# Great Googly Moogly harmless, give Beast his catchphrase back **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445 "2004-06-03T13:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/1 "2004-06-03T13:55:16Z")
Is **Maggie and the Ferocious Beast** really quite popular where you live **harmy** or are you just a keen 28-year-old fan. This isn’t meant to be a pitting or anything because heck, I watch it with my lil bro. But really, I need to know… . . . . . . . Are you a follower of the beast? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/2 "2004-06-03T18:23:09Z")
I’ve never heard of it. I’ve been using that phrase since about middle school when I used to draw these weird cow characters I called Moogles. Upon Googleing **Maggie and the Ferocious Beast** I recognize the character from my nieces coloring books. Is **harmless** going to have to bitch-slap a lawsuit on these people for stealing my phrase? :dubious: If only I’d known about copyrights in the 6th grade. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/3 "2004-06-03T18:28:49Z")
:eek: Are you serious? :Twilight Zone music: :eek: You’re Maggie! Ahhhhh! If you’re serious though, that is wayyyyy too much of a coincidence. They may have bugged you, I suggest going on the run with an ex-CIA agent gone rogue. It may involve car chases and gun battles so pack accordingly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/4 "2004-06-03T20:27:16Z")
Yep, dead serious. Stuff like that happens, though. Didn’t Edison beat someone to the patent office by like 2 hours with the patent for the telephone? Not saying “googly moogly” is as great an invention as the telephone… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/5 "2004-06-03T20:28:42Z")
If I could dig up any of my middle school homework, I could scan one in. They were just cheesy cow characters, but they went on a lot of my papers before turning them in. Just had to be different. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/6 "2004-06-03T20:33:33Z")
> [@harmless](#): > > Not saying “googly moogly” is as great an invention as the telephone… I don’t know. It’s spreading on the boards already. You could be responsible for a whole new “dopeism”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WortMeWorry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@WortMeWorry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WortMeWorry)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/7 "2004-06-03T21:02:10Z")
I first heard the term on a Frank Zappa album, approxmately 20 years ago. I’m sure someone out there could tell us which song it is from. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/8 "2004-06-03T21:08:59Z")
Somehow, I doubts it. 😉 Even if it did go wide spread it proceeds me on the boards, anyways. The first instance I can find is [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=12903&highlight=googly+moogly) from 1999. True, I’ve been saying it since…how long ago was 6th grade? Like 1988? :eek: That’s a long time ago. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/9 "2004-06-03T21:12:30Z")
[www.greatgooglymoogly.com](http://www.greatgooglymoogly.com/origin.html) says: > [@](#): > > I have discovered another Zappa source. Check out Howlin’ Wolf on “Going’ Down Slow,” (Chess single 1813). He has a line in there where he says, “And women? Great googalie moogalie!” I always assumed that GGM was something Zappa made up. There have been interviews where Frank gave his praise for some of the old Bluesmen like the Wolf and Elmore James. GGM must be his tribute to Howlin’ Wolf. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/10 "2004-06-03T21:16:24Z")
First time I heard the phrase was on the classic **Where The Hell’s My Money?** by the great Mojo Nixon. That’s from 1986. If your collection ain’t got Mojo Nixon, then your collection can use some fixin’. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/11 "2004-06-03T21:22:48Z")
> [@Bill H.](#): > > …by the great Mojo Nixon. He don’t post here. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/12 "2004-06-03T21:23:04Z")
> [@WortMeWorry](#): > > I first heard the term on a Frank Zappa album, approxmately 20 years ago. I’m sure someone out there could tell us which song it is from. That was my first encounter with the phrase, too. “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” from the Apostrophe album. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/13 "2004-06-03T21:26:00Z")
[http://www.1960sailors.net/05c1\_googamooga.htm](http://www.1960sailors.net/05c1_googamooga.htm) This site traces the origins of “googlie mooglie” to the phrase “googamooga,” which is dated to the '50s, and gives the first appearance of “googlie mooglie” as the 1961 Howling Wolf song already cited. In any case, it was a tolerably well-known phrase long before Maggie & The Ferocious Beast came out nor **harmless** started posting on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/14 "2004-06-03T21:32:35Z")
Well that’s spelled wrong, so it can’t count. 😉 I just noticed something in my post: > [@](#): > > I have discovered another Zappa source. Check out Howlin’ Wolf on “Going’ Down Slow,” (Chess single 1813). Does that mean it was in the original song and it’s from 1813? 😕 Or Zappa redid the song and added it? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/15 "2004-06-04T04:23:38Z")
Your source is referring to the same song as mine. The artist was Howling Wolf, the name of the song was “Going Down Slow.” It was from 1961; I assume the “Chess single 1813” is a reference to the label and the catalogue number of the single release of that song. Zappa’s use of “googly moogly” in seventy-something is assumed to be a nod to Howling Wolf’s use of it in the '61 song. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/16 "2004-06-04T04:31:35Z")
_ **I** _ invented the phrase! I also invented pants. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/17 "2004-06-04T05:39:18Z")
For sure, the phrase goes back to at least 1956 and the Cadets: (from [this](http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/songs/Stranded_In_The_Jungle.html) site) “The instant that Bihari heard the Jay Hawks’ “Stranded in the Jungle”, a rough and ragged original that had been waxed first, then heard the version done by his own act, the Cadets, while in the studio, he knew that his group’s was far superior. He quickly pressed up copies and got them to radio stations in strong regional markets across the country and into stores in those areas, before the Jay Hawks’ even had a chance to make a move themselves. Released in June of 1956, the song shot up the charts, to #4 R&B / #15 pop. What would prove to be Prentice Moreland’s only Cadets/Jacks recording session provided the group with a catch phrase of their own; he delivered the line “Great googly-moogly, let me outta here”, on “Stranded in the Jungle”; it was a line he had picked up from a Cincinnati DJ.” ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/18 "2004-06-04T05:51:37Z")
Whoops! Sorry, **racinchikki** , I just checked out the link you included, and it plays a sample of “Stranded in the Jungle”, and you’re right, it’s definitely “Great Googamooga”, not “Great Googly-Moogly.” I guess I can’t believe everything I read on the Internet, huh? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/19 "2004-06-04T12:20:29Z")
Well I guess that solves the mystery of the Great Googly Moogly… Now the Case of the Burning Dog. ::Puffs on pipe:: ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445/20 "2004-06-04T20:59:22Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > _ **I** _ invented the phrase! > > I also invented pants. Mr. Gore? :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-googly-moogly-harmless-give-beast-his-catchphrase-back/248445.md?page=2)