Yakety Sax

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"Yakety Sax"
Yakety-Sax-Monument-45804-300px.jpg
Single by Boots Randolph
from the album Yakety Sax!
B-side "I Really Don't Want to Know"
Released1963
Studio Phillips Recording, Nashville, Tennessee [1]
Genre Novelty, pop
Length2:00
Label Monument Records
Songwriter(s) Spider Rich
Boots Randolph
Producer(s) Fred Foster
Music video
Boots Randolph - Yakety Sax (Audio) on YouTube

"Yakety Sax" is a pop novelty instrumental jointly composed by James Q. "Spider" Rich and Boots Randolph. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Composition

Saxophonist Randolph popularized the selection in his 1963 recording, which reached number 35 on the pop charts. [6] The piece is considered Randolph's signature work. [7] The selection includes pieces of assorted fiddle tunes and was originally composed by Rich for a performance at a venue called The Armory in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The piece also quotes two bars each of "Entrance of the Gladiators" and "The Girl I Left Behind".

Randolph's take on the piece was inspired by the saxophone solo played by King Curtis on The Coasters' 1958 recording of the Leiber and Stoller song "Yakety Yak". [8] The tunes are similar, and both feature the "yakety" saxophone sound. Randolph first recorded "Yakety Sax" that year for RCA Victor, but it did not become a hit until he re-recorded it for Monument Records in 1963; this version reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the UK, comedian Benny Hill later made it more widely known as the closing theme music of The Benny Hill Show . "Yakety Sax" was first used, in a version arranged by Ronnie Aldrich and played by Peter Hughes, in the 19 November 1969 episode, which was also the first show for Thames Television.[ citation needed ]

Other performances

"Yakety Sax" is often used in television and film as a soundtrack for outlandishly humorous situations. It was frequently used to accompany comedic sketches, particularly the time-lapse, rapidly-paced silent chase skit that came at the end of almost every episode of The Benny Hill Show . [17] Because of this, "Yakety Sax" is so closely linked to the series that it is also known as "The Benny Hill Theme". From 1983 on, the music was performed by Ronnie Aldrich and his orchestra.

This use of the piece, and the chase scenes themselves, have been parodied in many other films and TV shows, including Get a Life , [18] the 2006 film V for Vendetta , in the 2015 Doctor Who episode "The Girl Who Died" (with a character referring to the song as the "Benny Hill Theme") and the animated TV shows The Simpsons , Family Guy , South Park , multiple episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic , [19] [20] and "The Prime Minister Has No Clothes" episode of Time Squad . The stop motion animated sketch comedy series Robot Chicken featured a brief sketch depicting Benny Hill's funeral (using dolls) where the attendees have a Benny Hill Show-type chase scene with many of the usual gags and a song similar to "Yakety Sax". The theme was used during the 2012 Olympics beach volleyball event between sets (where rakers must rush to smooth out the court). [21]

On July 7, 2022, the tune was played outside the Houses of Parliament, by anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray, upon the announcement by Boris Johnson that he was resigning as Prime Minister. The choice of music had been suggested by actor Hugh Grant. [22] [23] [24] [25]

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References

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  18. Get a Life - Season 2, Episode 7 - "Chris Becomes a Male Escort"
  19. The Ticket Master - Season 1, Episode 3
  20. A Bird in the Hoof - Season 1, Episode 22
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  23. Kreps, Daniel (July 7, 2022). "Activists Hijack Boris Johnson Resignation Coverage With 'Benny Hill' Theme, Thanks to Hugh Grant". Rolling Stone . Retrieved July 8, 2022.
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  25. "Benny Hill Music PLAYS Outside UK PARLIAMENT, Is Boris Johnson A CLOWN? Tom Rogan Discusses". July 8, 2022 via YouTube.