Alley Oop

July 1960

Ah, there's nothing like a novelty song, as a nice break from all the romantic woes we usually encounter in the pop charts. #1 for only one week, it's "Alley Oop," by the one-hit wonders The Hollywood Argyles.

It is the only popular song I know of that's based on a comic strip, unless you count "Charlie Brown," but I don't remember him calling the teacher "Daddy-o" in the strip. Anyway, I've never read the Alley Oop strip, even though it is apparently still in publication. I can only assume his depiction in the song is fair and accurate.

Most sources agree that the singer on the track is a guy named Norm Davis – although one of the record's producers, Gary Paxton, claims it was himself who recorded the lead vocal, in a somewhat bitter-sounding note on his personal website. An excerpt: "In the last 42 years, so many people have claimed things, all B.S. You've just read the actual truth."

Disputed authorship is fairly common in music, and it isn't hard to see why – if a record is a runaway success, everyone involved with it will want to claim the credit for themselves. It's a natural human reaction, but I have trouble understanding how a lead vocal could be disputed. To anyone who knew the performers personally, wouldn't it be obvious who the singer was? Wouldn't it be extremely difficult to fool people into thinking you sang a song that you didn't really sing? I guess this happens all the time in pop music – lip synching to someone else's voice (see Milli Vanilli). But here I just don't get it. It's not like this is a straightforward pop vocal – it's a highly unusual and distinctive performance.

Well anyway, as for the song itself, it's mildly amusing, which is all you can hope for in a novelty hit from the 60s. The funniest part of the song is the improvisation at the end – "He sho' is hip, ain't he? Like, what's happening?"

- Factoid: it's the second #1 hit in two months to contain the word "grizzly bear."

D+