"Honey, the natives upstairs are getting restless again..."
203. Exciters "Do-Wah-Diddy"
Many younger listeners are familiar with the cover of today's song by British Invasion band Manfred Mann, via it's (hilarious) use in the Bill Murray film Stripes. I'll admit that's how I first encountered it, too. While that version is a fine stomper, it can't beat the original here from the soul group the Exciters (thier big hit was the excellent "Tell Him").
There's been a lot of dance records in recent years refferred to as sounding 'tribal.' Maybe. But, to my ears, no record ever lived up to that appellation like this one, with it's pounding drums, handclaps and relentlessly chanted beautifully nonsensical chorus all conjuring up a vision of an early-60's party in an apartment where bouffant-haired women and slicked-back men pound their shoes in dance against a floor that's threatening to collapse while shouting the chorus like an incantation. Someday, I plan on hosting that exact party just to see what such a ritual conjures up. BYOB.
Many younger listeners are familiar with the cover of today's song by British Invasion band Manfred Mann, via it's (hilarious) use in the Bill Murray film Stripes. I'll admit that's how I first encountered it, too. While that version is a fine stomper, it can't beat the original here from the soul group the Exciters (thier big hit was the excellent "Tell Him").
There's been a lot of dance records in recent years refferred to as sounding 'tribal.' Maybe. But, to my ears, no record ever lived up to that appellation like this one, with it's pounding drums, handclaps and relentlessly chanted beautifully nonsensical chorus all conjuring up a vision of an early-60's party in an apartment where bouffant-haired women and slicked-back men pound their shoes in dance against a floor that's threatening to collapse while shouting the chorus like an incantation. Someday, I plan on hosting that exact party just to see what such a ritual conjures up. BYOB.
Comments