Jake the Peg

Last updated
"Jake the Peg"
Single by Rolf Harris
Released22 May 1965
Length3:40

"Jake the Peg" is the title of a comedic song about a fictional three-legged man performed by Rolf Harris and released as a single in 1965.

Contents

The song was adapted in 1965 from a version performed by Frank Roosen (a Dutch performer from Vancouver, Canada). [1] The original Dutch party skit was "(Ik ben) van der Steen". [2] [3]

In a 2004 poll by Virgin Radio, Harris' version was voted the fourth-best Australian single of all time. [4]

Live performances

Harris would perform the song with the aid of a theatrical prop leg. [5] June Whitfield reports, in her autobiography And June Whitfield, that she used to watch Harris's performance of the number on stage from the wings, as she waited to follow him, and could not tell during the performance which of his three legs was the false one. [6]

Harris wore a long coat that came down to the knees, and apparently had three identical legs. He would walk around the stage putting his middle foot forward, and then his two side feet, and at times would also stand on his middle leg and stick both outer legs out. While he was moving around the stage he sang the song, which told of his life with three legs.

Cover versions

"Jake the Peg" had been a childhood favourite of comedian Adam Hills, because he was born with only one foot, and Hills performed the song with his prosthetic leg as a child. Hills performed a parody of the song on The Last Leg television show following Harris's conviction for sexual offences. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolf Harris</span> Australian entertainer and sex offender (born 1930)

Rolf Harris is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He was convicted in 2014 of the sexual assault of four underage girls, which effectively ended his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobbejaan Schoepen</span> Belgian musician

Bobbejaan Schoepen was a Flemish pioneer in Belgian pop music, vaudeville, and European country music. Schoepen was a versatile entertainer, entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, guitarist, comedian, actor, and professional whistler, as well as the founder and former director of the amusement park Bobbejaanland. His musical career flourished from 1948 until the first half of the 1970s. He sold more than five million copies from his repertoire of 482 songs, which extended from Twang, cabaret, instrumental film music, chansons, country, to folk and vocal music. Born in Boom, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium, he worked his way up from a working-class environment to become one of the 200 richest people in Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

The Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The country has missed only four contests, twice because the dates coincided with Remembrance of the Dead and twice because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year. The Netherlands hosted the contest in Hilversum (1958), Amsterdam (1970), twice in The Hague and Rotterdam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papa Was a Rollin' Stone</span> 1972 single by the Undisputed Truth

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy-award winning cover by The Temptations was issued later the same year. This latter version of the song became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Kartner</span> Musical artist

Petrus Antonius Laurentius Kartner was a Dutch musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who performed under the stage name Vader Abraham. He wrote around 1600 songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Hills</span> Australian comedian and radio and television presenter

Adam Christopher Hills is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show Spicks and Specks from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show Adam Hills Tonight from 2011 to 2013. In the United Kingdom, he has hosted the talk show The Last Leg since 2012. He has been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, the Gold Logie Award and numerous BAFTA TV Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André van Duin</span> Dutch comedian (born 1947)

Adrianus Marinus Kyvon, known by his stage name André van Duin, is a Dutch comedian, actor, singer-songwriter, author, television presenter, television director, television producer and screenwriter. Van Duin is one of the Netherlands' best known entertainers, with a career spanning almost six decades.

"Scatty Safari" is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies. It was written by The Goodies, with songs and music by Bill Oddie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinderen voor Kinderen</span> Dutch childrens choir

Kinderen voor Kinderen is a Dutch children's choir maintained by public broadcaster BNNVARA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LLiNK</span>

LLiNK is a former Dutch broadcasting association which produced radio and television programmes for the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system, NPO. Its self-proclaimed aim is the making of positive and solution-focused programmes dealing with global relationships, human and animal rights, nature and the environment in a spirit of practical idealism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Tober</span> Dutch singer (born 1945)

Ronald Edwin Tober is a Dutch singer, known for representing the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "Morgen".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conny Vandenbos</span> Musical artist

