1962 single by The Rivingtons
"
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
" is a
novelty
nonsensical
doo-wop
song by
the Rivingtons
in 1962. It peaked at number 48 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
,
[1]
and number 35 on the
Cashbox
charts.
[2]
The band released two similar follow-up songs over the next several months, "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow (The Bird)" and "The Bird's the Word".
"Surfin' Bird"
[
edit
]
Together with
the Rivingtons
' 1963
novelty song
"The Bird's the Word", "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" was the basis for the song "
Surfin' Bird
", a number four hit in 1963 by
The Trashmen
.
[3]
The combination of the songs, played at a much livelier pace than the original doo-wop songs, was ad-libbed at an early live performance by the band and later released as a single.
[4]
Initially, the single did not credit the original songwriters, but after the Rivingtons asked for their copyright to be respected, the songwriting credits were amended.
The Trashmen's follow-up single "Bird Dance Beat" referenced "Surfin' Bird" in the lyrics and featured several sections of the "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" syllables.
Cover versions
[
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]
- In 1963 the song was covered in French by Les Celibataires EP on BARCLAY - 70554
- The song was later covered by
the Beach Boys
for their first live album,
Beach Boys Concert
, in 1964?this track entering the Philippines top 10 in February 1966 according to
Billboard
[
citation needed
]
?and, again sung by Brian Wilson, on their album
Beach Boys' Party!
in 1965. The track was also included on the
Music for Pleasure
compilation album
The Beach Boys Good Vibrations
released in the UK in the 1970s.
- In 1965 it was covered by the Filipino rock band
The Hi-Jacks
as "
Pa Pa Ou Mau Mau
", with the single reaching No. 7 in
Hong Kong
's national
record chart
.
[5]
- In 1967
the Freshmen
scored a Top 10 hit with the song in
Ireland
.
- The composition was also covered in 1966 by the Thunderbirds, a Hong-Kong band headed by
Robert Lee
, the brother of martial-arts star
Bruce Lee
.
- The Deviants
covered the song on their 1968 album
Disposable
. It was renamed as Pappa Oo Mao Mao.
- Gary Glitter
's 1975 version of "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" made the
UK Top 40
, but was his first non-Top 10 single after 11 consecutive Top 10 hits.
[6]
- The song was performed by
The California Raisins
in the 1988 television special
Meet the Raisins!
.
- The song was featured in the 1989 television movie pilot episode
Nick Knight
starring
Rick Springfield
as a centuries-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Los Angeles.
- Clifford
,
Kermit the Frog
, and the Giant Clams (voiced by
Rockapella
) later covered the song on the 1993 album
Muppet Beach Party
.
- An arrangement of "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" by
the Persuasions
was released on their 1977 album
Chirpin'
and was played in the film
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
for 35 seconds. In 2011, a version performed by a choir was used in the film
Happy Feet Two
.
- New wave
band
Joao Penca e Seus Miquinhos Amestrados
recorded a version in the 1990s.
- Super Ratones
, a Rock and roll band from Argentina, recorded their version on their 1990 debut album "Rock de la playa".
Other appearances of the song's lyrics
[
edit
]
The title of the song is quoted in background lyrics of the song "
Summer Nights
" from the musical
Grease
: in facts, the appearance of the lyrics, which was written in 1962, in a song set in fall 1958 creates one of several anachronisms present in the musical.
In 1964,
surf rockers
Jan and Dean
morphed the song into "
The New Girl in School
", with new lyrics and the refrain "Doo-ron-de-ron-de" substituted for "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". "New Girl in School" garnered significant U.S. airplay as the
B-side
of the
Top 40
hit "
Dead Man's Curve
". In 1969, the song's distinctive titular nonsense lyrics appeared as a similarly sung chorus in
Giorgio Moroder
's first single "Looky Looky". Al Frazier was a member of The Rivingtons and is listed as a co-author of "Papa Oom Now Now"; it has been erroneously reported over the years that he and Dallas Frazier were the same person.
The "Papa oom mow mow" lyric appears in the final repeating refrain of
Neil Sedaka
's 1975 single "The Queen Of 1964".
[7]
[8]
The Oak Ridge Boys
' 1981 hit "
Elvira
" has an "Oom-papa-mow-mow" chorus, an element that existed in songwriter
Dallas Frazier
's 1967 original version of the song.
Garage rock
band
Nobunny
added the song's lyrics at the end of their hit "I Am a Girlfriend", released in 2008.
Heavy metal
artist
Rob Zombie
repeatedly uses the song's title in the chorus of his song "Burn", which is the 8th track off of his solo 2010 album
Hellbilly Deluxe 2
.
The song is also featured in Steven Spielberg's
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
(1982), in the scene where Elliot sits with his brother's friends while ordering a pizza; they are trying to request the song on a phone call to a radio station, and the echo refrain of the song playing can be heard before Elliot first encounters ET in his family's backyard.
The song was referenced in the name of Pizza Oom Mow Mow, a former quick-service restaurant at
Disney California Adventure
which opened with the park in 2001 that served a variety of
pizzas
and was themed to the
surfer
culture of
California
. This restaurant closed in 2010 and was replaced with Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta in 2011 as part of a retheming of the land Pizza Oom Mow Mow sat on.
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
by
Joel Whitburn
, Record Research Publications, Menomonee Falls, WI -
ISBN
0-89820-155-1
- ^
Cashbox Pop Singles Charts 1950-1993
by Pat Downey, George Albert, and Frank Hoffmann, Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, CO -
ISBN
1-56308-316-7
- ^
Billboard
(date unknown). Surfin' Bird on the Billboard Hot 100. Retrieved from
"The Hot 100"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on 27 August 2014
. Retrieved
1 April
2013
.
. Copied 17 January 2012 from the Surfin' Bird article.
- ^
Gueningsman, Ryan (2009-04-27). "A whole new generation is ‘hearing the word’".
Herald Journal
, 27 April 2009. Retrieved on 2009-04-29 from
http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2009/stories/new-generation-trashmen.html
. Copied 17 January 2012 from the Surfin' Bird article.
- ^
"Hong Kong"
.
Billboard
. The Billboard Publishing Company. 2 October 1965. p. 28
. Retrieved
14 April
2021
.
- ^
"Gary Glitter - Papa Oom Mow Mow"
.
- ^
"Neil Sedaka ? the Queen of 1964"
.
- ^
Neil Sedaka - "The Queen Of 1964" [radio version] (1975)
on
YouTube
- ^
"Yesterland: Pizza Oom Mow Mow"
.
yesterland.com
. Retrieved
22 January
2024
.
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