"Alley Oop" | ||||
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Single by the Hollywood Argyles | ||||
B-side | "Sho' Know a Lot About Love" | |||
Released | May 1960 | |||
Recorded | 1960 | |||
Genre | Rock and roll, doo-wop, novelty | |||
Length | 2:36 | |||
Label | Lute 5905 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Dallas Frazier | |||
Producer(s) | Gary S. Paxton Kim Fowley | |||
The Hollywood Argyles singles chronology | ||||
|
"Alley Oop" | |
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Song by The Beach Boys | |
from the album Beach Boys' Party! | |
Released | November 8, 1965 |
Recorded | September 16, 1965 |
Studio | Western, Hollywood |
Genre | Rock and roll |
Length | 2:56 |
Label | Capitol |
Songwriter(s) | Dallas Frazier |
Producer(s) | Brian Wilson |
"Alley Oop" is a song written and composed by Dallas Frazier in 1957. The song was inspired by the V. T. Hamlin-created comic strip of the same name.
The Hollywood Argyles, a short-lived studio band, recorded the song in 1960, and it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the US R&B chart. [1] It also went to #24 on the UK chart. It was produced by Gary Paxton, who also sang lead vocals. At the time, Paxton was under contract to Brent Records, where he recorded as Flip of Skip & Flip. [2]
According to Paxton:
There were NO Hollywood Argyles at the very beginning. I was the only lead singer. Kim Fowley helped me produce it, because we were partners in Maverick Music International/BMI at the time... The drummer was Ronnie Silico (Lloyd Price's road drummer). The piano player was Gaynel Hodge of the Penguins. The bass player was Harper Cosby, a jazz bassist in L.A. Sandy Nelson (of "Teenbeat" fame) played the garbage can and screamed on the record. The background singers were: Dallas Frazier...Buddy Mize, Scotty Turner, Diane ?? (A friend I knew), and [myself]. It was recorded at Richard Podolor’s American Recorders, next door to Lawrence Welk's Palladium, and across from the Moulin Rouge on Sunset Blvd. near Sunset and Vine Street. A little bitty street (Argyle Street) was next door to the studio, so I said, "Let's call ourselves The Hollywood Argyles!" [3]
Also in 1960, Dante & the Evergreens released a version that went to #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, while The Dyna-Sores released a version that went to #59 on the same chart. [4] Both Dante & The Evergreens' and The Hollywood Argyles' versions were credited as number ones in Cash Box magazine's singles chart.
The Pre-Historics released a version called "Alley Oop Cha-Cha-Cha" in 1960, with Gary Paxton (who had performed lead vocals on the Hollywood Argyles' version) and Skip Battin performing backing vocals. The Beach Boys recorded and released their version on their 1965 album Beach Boys' Party! The Kingsmen used the melody of "Alley Oop" for their song "Annie Fanny" (U.S. #47, 1965). [5]
A British satirical art rock/pop group, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, recorded a version of "Alley Oop," which was released as their second single in October 1966. The song's composer, Dallas Frazier, released his own version on his 1966 album Elvira. It was also performed by Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters on their self-titled album, released in 1967. The British group The Tremeloes recorded a version of the song as well. There is a Brazilian Portuguese-language version of the song, titled "Brucutu", recorded by Roberto Carlos in 1965, with lyrics by Rossini Pinto. [6]
Sha Na Na did a version of the song in a prehistoric-themed sketch on their TV show. Actress-singer Darlene Love recorded a version of the song for the 1984 film Bachelor Party . George Thorogood also performed a version of this song with his band, the Destroyers, and it was on his live album that was released on February 15, 1989. Ray Stevens's version was on his album Gitarzan.
The lyric "look at that caveman go" is referenced in David Bowie's "Life on Mars" from the album Hunky Dory . [7] Marc Bolan's "Truck On (Tyke)" references Paxton's pronunciation of the word Dinosaur in its second verse line "I'm a space age cowboy, ride dinosaurs..."
A variant of Alley Oop called Ollie Oop was written by Paul T. Clark and Gary S. Paxton. The song was a tribute to Col. Oliver North, again performed by Gary S. Paxton while Paul was part of the background singers. The record was released as a single and was played in some major markets, but it never quite took off.
In the late 1970s in the Memphis, TN-based CWA wrestling promotion, there was a wrestler on their roster named "Dream Machine" (local wrestler Troy Graham wearing a mask) and on one episode of the local Saturday morning CWA TV program, host Lance Russell showed a video of Dream Machine footage set to "Alley Oop". After the video, Russell chuckled about it, causing an angry Dream Machine to run out and start choking Russell. After Dream Machine was separated from Russell by his manager Jimmy Hart, CWA promoter Eddie Marlin fined Dream Machine and threatened to suspend him. [8]
Also, in Mario Savoldi's International Championship Wrestling, wrestler Giant Gustov used it as his entrance music.
