"Bend It!" is a song by English

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, released as a single by

Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone *Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi * ...

on 9 September 1966. Written by the band's management team Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, the song's Greek flavour and tempo changes garnered comparisons to Mikis Theodorakis's composition "

Zorba's Dance "Zorba's Dance" ( el, Ο Χορός Του Ζορμπά) is an instrumental by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. The song featured for the dance, which has become known as sirtaki, in the 1964 film ''Zorba the Greek'', for which Theodorakis wrote t ...

". Though considered a departure from the "big-beat" style of the band's previous hits, "Bend It!" was a major chart success. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and had combined sales of over a million in the UK and Europe.

Composition

The song is notable for its Greek style, inspired by "

" from the 1964 film ''Zorba the Greek'', which includes a bouzouki that quickens in tempo. For "Bend It!", an electric mandolin was used, with the result coming from experimenting during rehearsals. It represented a departure in sound for the band; Dave Dee told ''Record Mirror'' the band couldn't have recorded "another thump-thump thing", adding "we won't be angry if this isn't a hit because at least we'll have tried something new".

Release

"Bend It!" was released with the B-side "She's So Good", written by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. However, in Germany it was released by

Star-Club Records The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

with the B-side "

You Make It Move "You Make It Move" is a song by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, released as a single in November 1965. It was the group's first charting single, peaking at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. Release "You Make It Move" was the third singl ...

", which had been released the previous year as the band's third single. The song peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, ultimately spending twelve weeks on the chart. It reached number 1 in Germany, New Zealand and South Africa. The song's salacious lyrics caused controversy and upon its release in America in October, numerous radio stations banned the song. This led the band to re-record "Bend It!" with altered lyrics. This version was then rush-released at the end of October and the original version was withdrawn. The new release came with an open letter of apology stating that "As a pop group we have no right or wish to set ourselves up as arbiters of public taste or morals. But neither would we want to be viewed in any way as corrupters of these standards. Our two countries are so close in most things that it is always surprising to find the exceptional cases where meaning and innuendo differ between us". The song was promoted with a "Bend It!" dance. The dance, created by '' Ready Steady Go!'' dancer and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Patrick Kerr, was promoted in music magazines and an instruction guide inlay was included with the song's

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

Reception

Reviewed in '' Record Mirror'', "Bend It!" was described as "in many ways the best the boys have yet done. It's unusual, with a speeding-up tempo and a fine set of lyrics". In the US, reviewing the original release, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that "this left-field rhythm novelty with fascinating arrangement should meet with equal success in the U.S." and ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' wrote that it "features a tricky, chugging, locomotive rhythm and an excellent sound" and that it also "stands an excellent chance to smash through Stateside".

Track listing

7": Fontana / TF 746 # "Bend It!" – 2:29 # "She's So Good" – 2:21 7": Star-Club / 148 568 STF (Germany) # "Bend It!" – 2:30 # "

" – 2:40

Charts

References

{{authority control 1966 singles 1966 songs Fontana Records singles Songs written by Alan Blaikley Songs written by Ken Howard (composer) Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Zimbabwe Song recordings produced by Steve Rowland