from Kidscape's statement, it was that the swimwear contributed to the "trend...
Everyone's favourite dieting guru and carb-botherer Gwyneth Paltrow came under fire this week, but surprisingly it wasn't for putting her children on an elimination diet (do you feed your offspring eggs, wheat or deep-water fish? Can you name a deep-water fish? No? Shame on you!) but for selling a bikini designed for pre-teen girls on her alluringly named website, Goop.
The offending article, which is the result of a collaboration between Paltrow and renowned beachwear designer Melissa Odabash, is a plain black triangle top with matching bottoms; pretty inoffensive in itself, you might wager. However, a considerable amount of people, including those at the charity Kidscape, weighed in on how offensive they found the bikinis. To quote from Kidscape's statement, it was that the swimwear contributed to the "trend...
- 4/25/2013
- by Natalie Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Former Miami Dophin superstar Dan Marino is training to play a different game: movie producing. He and "Inside the NFL" producer Brian Hyland are pairing up to make a biopic about Brian Stokes, a Marine injured by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq who went on to not only recover from the wound but playing college football and leading Appalachian State to a national championship at the age of 27. Joel Silverman (Surf School) is writing the script for production by Doodle Films and Scarpe Diem Productions.
Source: Variety...
Source: Variety...
- 3/21/2011
- by tara@kidspickflicks.com (Tara the Mom)
- kidspickflicks
We all may be able to sing along with "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz..'' and "If I had an Oscar Mayer weiner ...," but as last Wednesday's episode of Fox's "Glee" demonstrated, you don't need an original jingle to use music in a TV ad -- an existing song will do just fine.
In "Mattress," the exuberant cast performed a choreographed group cover version of Van Halen's "Jump" for a local TV spot. But when ad agencies look to use familiar music, they often go with the original artist.
Car companies often go with rock and roll to appeal to the male audience, such as Jaguar making use of Sting's "Desert Rose," Cadillac trying to revamp its image with Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," and Dodge pushing trucks with help from Aerosmith's "Just Push Play."
Hip-hop is in there, too, as with this hamster-iffic commercial for Kia's Soul...
In "Mattress," the exuberant cast performed a choreographed group cover version of Van Halen's "Jump" for a local TV spot. But when ad agencies look to use familiar music, they often go with the original artist.
Car companies often go with rock and roll to appeal to the male audience, such as Jaguar making use of Sting's "Desert Rose," Cadillac trying to revamp its image with Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," and Dodge pushing trucks with help from Aerosmith's "Just Push Play."
Hip-hop is in there, too, as with this hamster-iffic commercial for Kia's Soul...
- 12/8/2009
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has broken an 18-year silence by confessing that he produced Timmy Mallett's 1990 hit 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' as a bet with his wife. The theatre impresario said he updated Brian Hyland's 1960s song and brought Mallett on board to ensure the tune's chart-topping spot. The 60-year-old told The Sun: "[Madeleine] bet that me, a 'pompous' composer, could never produce a pop hit for the summer. It was a ridiculous idea, I had to keep Madeleine quiet." Yesterday, teacher Everton Barnes claimed he sang most of the (more)...
- 11/27/2008
- by By Sarah Rollo
- Digital Spy
- Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man - Lionsgate Films Check out the trailer here. All Tingly, In A Sad Way: There’s something about Lenny’s music--nay, his voice, that just grabs you from behind like a 2$ hooker on some bad ecstasy. But what else can you expect from the man whose Greatest Hits album was voted the most depressing album of all time? “Talk Hard. Steal The Air”: Immediate memories when hearing the first few notes of ‘Everybody Knows’? Anyone? That's right, it was the first time I was beaten within an inch of my life by the school bully ‘cuz I had had enough already and proceeded to pull his shorts down in front of the entire Phys Ed class. In retrospect, not the brightest idea. And why they were playing that song on the school P.A. system is still somewhat of a
- 5/21/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
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