The Chicken Song

"The Chicken Song" is a novelty song by the British satirical comedy television programme Spitting Image (series 3, episode 6). The nonsensical lyrics were written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor; the music was written by Philip Pope, who also produced the song, with Michael Fenton Stevens as vocalist.

This article is about the Spitting Image song. For the instrumental novelty track sometimes known as "Chicken Song", see Chicken Dance.
"The Chicken Song"
Single by Spitting Image
featuring The Wet Gits
from the album Spit in Your Ear
B-side
ReleasedApril 1986 (1986-04)
Recorded1986
GenrePop, parody
Length2:37 (7" version)
LabelCentral TV / Virgin
Songwriter(s)Music: Philip Pope
Lyrics: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
Producer(s)Philip Pope

The song was a parody of summer holiday disco songs such as "Agadoo" and "Do the Conga", which were in vogue during the mid-1980s. The song made specific reference to the group Black Lace, who performed those songs ("those two wet gits -'Barton/Gibb' with their girly curly hair"). The song featured heavily during the 1986 series of Spitting Image, playing recurrently in the background, and being hummed by characters. At one stage, the puppet of Pope John Paul II played it on a banjolele. A subsequent release as a single reached number one in the official UK Singles Chart for three weeks in 1986.[1]

Song versions

On the Spit in Your Ear album, the "Celebrity Mega Mix" version of "The Chicken Song" was included, which features vocal impressions of celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Tina Turner singing the lyrics. The 12" single of "The Chicken Song" featured the extended "12 hour version", which contains numerous random repetitions of the verses and chorus at times when the song appears to be over. When the track is actually finished and the stylus reaches the end of the run-out groove, the first bar of the song is constantly repeated in the final locked-groove.

B-sides

On the B-side of the 7" and 12" singles was another popular song from the television series, entitled "(I've Never Met) A Nice South African", which mocked the apartheid-era nation's white people. The 12" single also contained "Hello, You Must Be Going", a parody of Phil Collins who seems as much concerned about his receding hairline as his failed relationship, and "We're Scared of Bob", a parody of the Band Aid / USA for Africa charity records with the various artists suggesting they were only making the record because they were too afraid to say no when Bob Geldof asked them.[2]

Track listings

7" vinyl
Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."The Chicken Song"Rob Grant, Doug NaylorPhilip Pope2:37
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."(I've Never Met) A Nice South African"John LloydPeter Brewis3:08

12" vinyl
Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."The Chicken Song (12 Hour Version)"Rob Grant, Doug NaylorPhilip Pope6:59
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."(I've Never Met) A Nice South African"John LloydPeter Brewis3:08
2."Hello, You Must Be Going"Ian Hislop, Nick NewmanPhilip Pope 
3."We're Scared of Bob"Rob Grant, Doug NaylorPhilip Pope2:50

Chart performance
Chart (1986) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[1] 1
Dutch GfK Chart[3] 49
Irish Singles Chart[4] 1

References
  1. "Official Chart History- Spitting Image - The Chicken Song". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. andrewscottuk, Spitting Image - We're Scared of Bob, retrieved 2019-01-10
  3. "dutchcharts.nl - Spitting Image - The Chicken Song". Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  4. "IrishCharts.ie search results". Retrieved 26 February 2009.
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