Jacoba Adriana Hollestelle, known professionally as Conny Vandenbos, was a popular Dutch singer. She had her first radio hit in 1966 and continued to make hit recordings throughout the 1970s. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 with the song "'t Is genoeg".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liliane Saint-Pierre</span> Belgian singer

Liliane Saint-Pierre is a Belgian pop singer. Hailing from Flanders, she sings mostly in Dutch. She competed at Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song "Soldiers of Love".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milly Scott</span> Dutch singer and actress

Marion Henriëtte Louise Molly, known professionally as Milly Scott, is a Dutch singer and actress of Surinamese origin, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966. She is recognised as the first black singer to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Netherlands participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" written by Pierre Kartner. The song was performed by Sieneke. The Dutch broadcaster Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting (TROS) internally selected the song for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. "Ik ben verliefd (Sha-la-lie)" was presented to the public on 18 December 2009, while the national final Nationaal Songfestival 2010 was organised in order to select the Dutch representative. Five artists competed in the national final on 7 February 2010 where Sieneke was selected by Pierre Kartner as the winner following a tie between two of the artists based on the combination of votes from a four-member jury panel and an audience vote.

<span title="Dutch-language text"><i lang="nl">Nationaal Songfestival</i></span> Annual Dutch music competition

Nationaal Songfestival was an annual music competition, which was originally organised by the Dutch public broadcaster Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), and later by the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) and Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting (TROS). It was staged almost every year between 1956 and 2012 to determine the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has produced four Eurovision winners and eight top-five placings for the Netherlands at the contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clous van Mechelen</span> Dutch musician, arranger, and actor

Clous van Mechelen is a Dutch musician, arranger, and actor. Van Mechelen scored a minor hit in 1969 with his band The Butlers, and became widely known through the radio and television shows written and directed by Wim T. Schippers, in which he played the character Jan Vos and wrote songs for the various characters.

<i>Kids Can Say No!</i> 1985 British short educational film

Kids Can Say No!, stylized as Kids Can Say No, is a 1985 British short educational film produced and directed by Jessica Skippon and written by Anita Bennett. It is intended to teach children between ages five and eight how to avoid situations where they might be sexually abused, how to escape such situations, and how to get help if they are abused. In the film, Australian celebrity Rolf Harris is in a park with a group of four children and tells them about proper and improper physical intimacy, which he calls "yes" and "no" feelings. The film has four role-playing scenes in which children encounter paedophiles, with Harris and the children discussing each scene.

Eddie Lightfoot was an American minstrel dancer active for more than 40 years in the itinerant black stage and tent theatre circuits of the first half of the Twentieth Century. Missing the lower half of his right leg, he performed under the stage names "Peg" or "Peg Leg" Lightfoot in myriad minstrel companies including Alexander Tolliver's "Big Show" and "Smart Set", and The Rabbit's Foot Minstrels from as early as 1913 into the mid-1950s.

The Masked Singer is a Belgian reality singing competition television series based on the Masked Singer franchise which originated from the South Korean version of the show King of Mask Singer. It premiered on VTM on 18 September 2020, and is hosted by Niels Destadsbader. The winner of the first series was Sandra Kim. The winner of the second series was Camille Dhont.

References

  1. "The Comedy Couch interview with Rolf Harris" . Retrieved 13 Nov 2013.
  2. "Ik ben van der Steen" . Retrieved 7 Sep 2014.
  3. "Van Der Steen Met Het Derde Been" . Retrieved 7 Sep 2014.
  4. "Rolf track pegged in top ten". Sydney Morning Herald . 26 January 2004. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  5. Bruce Elder (1987). "Rolf Harris". The A to Z of who is who in Australia's history. Child & Associates. p. 235. ISBN   9780867773705.
  6. June Whitfield (2000). And June Whitfield. Bantam. p. 231. ISBN   9780593045824.
  7. Ferrie, Kevin (January 9, 2015). "Why Ched Evans is not yet ready to be part of family entertainment". Herald Scotland. Retrieved September 14, 2015.