Chart (1960) | Peak position |
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New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade) [9] | 1 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [10] | 24 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [11] | 1 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [12] | 3 |
The Hollywood Argyles were an American musical ensemble, assembled for studio recordings by the producer and songwriter Kim Fowley and his friend and fellow musician Gary S. Paxton. They had a US number one hit record, "Alley Oop", in 1960.
"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962 along with a full-length LP called The Original Monster Mash, which contained several other monster-themed tunes. The "Monster Mash" single was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 20–27 of that year, just before Halloween.
"Teach Me Tonight" is a popular song that has become a jazz standard. The music was written by Gene De Paul, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1953.
Skip & Flip was a U.S. pop duo, consisting of Skip and Flip. They met while attending the University of Arizona in the late 1950s.
"Elvira" is a song written and originally recorded by Dallas Frazier in 1966 on his album of the same name. Though a minor hit for Frazier at the time of release, the song became a bigger and much more famous country and pop hit by the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981. "Elvira" is now considered one of the Oak Ridge Boys' signature songs.
"Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded the original version of the song, produced by Bass, in 1957. Their version was re-released in 1961 and charted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"If I Were a Carpenter" is a folk song written by Tim Hardin in the 1960s, and re-recorded with commercial success by various artists including Bobby Darin, The Four Tops and Johnny Cash. Hardin's own recording of the piece appeared on his 1967 album Tim Hardin 2. It was one of two songs from that release performed by Hardin at Woodstock in 1969. The song, believed by some to be about male romantic insecurity, is rumored to have been inspired by his love for actress Susan Morss, as well as the construction of Hardin's recording studio.
"Dreams" is a song by Van Halen released in 1986 from the album 5150. It was the second single from that album, and it reached # 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #24 on the Cash Box Top 100. Nine years after its original release, "Dreams" introduced the band to a new generation of fans when it appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and on its soundtrack album.
"Sweet Dreams" or "Sweet Dreams (of You)" is a country ballad, which was written by Don Gibson. Gibson originally recorded the song in 1955; his version hit the top ten of Billboard's country chart, but was eclipsed by the success of a competing recording by Faron Young. In 1960, after Gibson had established himself as a country music superstar, he released a new take as a single. This version also charted in the top ten on the country chart and also crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No.93. The song has become a country standard, with other notable versions by Patsy Cline and Emmylou Harris.
"Sealed with a Kiss" is a song written and composed by Peter Udell and Gary Geld. The original recording of "Sealed with a Kiss" was by the Four Voices which was released as a single in May 1960 without becoming a hit. It first became a hit in 1962 for Brian Hyland. Jason Donovan later had an international number one hit with the song in 1989.
Gary Sanford Paxton was an American record producer, recording artist, and Grammy and Dove Award winning songwriter. Paxton was a member of Skip & Flip and the Hollywood Argyles and was the producer of two number one Billboard Hot 100 singles, "Alley Oop" for the Hollywood Argyles in 1960 and "Monster Mash" for Bobby "Boris" Pickett in 1962.
"Angel Baby" is a 1960 single by Rosie and the Originals. The group recorded the song independently on a two-track machine, located in a facility in the small farming community of San Marcos, California. At the time, lead singer Rosie Hamlin was only 15 years old. She had written the lyrics for "Angel Baby" as a poem for "[her] very first boyfriend" when she was a 14-year-old student at Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California.
"It's All Over Now" is a song written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos, featuring Bobby Womack, in 1964. The Rolling Stones heard it on its release and quickly recorded a cover version, which became their first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, in July 1964.
"Amor", also known as "Amor Amor" and "Amor Amor Amor" is a popular song published in 1943.
"There Goes My Everything" is a popular song written by Dallas Frazier and published in 1965. "There Goes My Everything" is now considered a country music standard, covered by many artists.
Dallas Frazier was an American country musician and songwriter who had success in the 1950s and 1960s.
Danté and The Evergreens were an American pop group formed at Santa Monica College in California in 1959.
"If My Heart Had Windows" is a country song written by Dallas Frazier and recorded by George Jones in 1967 on his album of the same name. Released as a single that year, Jones's version peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts.
"Love Is Alive" is a song by Gary Wright taken from the 1975 album The Dream Weaver. It features Wright on vocals and keyboards and Andy Newmark on drums, with all music except for the drums produced on the keyboards. The album's title cut and "Love Is Alive" both peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Love Is Alive" spent 27 weeks on the chart, seven weeks longer than "Dream Weaver". Billboard ranked "Love Is Alive" as the No. 9 song of 1976.
"Sweet Pea" is a bubblegum pop song written and performed by Tommy Roe. It was produced by Gary S. Paxton and featured on his 1966 album, Sweet Pea. In the lyrics, the singer spots a girl at a dance whom her friends call "Sweet Pea." There's no explanation of how she got this nickname. After dancing with her, he suggests they go for a walk where he tells her he loves her and wants her to be his girl.