I’m counting down my 100 favourite songs of all time. To keep this from becoming a Bob Dylan / Tom Waits love-in, only one track per artist is allowed.
Go to 84: All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem
Go to 86: Land by Patti Smith
It’s rare for the performer of a novelty hit to get any credit for it. You tend to assume that those throwaway number ones are the nefarious creations of record companies: designed by committee, approved by management and powered by finance. The face of such a carefully constructed product will enjoy a brief moment at the top of the pile before being cruelly discarded to the scrapheap.
The crass and careless treatment of one hit wonders is particularly pronounced in the video age, where the likes of Vanilla Ice and t.a.T.u. can be dressed up and made to kiss on camera until all traces of credibility are removed. Toni Basil’s Hey Mickey—which uniquely for a novelty song has a place in the Museum of Modern Art as one of the first examples of the pop video—screams record company interference: from the chant-a-long chorus to the singer's overly made-up cheerleader look in the video. It’s therefore surprising to learn the gimmicks are all Basil.
A recording artist, albeit without troubling the pop charts, since 1966, Basil was also an actress, playing minor roles in two seminal classics of alternative US cinema: Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces. But her most successful work was as a choreographer. She danced onscreen with Davy Jones in The Monkees’ movie, Head and worked on George Lucas’ best film, American Graffiti. She earned an Emmy nomination for a Saturday Night Live performance that mixed ballet and street dance and regularly strutted her stuff on Soul Train as part of influential street dance crew, The Lockers. She toured with David Bowie and, most impressively, choreographed and co-directed Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime video.
So when Basil met with producer Simon Leigh to discuss a potential pop career, she was hardly a desperate wannabee. Leigh contacted songwriting duo Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman—responsible for Ballroom Blitz—who suggested a song of theirs called Hey Kitty, which had been a minor hit for glam rock outfit Racey of “Some girls will / Some girls won’t” fame. Inspired by her school days in a cheerleader squad, Basil added that memorable chant “Oh Mickey you’re so fine / you’re so fine you blow my mind / Hey Mickey / Hey Mickey” to Chinn and Chapman’s original.
Far from being a lecherous record executive suggestion, the theme of the Hey Mickey video and its seriously ambitious choreography was also Basil's work. Basil was not a commercial stooge, but a genuine artist creating whatever she thought was interesting. She also made a video for the song Nobody (not a hit, novelty or otherwise) that references Powell and Pressburger’s 1948 film, The Red Shoes and it’s worth noting that while these videos were made in 1980, MTV didn’t launch until two years later.
Though revising Toni Basil’s reputation is worthwhile, Hey Mickey is not the name of the song following the number 85 at the top of this page. That’s because it’s an incredibly annoying earworm that is entirely deserving of its damning novelty hit designation. So you might equally imagine that a song sounding a lot like Hey Mickey would also have no place in Top 100 list that hasn’t been compiled by VH1.
The Ting Tings bear all the hallmarks of a manufactured novelty band. Singer Katie White began her music career in 1998 as part of an all-girl pop group called TKO. Funded by her dad David’s music management company—which he started using funds from his father’s multimillion pound National Lottery win—TKO made some TV appearances and toured with Steps and Atomic Kitten before flagging progress prompted David to hire a new songwriter in 2001.
Jules De Martino had been working in music since the mid-80s and was part of Bros’ backing band. He may have written hits for Wham but that’s more likely just a story spun by David White. The songs he penned for TKO failed to land the band a record deal and they soon split. But what started as a commercial musical partnership slowly became something more interesting. White and De Martino remained in touch, forming the short-lived Dear Eskiimo with DJ Simon Templeman in 2004.
Eventually, after spending time exploring the Manchester art scene together, the pair decided to marry White’s pop sensibilities with De Martino’s musical craft as The Ting Tings. That’s Not My Name is the ultimate expression of that concept. Like the band itself, the song at first appears to be a superficial novelty with its chanting verses, list of girl’s names like a brashier Beautiful South and the undeniable similarities to Hey Mickey.
