Hang On Sloopy

This article is about the Wes Farrell and Bert Russell song. For The McCoys album, see Hang on Sloopy (album).
"Hang On Sloopy"
Single by The McCoys
from the album Hang on Sloopy
B-side "I Can't Explain It"
Released July 1965
Format Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Recorded 1964, 1965
Genre Pop rock, rock and roll
Length 2:57
Label Bang 506
Writer(s) Wes Farrell
Bert Russell
Producer(s) Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer
The McCoys singles chronology
"Hang On Sloopy"
(1965)		 "Fever"
(1965)

"Hang On Sloopy" is a 1964 song by Wes Farrell and Bert Russell, originally titled "My Girl Sloopy".

It was first recorded by The Vibrations in 1964, for Atlantic Records (45-2222), reaching #10 on the R&B chart and #26 on the US pop chart.[1] As recorded by the pop group The McCoys, "Hang On Sloopy" went to #1 in the United States in October 1965.[2]

"Hang On Sloopy" was also recorded by The Sandpipers as a disco version, released by Satril Records in the UK, produced by Henry Hadaway and reached top 30 in the UK Pop Charts.

History

According to Rick Derringer, the original version of Sloopy was written by a "high school kid in St. Louis" and sold to Bert Berns.[3] If true, the answer to the age old question "just who is Sloopy?" lies with him. In 1965, The Strangeloves, a rock band who purported to be from Australia, decided to make the song the follow-up to their hit single "I Want Candy", and began performing the song in concert. However, the Dave Clark Five, with whom they were touring, told the Strangeloves that they were going to record their own version of the song, copying the Strangeloves' arrangement. The Strangeloves realized that the Dave Clark Five's version would probably outsell their own, but they were still enjoying success with "I Want Candy" and did not want to release a new single yet. So the trio—who were, in reality, three successful writer/producers from Brooklyn, New York— recruited a group from Union City, Indiana, Rick and the Raiders, to record the song instead. The group's name was changed to The McCoys (to avoid confusion with another popular band of the era, Paul Revere and the Raiders), and their 16-year-old leader, Rick Zehringer, became known as Rick Derringer. The McCoys' backup track was then also used by the Strangeloves, and the single was released on Bang Records. It entered the chart on August 14, 1965, effectively beating the Dave Clark Five to the charts. The single went on to hit number one on October 2.

Originally written and recorded with three verses, "Hang On Sloopy" was edited down to two verses for the single and original Hang On Sloopy album. The unedited three-verse version first appeared on the 1970 Bang various artists compilation Bang & Shout Super Hits (BLPS-220), then again in 1995 on the Sony Legacy compilation Hang On Sloopy: The Best of the McCoys

The song gained an association with The Ohio State University after its marching band began playing it at football games; it first played it October 9, 1965 after a staff arranger, John Tatgenhorst, begged the director to try playing it. After finally convincing the director, Tatgenhorst arranged the song and the band played. After the crowd reaction, the band began to play it at every game and now it is a Saturday tradition to play the song before the start of the fourth quarter of every Buckeye game. Since then, "Sloopy" has been appearing on the band's CDs and is available as a free download on its website.

A possible reason that John Tatgenhorst brought the song to the band was that he heard it played, over and over and over again at the CharBar, one of the most popular bars at OSU, just across the street from the main entrance to the campus at 17th and High St. A group of bar regulars led by Paul Svec (who lived behind the CharBar at the time) took advantage of the house rule that gave whoever placed a coin next to the juke box the right to play the next song. Paul organized hundreds of coins placed in a line on table tops all around the main floor of the bar so that "Hang On Sloopy" was played all day long. The song quickly became the most popular song on the CharBar juke box and at OSU.

The song has also become a feature at the home games of professional sports teams throughout Ohio where, as is the case at Ohio State, fans usually chant the letters "O, H, I, O" during the pauses in the chorus while mimicking the shape of the letters with their arms and is normally played during the transition from the 3rd quarter to the 4th quarter at Ohio Stadium.

At least one source includes a possible connection between the song and Charles J. Givens.[4]

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band also covered this song live in concert on May 2, 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Rick Derringer was still playing the song live with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in November, 2011. In 2013 the Dj Offer Nissim made a remix of Porter's version, which became a big hit in the club scene. When The Rolling Stones played Ohio Stadium on May 30, 2015, as part of their Zip Code Tour, they included the song on the playlist as a tribute to the local Ohio/Ohio State fans.

Other charting versions

Other versions

Legacy

Official rock song of the state of Ohio

Later it became the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University. In April 1985, Joe Dirck, columnist for the Columbus Citizen-Journal, saw a wire service story about a proposal to designate "Louie, Louie" as the official State song of Washington and wrote a series of tongue-in-cheek columns. He even registered as a lobbyist for the resolution. Dirck, who played bass guitar in rock bands himself, knew the McCoys, particularly Rick Derringer. He said it was a good fit because the McCoys were from the Dayton area, and Ohio State marching band had adopted it as an unofficial anthem. Both the public and its elected officials—most importantly, the 116th Ohio General Assembly became aware their State lacked an official song as a result of the exposure from his commentary. They designated "Hang On Sloopy" as the State rock song by House Concurrent Resolution 16 on November 20, 1985, with clauses including:

"WHEREAS, "Hang On Sloopy" is of particular relevance to members of the baby boom generation, who were once dismissed as a bunch of long-haired, crazy kids, but who now are old enough and vote in sufficient numbers to be taken quite seriously..."

and

"WHEREAS, Adoption of this resolution will not take too long, cost the State anything, or affect the quality of life in this State to any appreciable degree, and if we in the legislature just go ahead and pass the darn thing, we can get on with more important stuff."[14]

Professional sports

"Hang On Sloopy" is now also the official song of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, who play at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. Many American ballparks have a tradition of choosing an 8th inning song for the fans and team, and "Hang On Sloopy" fills that role, and is played during the middle of every 8th inning. The song also plays at the end of the 3rd quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium during every Cleveland Browns game, and is also played at Cleveland Cavaliers games at Quicken Loans Arena.. During any sports games it is common for fans to yell "O-H-I-O!" following the chorus.

See also

References

External links

Preceded by
"Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single by The McCoys
October 2, 1965
(one week) 		Succeeded by
"Yesterday" by The Beatles
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