Who Put the Bomp (song)
Encyclopedia
"Who Put the Bomp" is a Doo-wop
style hit song from 1961 co-written (with Gerry Goffin
) and recorded by Barry Mann
. He was backed up by The Halos
, who had previously backed up Curtis Lee
on the song "Pretty Little Angel Eyes". The song was originally released as a single on the ABC-Paramount
label (10237).
In this song, Mann sings about the frequent use of nonsense lyrics in Doo-Wop
music, and how his girl fell in love with him after listening to several such songs.
Examples of the type of song referred to include the Marcels' version of "Blue Moon
" (in which they sing "Bomp bomp ba bomp, ba bomp ba bomp bomp" and "dip-de-dip-de-dip") and the Edsels' "Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong", both of which charted earlier the same year. The spoken part is a reference to the song "Little Darlin'
" by The Diamonds
.
The song inspired the title of a music magazine, called "Who Put the Bomp
".
The song fits into the category of "self-referential" songs. Rock songs are often about rock, reggae songs about reggae, rap songs about rap, etc. In this particular song that aspect is accentuated by the fact that Mann is a songwriter singing about songwriters.
It is also an ironic, lightly self-mocking song, a frequent phenomenon in popular music, M
's "Pop Muzik
" being another example.
The song was parodied by Bob Rivers
as "Who Put the Stump?", involving, from the perspective of an angel on top of a Christmas tree
, the tree being inserted up the angel's rectum
. The lyrics include "Who put the stump in my rump ba-bump ba-bump".
Bentley Rhythm Ace
had a track called "Who Put the Bom in the Bom Bom Diddleye Bom" on their debut album
.
The song "We Go Together" in the Broadway musical and subsequent film Grease
includes a similar mix of nonsensical lyrics. The versions of "We Go Together" on the 1993 London cast recording and movie soundtrack include a bit of "Who Put the Bomp" sung in counterpoint at the end.
A parody titled "Who put the Bomb in Tehran
, Tehran, Tehran" was produced by political satirists Capitol Steps
and included in their book Sixteen Scandals and the accompanying CD. An earlier parody, "Who'll Put a Bomb on Saddam Saddam Saddam" was introduced in the Capitol Steps' 1990 album, Sheik, Rattle and Roll.
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
style hit song from 1961 co-written (with Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
) and recorded by Barry Mann
Barry Mann
Barry Mann is an American songwriter, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.-Career:...
. He was backed up by The Halos
The Halos
The Halos were an American doo wop group from The Bronx.The group formed with members Al Cleveland, J.R. Bailey, Harold Johnson, and Arthur Crier . Phil Johnson replaced J.R. Bailey shortly after the recording of "Nag". .The group got its start as session musicians, backing up vocalists recorded by...
, who had previously backed up Curtis Lee
Curtis Lee
Curtis Lee is an American singer of the early 1960s, who twice over was one of the beneficiaries of 1961 productions by Phil Spector. These were "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" and "Under the Moon of Love" Curtis Lee (born October 28, 1941, Yuma, Arizona, U.S.) is an American singer of the early...
on the song "Pretty Little Angel Eyes". The song was originally released as a single on the ABC-Paramount
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
label (10237).
In this song, Mann sings about the frequent use of nonsense lyrics in Doo-Wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
music, and how his girl fell in love with him after listening to several such songs.
Examples of the type of song referred to include the Marcels' version of "Blue Moon
Blue Moon (song)
"Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley....
" (in which they sing "Bomp bomp ba bomp, ba bomp ba bomp bomp" and "dip-de-dip-de-dip") and the Edsels' "Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong", both of which charted earlier the same year. The spoken part is a reference to the song "Little Darlin'
Little Darlin'
"Little Darlin" is a popular Top 40 song.It was written by Maurice Williams with both melody and doo-wop accompaniment strongly emphasizing the clave rhythm. It was first recorded by Excello Records in January 1957 and quickly released as a rhythm-and-blues song by Williams's R&B group, The Gladiolas...
" by The Diamonds
The Diamonds
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with sixteen Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville , Ted Kowalski , Phil Levitt , and Bill Reed .-1950s:...
.
The song inspired the title of a music magazine, called "Who Put the Bomp
Who Put the Bomp
Who Put The Bomp was a rock music fanzine edited and published by Greg Shaw from 1970-79. Later its name was shortened to "Bomp!". Shaw was one of the first and best known rock fanzine editors. Active in science fiction fandom as a young man, he became familiar with fanzines...
".
The song fits into the category of "self-referential" songs. Rock songs are often about rock, reggae songs about reggae, rap songs about rap, etc. In this particular song that aspect is accentuated by the fact that Mann is a songwriter singing about songwriters.
