"Giddy Up A Ding Dong" is a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

song which rose to prominence in 1956, when it was featured in the film, '' Rock Around the Clock'', starring

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

. It became a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in several countries for the group

Freddie Bell and the Bellboys Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were an American vocal group, influential in the development of rock and roll in the 1950s. Their recordings include " Hound Dog", " The Hucklebuck" and "Giddy Up a Ding Dong". Career The group were established in 1952 ...

, and is perhaps their best known

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

. The song was written in 1953 by

Freddie Bell Ferdinando Dominick Bello, known as Freddie Bell, (September 29, 1931 – February 10, 2008), was an American musician, whose group, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, were influential in the development of rock and roll in the 1950s. He was a promin ...

and his friend Pep Lattanzi, but was not recorded until three years later after the group had signed to Mercury, and were spotted by film producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...

. Katzman offered the Bellboys a part in ''Rock Around the Clock'' and "Giddy Up a Ding Dong" became their first Mercury release, and was featured in the movie. The song was not a hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but did achieve popularity in Australia, France and the UK, where it climbed to number four in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The publicity for the single said, "If these sides don't move you, see a doctor – you're dead." The lyrics to the song are about a horse ride, with a definite western flavor, with the music having a loping, horse-like cadence. The song was also recorded by

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

, and by Steele's brother

Colin Hicks Colin Hicks & The Cabin Boys were a British rock and roll band, led by Colin Hicks, the younger brother of singer Tommy Steele. Career In November 1957, the British music magazine, '' NME'', reported that Steele's manager, Larry Parnes had sig ...

, whose version was a hit in Italy. British band leader

Ray Ellington Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985), known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet h ...

recorded a comedic version of the song which added a verse about the song's horse-rider encountering a romantic rival. Bill Haley & His Comets performed a unique version of the song during their 1958 European tour that used different lyrics referring to popular cowboy-film stars of the day (a performance of this version recorded at the

Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra ...

is preserved on the 2002 album release ''Vive la Rock and Roll'' ( Big Beat Records: BBR 00073)).

Other recordings

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (1949–2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, thei ...

The Equals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

* Keely Smith * The Crazy Rockers *

Lasse Holm Lars-Eric Gustav "Lasse" Holm (born 9 December 1943) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and television host. Holm has also hosted and appeared in several television shows. As singer Since childhood, he was interested in music and was a member of ...

, on his 1987 album ''Vindarna Vänder Om''.

References

{{authority control 1953 songs 1956 singles