Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

"Chirpy Chirpy, Cheep Cheep"
Single by Lally Stott
from the album Chirpy Chirpy, Cheep Cheep[1]
B-side	Henry James
Released	1971
Recorded	1971
Writer(s)	Lally Stott

"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep"
Single by Middle of the Road
B-side	Rainin' and Painin'
Released	1971
Middle of the Road singles chronology
"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (1971) "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" (1971)

"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" is a song recorded in early 1971 by its composer Lally Stott,^[2] and made popular later that year by Scottish band Middle of the Road for whom it was a UK number one chart hit.^[3] That version is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold in excess of 10 million physical copies worldwide.^[4] Despite its popularity when originally released, the song is rarely played on oldies radio stations today.

Charts

Chart (1971)	Peak position
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[5]	1
Ireland (IRMA)[6]	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[7]	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8]	2
Norway (VG-lista)[9]	1
Denmark (Tracklisten)	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10]	2
Germany (Official German Charts)[11]	2
Italy (FIMI)[12]	14
Spain (AFYVE)[13]	2
France (SNEP)[14]	15
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[15]	1
Australia (Kent Music Report)[16]	2

History

The original recording by its composer Lally Stott, was a hit in France (Top 15), a minor hit in Italy, Australia and in the United States. Stott's record company, Philips, was reluctant to release the song overseas, and apparently offered it to two other groups: Scottish folk-pop group Middle of the Road, who were working in Italy at the time, and Mac and Katie Kissoon. While it is unclear which group Stott offered his song to first, Mac and Katie Kissoon produced their cover version first. Middle of the Road's version then initially became a hit on the Continent only, but later grew in popularity in the United Kingdom, reportedly via DJ Tony Blackburn favoring this version over the previously-produced version by Mac and Katie Kissoon. However, Middle of the Road's version didn't even chart on the United States Billboard Hot 100, and nearly flopped in the UK also, because it followed the Kissoon's previously-produced version. Middle of the Road's version eventually reached #1 in the UK and stayed there for five weeks in June 1971, while the Kissoons' version only reached #41.^[17] In the USA the Kissoon's version was a greater success, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, while Lally Stott's original version reached #92.

The song was dismissed by critics as bubblegum at the time, a view initially held by band leader Ken Andrews: "We were as disgusted with the thought of recording it as most people were at the thought of buying it. But at the end of the day, we liked it."

Cover versions

The song appears as a cover on a 1971 television show with Paula Koivuniemi And also it appears as a cover on a 1973 live record by the Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea.

Also in 1971, Irish singer Jackie Lee covered the song on her second album Jackie's Junior Choice.

It was later referenced in the Denim song "Middle of the Road" in 1992, and more recently covered by the novelty act Cartoons.

It was featured in the Neil Jordan film, Breakfast on Pluto.

The song has been covered in many languages, including Catalan, Vietnamese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish and German. The spanish version was called Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep by Middle of the road s and by Dolores Vargas. German versions were by Hajo and Mickie Krause who performed a dance song to the same tune, "Reiss die Hütte ab" (Tear The Hut Down) (Apres Ski Hits 2003). Koivistolaiset sang Finnish language version with lyrics from Vexi Salmi.

The PJ Harvey song "Nina In Ecstasy" contained an interpolation of the lines "Where's your mama gone (Where's your mama gone) / Far far away".

The song was featured on the Top of the Pops, Volume 18 album.

The song was also covered by the British band Lush in 1990, and released on the compilation album, Alvin Lives (In Leeds).

The song was also covered by music group 4 Ties in 1995 and released on the compilation album of the same title.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Norwegian comedy duo Tom Mathisen and Herodes Falsk made a tongue-in-cheek parody of this song in Norwegian, for their album Børre & Gibb's Happy Hour (52 min.) (1995).

A re-worked version of this song (with modified lyrics) titled "Get the Party On" was included on The Cheeky Girls album PartyTime in 2004.

The name of the song was parodied in the title of a Father Ted episode Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep.

References

1. Lally Stott – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep album @Discogs.com Retrieved 9/2/2011.
2. Lally Stott at Last.fm
3. BBC – Top of the Pops 2 – Where Are They Now?
4. Moore-Gilbert, Bart (11 March 2002). The Arts in the 1970s: Cultural Closure. Routledge. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
5. UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
6. "Chart Track: Week 9, 1971". Irish Singles Chart.
7. "Swisscharts.com – Middle Of The Road – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". Swiss Singles Chart.
8. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Middle Of The Road search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
9. "Norwegiancharts.com – Middle Of The Road – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". VG-lista.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Middle Of The Road – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Middle Of The Road – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". GfK Entertainment Charts.
12. "I singoli più venduti del 1971". HitParadeItalia (in Italian). Creative Commons. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
    10. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle Of The Road [#14]
13. Salaverri, Fernando (September 1971). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
14. "Lescharts.com – Middle Of The Road – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
15. "chirpy chirpy cheep cheep - middle of the road". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Retrieved 25 July 2013. Hoogste notering in de top 30 : 1
16. Danyel Smith, ed. (1971). chirpy cheep cheep+middle of the road%22+%22angel%22&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=KjHrUa-4KYnL0QXOtYCIDg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAzgK "Billboard 15 june 1971" Check |url= value (help). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
17. "ChartArchive". Retrieved 17 May 2014.
18. 4 Ties — Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep download Mp3, Listen Free Online
19. 4 Ties - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep (File, MP3) at Discogs
20. Propio records, biography discography, recent releases, news, featurings of eurodance company - The Eurodance Encyclopædia
21. 4 Ties - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - YouTube