Not so sure that’s the first one. It came out in '71, while Desmond Dekker & the Aces - Israelites came out in '68. Wiki says that Israelites was the second reggae song to hit the Top 40 in the US.
For weirdness there’s also Shango - Day After Day
And Helen Reddy - Angie Baby, Pipkins - Gimmie Dat Ding and Hotlegs - Neanderthal Man
But what really surprised me was no mention of Bobby Gentry - Ode to Billy Joe
Oh and “Brand New Key” was by Melanie.
The first would be “Hold Me Tight” by Johnny Nash. A case could be made for “My Boy Lollipop” by Millie Small, but that predates true reggae and is usually classified as ska.
headslap And I recently rediscovered “Hold Me Tight” too, can’t believe I forgot it just as quickly.
Weirdest? How about the worst song to ever break the top 40?
I refer to tom Jones singing “Delilah”, which is not a love song, but rather a paean to stalking and killing an unfaithful ex-lover.
SHIT SHIT SHIT. and I loved his voice . . .
I don’t think she was his ex until she saw the knife in his hand - IOW she was cheating on him. Pure speculation, of course.
“Delilah” doesn’t even come close to being as horrible as Terry Jacks’ “Season in the Sun” or Capt & Tennille’s “Muskrat Love” or Minnie Ripperton’s fingernails on a blackboard “Pillow Talk”.
Oh. Well. As long as he had a good excuse for spying on her and killing her, all is well.
Right! [sarcasm]. :smack::smack::smack:
Along the same lines, “No Matter What Shape Your Stomach’s In,” an instrumental of music from an Alka-Seltzer commercial, was a Top Ten hit in early 1966.
I’m not sure how you read that into OO’s comment.
Tom Jones’ vocal stylings in this song were far too over the top for my 14 year self, which is saying a lot, considering that Gary Puckett and the Union Gap was one of my favorite bands that year. So I never noticed the (rather appalling) lyrics beyond “My, my, Delilah, why, why, Delilah?” That was enough to get me to change the station, all by itself.
Gary Puckett?? Of Young Girl fame?
Young girl, get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run girl,
You’re much too young girl
Yeah, you probably never noticed outrageous lyrics. :dubious:
That’s actually by Sylvia (Robinson), who later went on to found the record label Sugar Hill that released many early, classic hip hop records.
As they say, the past is a foreign country. If anyone regarded those lyrics as outrageous then, I sure missed it.
And it’s hard to see why anyone would have: the guy gets it on with a girl who comes across as grown up, but is concealing the fact that she’s underage. He is upset when he finds out, and shows her the door at that point. What’s to be outraged about?
Also of Mickey & Sylvia fame, know for 57’s Love is Strange.
Minnie Ripperton is Lovin’ You, a song sorta about Maya Rudolph.
CMC fnord!
Ye gods, I’m old!
Nervous Norvus followed up his big success with “Transfusion” by releasing “Ape Call”, which also made the top 40 (#28) in 1956.
It’s more awful than weird. But “Transfusion” is a classic.*
And as stalking/murder songs go, so is “Delilah”.**
*make that type O, Daddy-O.
**unlike “Hey Joe”, which has been covered by a zillion performers but still sucks.
I am also forced to mention “Beware of the Blob”, the theme song for the 1958 movie “The Blob” (starring Steve McQueen), which was recorded by The Five Blobs and made the Top 40.
It of course is on my Ipod, along with “Transfusion” and probably most of the other songs mentioned in this thread (with the exception of horrors like the ones recorded by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Minnie Ripperton etc.).
Man, I can’t believe I got “Pillow Talk” crossed with “Lovin’ You”, the latter being the one that makes all the dogs in the area whine in pain.
One of the jocks on WLS in it’s Musicradio days dropped Norvus’ ape call yell into the pause on “Good Lovin’” by The Rascals. Cracked me up.
Thanks for mentioning this. Worth a listen on YouTube.
What, no one mentioned Bohemian Rhapsody?
I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me.
(Galileo) Galileo.
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico.
Yes, greatest rock song ever. Still, very, very strange.
Sure, but it gave us that awesome montage in Futurama a season or two ago.
“Hey, ten bucks is ten bucks.”