Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:
One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater


I decided to upgrade my avatar so that folks know what my siggie is all about.

This was a novelty tune from 1958 as detailed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purple_People_Eater&printable=yes

Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!
The Purple People Eater
 
Single by Sheb Wooley
B-side I Can't Believe You're Mine
Released June 1958
Format 7 inch 45 R.P.M.
Genre Pop/Novelty
Length 2:11
Label MGM
Writer(s) Sheb Wooley
Sheb Wooley chronology
"I Found Me an Angel" / "So Close to Heaven"
(1958)
"The Purple People Eater" / "I Can't Believe You're Mine"
(1958)
"The Chase" / "Monkey Jive"
(1958)

"The Purple People Eater" was a novelty song, written and performed by Sheb Wooley (1921-2003), that reached #1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958. The song has remained popular for over fifty years, and sold one hundred million copies.[1]

"The Purple People Eater" is a bouncy, happy song whose style is very much of its time and genre, reflecting both the simple early rock and roll that was hugely popular and the public fascination with flying saucers and aliens. The rather silly lyrics tell how a strange monster (described as a "one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater") descends to earth because it wants to be in a rock'n'roll band.

One eternal question about the song is caused by an ambiguity in the English language: is the eponymous creature a one-eyed, one-horned flying purple creature that eats people, a creature that eats one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people, or somewhere in between? The lyrics clarify matters somewhat: the creature is described as having one eye and one horn, and it comes out of the sky (presumably by flying). However, it is also stated that the creature eats purple people, so one can conclude that it is a one-eyed, one-horned, flying creature that eats purple people. (The exact color of the creature is therefore open to debate, but most artwork assumes that it, too, is purple.)

The voice of the purple people eater is a sped up recording, giving it a voice similar to, but not quite as high-pitched or as fast, as Ross Bagdasarian's "Witch Doctor", another hit from earlier in 1958; and the "Chipmunk Song" which was released late in 1958. (The Chipmunks themselves eventually covered "Purple People Eater").

The song invokes phrases from several other hit songs from that era: "Short Shorts", by The Royal Teens, and "Tequila", by The Champs, both from earlier in 1958; and "Tutti Frutti" from 1955.

The purple people eater reappeared in "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor", sung by Joe South, also released in 1958; it was also released as sung by The Big Bopper on the B-side of at least one version of the "Chantilly Lace" single.[citation needed]

In September 1958, Bo Diddley recorded a song titled "Purple People". In the Fall of 1958, the track was released as a single and retitled "Bo Meets The Monster" (Checker 907).[citation needed]

The enduring popularity of the song led to the nicknaming of the highly effective Minnesota Vikings defensive line of the 1970s, whose team colors include purple.

The character was used as the basis for a feature film in 1988, with an all-star cast ranging from Neil Patrick Harris, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ned Beatty, Shelley Winters, and (a very young) Thora Birch, to musicians like Little Richard, Chubby Checker, and Wooley himself.

Kidz Bop Kids covered this song on the 2004 album Kidz Bop Halloween.

Author A. Lee Martinez's book Too Many Curses features a creature called a nurgax--which is described as a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater.[2]

The Sheb Wooley version crossed to the Billboard R&B listings, and while it did not make Billboard's country chart, it reached #4 on the Cashbox country listing.

[edit] Singers

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"All I Have to Do Is Dream" by The Everly Brothers
Billboard Top 100 number-one single (Sheb Wooley version)
June 9, 1958 (6 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Yakety Yak" by The Coasters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


If you wish to hear the song it is on youTube

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

Here are the lyrics:



Words and music by Sheb Wooley.

Lyrics to 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 people 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' puple people eater
Sure looks stange to me. (one eye?)

Well he came down to earth and 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, flying purple
people eater. Pidgeon-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 lit on the
ground. He started to rock, really rockin' around
It was a crazy little ditty with a swingin' tune
(sing aboop boop aboopa lopa lum bam boom)

Well, bless my soul, rock and roll
flyin' purple people eater.
Pigeon-toed, undergrowed, flyin' purple peopleeater.
Flyin' little people eater
Sure looks strange to me. (purple people?)

And then he went on his way, and then what do
you 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 (clarinet solo) ( Tequila)


__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1701
Date:

LOL thanks for the info.
so from what i understand from the lyrics this creature might not be purple but he eats purple peopleconfuse
now i'm going to find that song and give it a listensmile

__________________
Forgive any misspellings,English's not my mother tongue.


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1701
Date:

ok,this song is really catchy,especially it's chorus.

__________________
Forgive any misspellings,English's not my mother tongue.


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

It is a novelty/nonsense tune - they were big in the early years of rock 'n roll - it is not supposed to make sense...you just hum it and go with the beat...this is one of the more memorable catchy tunes of this type but there were literally hundreds of them at the time...you could Google the term and find similar music that lives on forever and for always in the hearts and souls of folks from my generation, and even later generations, who are open to music of yesteryear.

-- Edited by PurplePeopleEater at 13:56, 2009-01-19

-- Edited by PurplePeopleEater at 13:56, 2009-01-19

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1701
Date:

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

It is a novelty/nonsense tune - they were big in the early years of rock 'n roll - it is not supposed to make sense...you just hum it and go with the beat...this is one of the more memorable catchy tunes of this type but there were literally hundreds of them at the time...you could Google the term and find similar music that lives on forever and for always in the hearts and souls of folks from my generation, and even later generations, who are open to music of yesteryear.

-- Edited by PurplePeopleEater at 13:56, 2009-01-19

-- Edited by PurplePeopleEater at 13:56, 2009-01-19



Hundreds?? this is very interesting.
i could listen to almost anything as long as its decent,i can't stand Rap and Hip-Hopdisbelief,and of course Techno Dance and all that crap that is not real music anyway.

