became notable both for its extensive airplay and the backlash from listeners who found it increasingly annoying. It’s the last instrumental number one since… I’m not sure, to be honest, but it’s been a good while.

With all the love and respect due to the British institution they absolutely are, the fact remains that they mostly do farmers' versions of vaguely popular songs. These songs were perfect for the medium of Vaudeville, and performers such as Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker became well known for such songs.In 1960 Brian Hyland hit the top of the US charts with his song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". Fairbrass the elder has had quite the career since his chart-topping days, hosting ‘GayTime TV’ (the first BBC programme to be aimed at an LGBT audience), being targeted and beaten up by Russian ultra-nationalists, and in later years turning into something of a Twitter conspiracy theorist, as well as most recently accusing Beyonce of ripping him off. As just about anyone who visits this fair island will know, few things make whole groups of full-grown adults snigger more than clever wordplay or pointing and laughing at people's bits, usually after a limb-loosening drink or two.

This means that each year a new selection of songs will become available for inclusion in the Great British Songbook. The poem, A Boy Named Sue, was inspired by humourist Jean Shepherd, a close friend of Shel Silverstein, who was often taunted as a child because of his feminine-sounding name. Those of you who live beyond British shores may never have enjoyed this bi-annual TV fundraiser, in which the great and the good of British light entertainment come together for an evening of forced merriment. All that history has been obliterated by the Rednex version, which became a worldwide hit and which we will all be hearing until our dying days.by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis was featured on the kids compilation album So Fresh Pop Party 13 in 2014. The Jackson 5 alone have sold more than 100 million records worldwide – that puts them as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and that doesn’t include any of their solo records.

From the television series came touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. Lonnie Donegan's 1959 cover of the 1924 novelty song " Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight? Of course, in response to the song's popularity and perhaps the free advertising, the group was later featured there. Sure, England were at the 1970 World Cup – but they got a free pass, there was no qualification required. Bobby "Boris" Pickett’s novelty song ‘Monster Mash’ was a chart-topping smash in America upon its original release in 1962, however it took another 11 years to dent the UK charts when it peaked at No.A 1940s novelty song was Spike Jones' 1942 " Der Fuehrer's Face", which included raspberries in its chorus. I guess a lot of people have forgotten all about Melanie Safka, but back in the early 70s the American folk singer made more than an occasional dent on the US and UK pop charts. As sentimental songs were the mainstay of Tin Pan Alley, novelty and comical songs helped to break the monotony, developing in the twenties and thirties as signs of the times.

It’s also an odd number one for this moment in time, wedged in among the dance tracks and ballads, one that might have been a hit in any era, that is as likely to get your granny dancing as it is your five-year-old nephew. An underground novelty music scene began to emerge in the 1960s, beginning with the homosexually themed songs of Camp Records and the racist humor of Johnny Rebel, then in the 1970s and 1980s with X-rated albums by David Allan Coe and Clarence "Blowfly" Reid.

In Sweden they remained successful well into the 2000s, scoring chart-toppers there as late as 2008! The best mixes are also the ones that keep proceedings down to the three-minute mark for, as fun as this tune is, it can get a little repetitive when stretched over seven minutes.