“Hanky Panky” by Tommy James & the Shondells (1966)
Unlike “Henry,” Tommy James’ first Number One song had both a chorus and a verse. He opens a cappella with that chorus – “My baby does the hanky panky.” The drums, bass, and guitar kick in after the first line, and then he repeats it four more times, with an occasional “hey” or “yeah” tossed in for variety. Then there’s a break. Nothing all that bizarre yet.
I mean, we may not know exactly what the “hanky panky” is. Probably a dance, but perhaps something more risque. That makes it kind of fun, no?
Then, after the short break, he does it all over again. “My baby does the hanky panky” five more times. We finally reach the verse and get a little more of the story. “I saw her walkin’ on down the line – You know I saw her for the very first time – A pretty little girl standin’ all alone – Hey pretty baby can I take you home – I never saw her, never really saw her.” Then we’re back to the chorus.
I do admire the efficacy here. There’s nothing in those lines, but the songwriters Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry manage to contradict themselves twice in a very limited time. Was she walkin’ or standin’? And did you see her, or did you not see her? Deep thoughts. Now, I should let Greenwich and Barry off the hook because they were actually very good pop songwriters and because
Tommy James didn’t really know all the original words, so he just kind of winged in on the spot. That’s why he simply repeated that same chorus and that same verse for the remainder of the song. Still, it works – because James’ voice had that primitive garage-rock power, and Joseph Kessler’s guitar matches it.
In case you’re keeping track, “Hanky Panky” knocked Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” out of the top spot. But Old Blue Eyes would return later that year with the aptly titled (for this article at least) “Something Stupid.”
“Judy in Disguise” by John Fred and his Playboy Band (1968)
Psychedelic rock was a thing back in the late 1960s. The song that took over at the top of the charts after “Judy in Disguise” was a genuine example of that – the Lemon Pipers’ “Green Tambourine.” But “Judy” wasn’t really psych rock, though aspects of it might appear to be. And there were plenty of hits that did their best to copy the sound of the Beatles in the second half of the sixties.
John Fred was one of a small number of musical acts who can say they actually knocked the Fab Four out of the Number One spot when “Judy” replaced “Hello Goodbye” in January of 1968. But as a song, “Judy” sounds nothing like the Beatles.
On the other hand, the phrase “Judy in Disguise” does sound exactly like the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Skies,” and that may be the only reason this song climbed the charts. It probably wasn’t the lyrics.
“Judy in disguise – That’s what you are – Lemonade pies – With a brand new car – Cantaloupe eyes come to me tonight – Judy in the skies.” And then the kicker – the bit of lyrical genius that makes it all come together. “With glasses.” Yes, Judy wore glasses. Probably because of those cantaloupe eyes. As another famous British musician once opined – “there’s a fine line between clever and stupid.”
“Judy in Disguise” may well have the dumbest lyrics of any song to hit Number One, and that’s saying something. John Fred Gourrier launched his band when he was a teenager in Louisiana and they were a mostly-obscure act until “Judy” catapulted them to the top. That was it.
They would continue for decades to come, becoming a quintessential one-hit wonder. It is also a guilty pleasure, which takes a surprisingly dark turn at the end despite its supremely silly, catchy vibe. We are left to wonder as the song ends how Judy will possibly go on – without glasses.
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