 



__________________
Forgive any misspellings,English's not my mother tongue.


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

Country gal wrote:

 

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

It is a novelty/nonsense tune - they were big in the early years of rock 'n roll - it is not supposed to make sense...you just hum it and go with the beat...this is one of the more memorable catchy tunes of this type but there were literally hundreds of them at the time...you could Google the term and find similar music that lives on forever and for always in the hearts and souls of folks from my generation, and even later generations, who are open to music of yesteryear.

-- Edited by PurplePeopleEater at 13:56, 2009-01-19

-- Edited by PurplePeopleEater at 13:56, 2009-01-19



Hundreds?? this is very interesting.
i could listen to almost anything as long as its decent,i can't stand Rap and Hip-Hopdisbelief,and of course Techno Dance and all that crap that is not real music anyway.

 

 



Here is a wiki piece on the topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_record

Help us improve Wikipedia by supporting it financially.

Novelty song

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Novelty songs
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins
1910s United States
Typical instruments
Guitar, Bass, drums, often also keyboards
Mainstream popularity Grammy category since 1959
Other topics
Parody music - Comedy rock - Geek rock

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions were ballads and dance music.[1] Novelty songs achieved great popularity during the 1920s and 30s.[2][3]

Novelty songs are often a parody or humor song, and may apply to a current event such as a holiday or a fad such as a dance. Many use unusual lyrics, subjects, sounds, or instrumentation, and may not even be musical. The #1 Greatest Novelty Song, "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!", has little music and is set to a rhythm tapped out on a snare drum and tambourine. One novelty song, a remix of "Axel F", started as a mobile phone ring-tone.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] History

An early novelty song was the 1941 "Der Fuehrer's Face", and the 1952 #1 single "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" became notable for extensive play and backlash because the song became annoying. Dickie Goodman, the godfather of the genre, faced a lawsuit for his 1956 "The Flying Saucer" novelty song which used sampling. "Yakety Yak" became a #1 single on July 21, 1958, and is the only novelty song (#346) of the Songs of the Century. The first Best Comedy Recording Grammy was awarded to "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", which used a speeded-up voice technique to simulate a chipmunk voice.[4] In 1964, the Grammy for Best Country and Western Album was awarded to Roger Miller's Dang Me/Chug-a-Lug, which had several novelty songs.

In 1985, "The Stonk" novelty song raised over £100,000 for the Comic Relief charity. After P.D.Q. Bach repeatedly won the Best Comedy Album Grammy from 1990-1993, the category was changed to Best Spoken Comedy Album, and when Best Comedy Album was reinstated in 2004, "Weird Al" Yankovic won for Poodle Hat.

[edit] Examples of novelty songs

A-D
E-M
N-Z

 

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hamm, Irving Berlin Early Songs, p. xxxiv: "The text of a novelty song sketches a vignette or a brief story of an amusing or provocative nature. ... noted for portraying characters of specific ethnicity or those finding themselves in certain comic or melodramatic situations, ..."
  2. ^ Axford, Song Sheets to Software, p. 20: "As sentimental songs were the mainstay of Tin Pan Alley, novelty and comical songs helped to break the monotony, developing in the twenties and thirties as signs of the times."
  3. ^ Tawa, Supremely American, p. 55: "... in the 1920s, novelty songs offset the intensely serious and lachrymose ballads. nonsensical novelty songs, reproducing the irrational and meaningless side of the twenties, made frequent appearances."
  4. ^ Hoffman, Dr Frank. "Novelty Songs" (html). Jeff O's Retro Music. Jeff O'Corbett. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.

The D. Sticker Ensemble

[edit] Bibliography

  • Aquila, Richard, That Old-time Rock & Roll: A Chronicle of an Era, 1954-1963. University of Illinois Press, 2000. ISBN 0-252-06919-6
  • Axford, Elizabeth C. Song Sheets to Software: A Guide to Print Music, Software, and Web Sites for Musicians. Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8108-5027-3
  • Hamm, Charles (ed.). Irving Berlin Early Songs. Marcel Dekker, 1995. ISBN 0895793059
  • Tawa, Nicholas E. Supremely American: Popular Song in the 20th Century . Scarecrow Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8108-5295-0


__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

While some of the tunes mentioned above are favorites, others listed I have never heard of - so if you want to check them out, bear that in mind. I have lots of such tunes on my computer and if you would like some suggestions I would be happy to oblige.

Lots of doowop songs were novelty type songs - the genres tend to blend at times. As you know.

The big thing is the beat and catchiness of the songs. And they were legion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

I never thought of "The Twist" as a novelty tune - I always considered it plain old rock 'n roll. The same with Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-Ling". And some others listed.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1701
Date:



I see some of those are totally crap,like that 'crazy frog' or'because i got high'hmm

 



-- Edited by Country gal at 18:30, 2009-01-19

__________________
Forgive any misspellings,English's not my mother tongue.


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

..and like "On Top of Spaghetti"...

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 18087
Date:

Cool avatar!

__________________

Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite
shaniasupersite.com

Our eyes are closed, but we're not asleep, We're wide awake beneath the sheets



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

Don't fall in love with it - too much of that seems to be happening hereabouts.

__________________


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 460
Date:

Welcome to CHAOS country!!!lol

__________________

Don't mind me,I'm just here!!!!! 



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

I thought this was wacko country?

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

It surely is.

__________________


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1395
Date:

chaosinc wrote:

Welcome to CHAOS country!!!lol




 ..........we are countin' on you..........



__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse
Powered by ActiveBoard