# Weirdest songs to ever hit the Top 40 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927 "2006-10-10T14:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/161 "2013-07-07T22:25:47Z")
Speaking of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, where did their version of “she’d having my baby” top out? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/162 "2013-07-07T23:14:57Z")
Haven’t read the whole thread, and I realize this is an old thread resurrected, but I can’t believe “Double Shot Of My Baby’s Love” gets played on the radio nowadays, let alone 40-plus years ago. And the Who’s “Who Are You” has ALWAYS been played, at least around here, with F-bomb intact. I had just started high school when that came out, and we’d all gather around the radio when it played so we could hear That Word on the air. 😛 Bram Tchaikovsky’s “Girl Of My Dreams” is probably the only song about an inflatable sex doll to make the Top 40; it was a minor hit in the summer of 1979. I heard it over the PA while walking at the mall a couple years ago. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/163 "2013-07-07T23:19:17Z")
> [@overeasy4](#): > > I swear I read somewhere someone claimed they were really chanting Who got sucked off instead of ooga chaka. Rumor? Nobody was murdered during the recording of “Love Rollercoaster” either. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/164 "2013-07-07T23:23:23Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Mull of Kintyre by Sir Paul. > > More bagpipes. And a pretty cool video, too. That song was a smash hit in every country but the States. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/165 "2013-07-07T23:29:50Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > _Music Box Dancer_ Frank Mills. > > It was sent to the wrong radio station and became a pop hit. I’m pretty sure Pearl Jam’s remake of “Last Kiss” became a hit under similar circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/166 "2013-07-08T00:43:28Z")
“Walk The Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was) was pretty weird. It hit #7 in the US a few years after reaching the Top 10 in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/167 "2013-07-08T01:02:25Z")
\*\*Originally Posted by overeasy4 \*\* _I swear I read somewhere someone claimed they were really chanting Who got sucked off instead of ooga chaka. Rumor?_ Wilson Bryan Key claimed this in one of his subliminal messages books. “Run Joey Run” where the dad shoots his daughter at the end of it is plenty weird. “Dear Mr. Jesus” was also one fucked up tune. It broke the Hot 100, don’t know if it broke the top 40 though. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/168 "2013-07-08T01:13:38Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Most Americans would have never heard of this song, but Kate Bush’s deeply weird and (to me) deeply wonderful [“Wuthering Heights”](http://youtu.be/-1pMMIe4hb4) Lots of Americans my age (late 40s) have heard of it. They just don’t realize the Pat Benatar version was a cover. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/169 "2013-07-08T02:04:47Z")
None of you remember [DOA by Bloodrock?](http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/blogs/soundcheck-blog/2013/feb/15/that-was-hit-bloodrock/) The song used to give me the creeps and I would to flee the room when this came on the radio. Far and away the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard on Top 40 radio. (Ah, I see it did get mentioned earlier. And that fittingly enough, this thread is a zombie.) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/170 "2013-07-08T02:49:54Z")
> [@Hometownboy](#): > > [Hijack] Are there any other US Top 40 songs that were completely in a foreign language? By that, I mean absolutely no English. Hmm. [/Hijack] [Dominique, 1963.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique) And sung by nuns. So that’s pretty weird. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/171 "2013-07-08T03:18:08Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Lots of Americans my age (late 40s) have heard of it. They just don’t realize the Pat Benatar version was a cover. Pat Benatar did a cover of “Wuthering Heights?” I don’t remember that one at all. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/172 "2013-07-08T03:56:08Z")
Ha, you’re right **ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness**. Pat introduced Kate’s song to a lot of people. > [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Pat Benatar did a cover of “Wuthering Heights?” I don’t remember that one at all. [Yes she did](http://youtu.be/t9xoOz3NC-0), on her album Crimes of Passion, and I like it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/173 "2013-07-08T07:02:00Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > […] Green Jelly (written with an umlaut) having “Three Little Pigs” (#17 on the chart!)[…] Where would you put an umlaut on _THAT_ title? It only has _front_ vowels! ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/174 "2013-07-08T07:16:18Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Where would you put an umlaut on _THAT_ title? It only has _front_ vowels! Green Jellÿ, pronounced “Green Jello”, which was the band’s name before the inevitable lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/175 "2013-07-08T14:17:22Z")
In the mid 1980s, a group of professional wrestlers who may or may not have been able to sing too recorded an album of classic Top 40 covers. “Land of 1000 Dances” was a minor hit. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/176 "2013-07-08T15:04:37Z")
How can this thread have stretched over several years and four pages without someone mentioning _The Super Bowl Shuffle_ by various Chicago Bears? Or, _King Tut_ by Steve Martin? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/177 "2013-07-08T15:07:57Z")
[hijack]The alternate lyrics for the Ooga Chaka chant remind me of the words I always hear in the soundtrack to Fellowship of the Ring when the goblins are chanting in Moria. It sounds like they are singing “ah ah… who got salami? who got salami?” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/178 "2013-07-08T16:04:37Z")
AFAICT, nobody’s mentioned [Sgt. Barry Sadler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sadler)’s “The Ballad of the Green Berets.” ([lyrics](http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/balladofthegreenbaret.html) and [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5WJJVSE_BE)). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/179 "2013-07-08T17:02:09Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Can’t believe this one wasn’t mentioned (I _must_ have missed it when skimming the thread) but “Convoy” by C. W. McCall. Don’t think I ever heard it but [the sequel, which barely cracked the top 40, is weirder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Round_the_World_with_the_Rubber_Duck). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/180 "2013-07-15T03:13:00Z")
Victor Lundberg’s “Open Letter to My Teenage Son” ([lyrics](http://www.sweetslyrics.com/740513.Victor%20Lundberg%20-%20An%20Open%20Letter%20To%20My%20Teenage%20Son.html)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927.md?page=10)