But from the outset, there’s a lot more to the song than Toni Basil’s hit ever had. The first thing you hear is an odd lasso sound that sets an instant rhythm before a huge bassy beat bolsters the groove. Then there’s the self-assured aggression of the opening line—“Four letter word just to get me along”. The second verse brings a new beat and by the return to the chorus, De Martino’s voice makes an appearance adding contrast and texture, even if it’s mostly incomprehensible—“the sound is monotone”.
In truth, the whole song is still a mystery at this point. Lines like “I missed the catch if they throw me the ball” and “They call me her / They call me Jane / That’s not my name” don’t give you an in, until you get to the magnificent bridge. Here the drive built up over the past two verses is halted to let White sing: “Are you calling me darling? / Are you calling me bird?”
In a voice coated in sugar but laced with poison, her point is clear: this is a young woman raging against the lack of respect she gets in a male-dominated world, like being asked to pose for men’s magazines during her time in Dear Eskiimo, as she recalls in this interview. Her four-letter retort to the request expounds the song’s bellicose introductory declaration.
This is a cathartic moment. From here on in, White and De Martino are free to trash any notions of novelty and take the listener to unchartered depths. The bridge becomes the song’s primary hook with layers of melody and noise built on top. The beats get faster, the chorus returns and weird sound effects, new vocals and a fabulous buzzy guitar fall neatly into place.
It’s pure pop with sharp spikes of punk and an irresistible dance heart. Despite its knowing mix of one-hit wonders (Hey Mickey, Ca Plane Pour Moi and My Sharona as demonstrated by this mash-up), That’s Not My Name doesn’t stare down the lens with an ironic smile but instead closes its eyes, throws its head back and succumbs sincerely to its majestic momentum.
The song was a success, more hits followed and The Ting Tings remain their own creation, so much that they have been accused of rewriting history or mythologising the present. But after all the music business bluster of champagne successes, deals gone sour and dubious artistic visions, what remains is the artifact.
Like Basil’s MOMA memory, the thing created, the product, is what lives on. As creators of That’s Not My Name, The Ting Tings will not be forgotten.
Follow me on Twitter
If you like this, try:
Shut Up and Let Me Go
Great DJ
Soul Killing
Guggenheim
Go to 84: All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem
Go to 86: Land by Patti Smith
Go to 84: All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem
Go to 86: Land by Patti Smith
It’s rare for the performer of a novelty hit to get any credit for it. You tend to assume that those throwaway number ones are the nefarious creations of record companies: designed by committee, approved by management and powered by finance. The face of such a carefully constructed product will enjoy a brief moment at the top of the pile before being cruelly discarded to the scrapheap.
The crass and careless treatment of one hit wonders is particularly pronounced in the video age, where the likes of Vanilla Ice and t.a.T.u. can be dressed up and made to kiss on camera until all traces of credibility are removed. Toni Basil’s Hey Mickey—which uniquely for a novelty song has a place in the Museum of Modern Art as one of the first examples of the pop video—screams record company interference: from the chant-a-long chorus to the singer's overly made-up cheerleader look in the video. It’s therefore surprising to learn the gimmicks are all Basil.
A recording artist, albeit without troubling the pop charts, since 1966, Basil was also an actress, playing minor roles in two seminal classics of alternative US cinema: Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces. But her most successful work was as a choreographer. She danced onscreen with Davy Jones in The Monkees’ movie, Head and worked on George Lucas’ best film, American Graffiti. She earned an Emmy nomination for a Saturday Night Live performance that mixed ballet and street dance and regularly strutted her stuff on Soul Train as part of influential street dance crew, The Lockers. She toured with David Bowie and, most impressively, choreographed and co-directed Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime video.
So when Basil met with producer Simon Leigh to discuss a potential pop career, she was hardly a desperate wannabee. Leigh contacted songwriting duo Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman—responsible for Ballroom Blitz—who suggested a song of theirs called Hey Kitty, which had been a minor hit for glam rock outfit Racey of “Some girls will / Some girls won’t” fame. Inspired by her school days in a cheerleader squad, Basil added that memorable chant “Oh Mickey you’re so fine / you’re so fine you blow my mind / Hey Mickey / Hey Mickey” to Chinn and Chapman’s original.
