Toni Basil - Mickey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Qoi-b5NWI
Eric Clapton had many hits but for me this song became his ultimate hit and my “one hit wonder” after my father passed away in my arms on June 20th, 1998. It touches me deeply.
My Father was 83 years old and my rock. It changed me forever!
OOh Rah! Dad. Dignity! Reverence! Respct! Old Guard!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bocDpFVhyDw
<0>
.vUv
"Purple People Eater"
Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky
It had the one long horn, one big eye
I commenced to shakin' and I said "ooh-eee"
It looks like a purple eater to me
It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
(One-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater)
A one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me (One eye?)
Well he came down to earth and he lit in a tree
I said Mr. Purple People Eater, don't eat me
I heard him say in a voice so gruff
I wouldn't eat you cuz you're so tough
It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
One-eyed, one-horned flyin' purple people eater
One-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me (One horn?)
I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line
He said it's eatin' purple people and it sure is fine
But that's not the reason that I came to land
I wanna get a job in a rock and roll band
Well bless my soul, rock and roll, flyin' purple people eater
Pigeon-toed, undergrowed, flyin' purple people eater
(We wear short shorts)
Flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me
And then he swung from the tree and he lit on the ground
He started to rock, really rockin' around
It was a crazy ditty with a swingin' tune
Sing a boop boop aboopa lopa lum bam boom
Well bless my soul, rock and roll, flyin' purple people eater
Pigeon-toed, undergrowed, flyin' purple people eater
I like short shorts
Flyin' little people eater
Sure looks strange to me (Purple People?)
And then he went on his way, and then what do ya know
I saw him last night on a TV show
He was blowing it out, a'really knockin' em dead
Playin' rock and roll music through the horn in his head
Tequila!
======
"The Purple People Eater" is a novelty song written and performed by Sheb Wooley, which reached no. 1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958 from June 9 to July 14, reached no. 12 overall in the UK singles chart and topped the Australian charts. A couple of weeks before my first son was born--haven't forgotten it.
(Still a hit with kids)
If You’re Going to San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
Ode to Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry
Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road - Lloyd Wainwright III
Me and Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul
Waterloo
Bitch
A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band.
Diesel - Sausalito summer nights
Key Largo by Bertie Higgins
Love Is In The Air by John Paul Young
“What Do All the People Know?” - the Monroes
Modern English - I Melt With You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuN6gs0AJls
Black Velvet
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVikZ8Oe_XA
There’s a good reason “Seasons in the Sun” was a one-timer. It was a ripoff of Jacques Brel’s “Le Moribond.”
Here’s my rough translation of the latter:
Goodbye Emile, I liked you very well
Goodbye Emile, I liked you very well, you know
We sang about the same wine
We sang about the same women
We sang about the same disappointments
Goodbye Emile I’m going to die
It’s hard to die in the springtime, you know
But I go to the flowers with peace in my heart
Because you were good as white bread
I know you’ll look after my wife.
I want them to laugh, to dance, to carry on like fools
...when they bury me.
Goodbye, priest, I liked you a lot
Goodbye, priest, I liked you a lot you know
We weren’t always on the same side
We weren’t always on the same road
But we sought the same harbor
Goodbye priest! I’m going to die
It’s hard to die in the spring you know
But I go to the flowers with peace in my heart
Since you were her confessor
I know you’ll look after my wife...
(refrain)
So long Antoine! I didn’t like you much
So long Antoine, I didn’t like you much, you know
It kills me to be dying today, when you’re living so well.
You even overcame boredom.
Goodbye Antoine, I’m going to die
It’s hard to die in the spring you know
But I go to the flowers with peace in my heart
Since you were her lover
I know you’ll take care of my wife.
(refrain)
Goodbye my wife, I loved you a lot
Goodbye my wife, I loved you a lot you know
I’m taking that train to the Lord
Taking the train before yours
But we all take the train we can...
Goodbye my wife, I’m going to die
It’s hard to die in the spring, you know
But I go to the flowers with my eyes closed, my dear
Because I closed them so often for you!
I know you’ll look after my soul.
I want them to laugh, to dance, to carry on,
When they plant me in the hole...
Brel put some thought into it. He died at the age of 49; next Saturday would have been his 88th birthday.
He also gave us “Ne Me Quitte Pas,” another song much better in the original than the translation “If You Go Away.”