It is also an ironic, lightly self-mocking song, a frequent phenomenon in popular music, M
M (band)
M was English musician Robin Scott's brief but very successful new wave/synthpop project in the late 1970s and early 1980s. M is most known for the 1979 hit "Pop Muzik", which reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1979, and #1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on 3 November 1979...
's "Pop Muzik
Pop Muzik
"Pop Muzik" is a 1979 hit song by M, a project by Robin Scott.-Concept and chart performance:Robin Scott describes the genesis of "Pop Muzik" this way:...
" being another example.
Chart performance
The single debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 on August 7, 1961, and remained for twelve weeks, peaking at # 7. Mann's version did not chart in the UK, though a cover version by the Viscounts reached # 21 there in September, 1961, and another version by Showaddywaddy charted at # 37 in August, 1982.In popular culture
The song has been covered by:- Jan and DeanJan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
(who claim "We put the bomp...") - The ViscountsThe Viscounts (UK)The Viscounts were a British pop group from London. Its members had formerly been part of a TV ensemble called Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang. They quit the group and formed The Viscounts in 1958, playing local shows and eventually attracting the attention of manager Larry Parnes...
(on the album Who Put the Bomp—The Pye Anthology) - Me First and the Gimme GimmesMe First and the Gimme GimmesMe First and the Gimme Gimmes is a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in 1995. The Gimmes work exclusively as a cover band. The band is named after a children's book of the same name by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione...
(on the album Blow in the Wind) - ShowaddywaddyShowaddywaddyShowaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...
- Frankie LymonFrankie LymonFranklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid teens...
and the TeenagersThe TeenagersThe Teenagers are an American integrated doo wop group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed...
with response song "I Put The Bomp" in which Lymon was the man "who put the bomp." - Sharon, Lois & BramSharon, Lois & BramSharon, Lois & Bram is the name of a Canadian children's musical trio composed of Sharon Hampson , Lois Ada Lilienstein , and Bramwell "Bram" Morrison .-Group formation:Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillenstein, and Bram Morrison began their singing...
on their 1995 album Let's Dance!Let's Dance!Let's Dance! is the seventeenth album by popular children's entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram, originally released in the fall of 1995. This was the first Sharon, Lois & Bram album to feature a different repretoire of carefully selected pop tunes spanning over four decades of music from the 40s to... - The Heebee-jeebeesThe Heebee-jeebeesThe Heebee-jeebees are a Canadian a cappella quartet formed in 1993 in Calgary, Canada. The Heebee-jeebees have released 8 recordings, all to international recognition including 4 CARA nominations and 2 CARA Awards...
(on their live album Surgical Strike) - The Real GroupThe Real GroupThe Real Group is a professional a cappella group from Sweden, consisting of five members: Emma Nilsdotter, Katarina Henryson, Anders Edenroth, Morten Vinther Sørensen, and Anders Jalkéus....
(on their album Debut)
The song was parodied by Bob Rivers
Bob Rivers
Bob Rivers is a well-known American rock and roll radio on air personality in the Pacific Northwest as well as a prolific producer of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas song parodies....
as "Who Put the Stump?", involving, from the perspective of an angel on top of a Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
, the tree being inserted up the angel's rectum
Rectum
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...
. The lyrics include "Who put the stump in my rump ba-bump ba-bump".
Bentley Rhythm Ace
Bentley Rhythm Ace
Bentley Rhythm Ace are a duo formed in Birmingham, England in 1997, consisting of Mike Stokes and Richard March.-Career:The band was formed in Birmingham by Richard March, formerly with the group Pop Will Eat Itself, and Mike Stokes, with guest appearances by James Atkin, a member of indie band EMF...
had a track called "Who Put the Bom in the Bom Bom Diddleye Bom" on their debut album
Bentley Rhythm Ace (Album)
Bentley Rhythm Ace, released in 1997, was the debut album of Bentley Rhythm Ace, an electronic music duo from Birmingham, England.The album is best known for the single "Bentleys Gonna Sort You Out!" which featured in a few TV adverts at the time and was also praised in multiple music magazines...
.
The song "We Go Together" in the Broadway musical and subsequent film Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
includes a similar mix of nonsensical lyrics. The versions of "We Go Together" on the 1993 London cast recording and movie soundtrack include a bit of "Who Put the Bomp" sung in counterpoint at the end.
A parody titled "Who put the Bomb in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Tehran, Tehran" was produced by political satirists Capitol Steps
Capitol Steps
The Capitol Steps are an American political satire group. It has been performing since 1981, and has released approximately thirty albums consisting primarily of song parodies. Originally consisting exclusively of Congressional staffers performing around Washington, D.C., the troupe now primarily...
and included in their book Sixteen Scandals and the accompanying CD. An earlier parody, "Who'll Put a Bomb on Saddam Saddam Saddam" was introduced in the Capitol Steps' 1990 album, Sheik, Rattle and Roll.