Far from being a lecherous record executive suggestion, the theme of the Hey Mickey video and its seriously ambitious choreography was also Basil's work. Basil was not a commercial stooge, but a genuine artist creating whatever she thought was interesting. She also made a video for the song Nobody (not a hit, novelty or otherwise) that references Powell and Pressburger’s 1948 film, The Red Shoes and it’s worth noting that while these videos were made in 1980, MTV didn’t launch until two years later.
Though revising Toni Basil’s reputation is worthwhile, Hey Mickey is not the name of the song following the number 85 at the top of this page. That’s because it’s an incredibly annoying earworm that is entirely deserving of its damning novelty hit designation. So you might equally imagine that a song sounding a lot like Hey Mickey would also have no place in Top 100 list that hasn’t been compiled by VH1.
The Ting Tings bear all the hallmarks of a manufactured novelty band. Singer Katie White began her music career in 1998 as part of an all-girl pop group called TKO. Funded by her dad David’s music management company—which he started using funds from his father’s multimillion pound National Lottery win—TKO made some TV appearances and toured with Steps and Atomic Kitten before flagging progress prompted David to hire a new songwriter in 2001.
Jules De Martino had been working in music since the mid-80s and was part of Bros’ backing band. He may have written hits for Wham but that’s more likely just a story spun by David White. The songs he penned for TKO failed to land the band a record deal and they soon split. But what started as a commercial musical partnership slowly became something more interesting. White and De Martino remained in touch, forming the short-lived Dear Eskiimo with DJ Simon Templeman in 2004.
Eventually, after spending time exploring the Manchester art scene together, the pair decided to marry White’s pop sensibilities with De Martino’s musical craft as The Ting Tings. That’s Not My Name is the ultimate expression of that concept. Like the band itself, the song at first appears to be a superficial novelty with its chanting verses, list of girl’s names like a brashier Beautiful South and the undeniable similarities to Hey Mickey.
But from the outset, there’s a lot more to the song than Toni Basil’s hit ever had. The first thing you hear is an odd lasso sound that sets an instant rhythm before a huge bassy beat bolsters the groove. Then there’s the self-assured aggression of the opening line—“Four letter word just to get me along”. The second verse brings a new beat and by the return to the chorus, De Martino’s voice makes an appearance adding contrast and texture, even if it’s mostly incomprehensible—“the sound is monotone”.
In truth, the whole song is still a mystery at this point. Lines like “I missed the catch if they throw me the ball” and “They call me her / They call me Jane / That’s not my name” don’t give you an in, until you get to the magnificent bridge. Here the drive built up over the past two verses is halted to let White sing: “Are you calling me darling? / Are you calling me bird?”
In a voice coated in sugar but laced with poison, her point is clear: this is a young woman raging against the lack of respect she gets in a male-dominated world, like being asked to pose for men’s magazines during her time in Dear Eskiimo, as she recalls in this interview. Her four-letter retort to the request expounds the song’s bellicose introductory declaration.
This is a cathartic moment. From here on in, White and De Martino are free to trash any notions of novelty and take the listener to unchartered depths. The bridge becomes the song’s primary hook with layers of melody and noise built on top. The beats get faster, the chorus returns and weird sound effects, new vocals and a fabulous buzzy guitar fall neatly into place.
It’s pure pop with sharp spikes of punk and an irresistible dance heart. Despite its knowing mix of one-hit wonders (Hey Mickey, Ca Plane Pour Moi and My Sharona as demonstrated by this mash-up), That’s Not My Name doesn’t stare down the lens with an ironic smile but instead closes its eyes, throws its head back and succumbs sincerely to its majestic momentum.
The song was a success, more hits followed and The Ting Tings remain their own creation, so much that they have been accused of rewriting history or mythologising the present. But after all the music business bluster of champagne successes, deals gone sour and dubious artistic visions, what remains is the artifact.
Like Basil’s MOMA memory, the thing created, the product, is what lives on. As creators of That’s Not My Name, The Ting Tings will not be forgotten.
Follow me on Twitter
If you like this, try:
Shut Up and Let Me Go
Great DJ
Soul Killing
Guggenheim
Go to 84: All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem
Go to 86: Land by Patti Smith
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