"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular UK song, of the
novelty type, sung by "
one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
"
The Pipkins, and written and composed by
Albert Hammond and
Mike Hazlewood
Michael Edward Hazlewood (24 December 1941 – 6 May 2001)[Mike Hazelwood – Credits ...](_blank)
. Released as a single, it is the title selection of an album which The Pipkins recorded and released on the
EMI Columbia Records label. It also appeared on a compilation album
of the same name, which The Pipkins shared with another up-and-coming UK group,
The Sweet
The Sweet (often shortened to just Sweet), are a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mic ...
. It has also been included on many other compilation albums. "Gimme Dat Ding" was arranged by
Big Jim Sullivan.
Chart history
The song peaked at number 6 on the UK Chart in March/April 1970. It reached number 7 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, number 9 on the US
Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
and number 20 in US Easy Listening. It did best in New Zealand, where it reached number 1.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Song profile
"Gimme Dat Ding" is a
call-and-response duet between a deep, gravelly voice, that of
Tony Burrows, and a high tenor, that of
Roger Greenaway. The voices are said to represent a
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and a
metronome.
When Hammond and Hazlewood wrote and composed "Gimme Dat Ding," it was one selection from their musical sequence "Oliver in the Overworld," which formed part of the British children's show ''Little Big Time,'' hosted by
Freddie and the Dreamers; this narrated a surreal story of a little boy seeking the parts to mend his grandfather clock. The lyrics relate to this story, the song being sung by a metronome who has been expelled by the Clockwork King. The "ding" has been stolen from the metronome by the "Undercog". The original version, as performed by
Freddie Garrity, was released on the album ''Oliver in the Overworld'' in 1970.
Cover versions
Frankie Davidson
Francis Joseph Davidson (12 January 1934 − 22 July 2022) was an Australian entertainer who had several hit records in the 1960s, appeared on many TV variety shows, and acted in several Australian television police dramas, including ''Matlock ...
released a cover version in Australia in 1970, reaching 21 on the local charts.
A
Czech version "Gimi Det Ding" was also released in 1970 as a vinyl single with alternate Czech lyrics (a silence-loving man complaining about his noisy female neighbour singing). The
Norwegian vocal group
Bjelleklang
Bjelleklang (Norwegian: '' lit.'' Bell Sounds, '' coll.'' Jingle Bells) is a Norwegian '' a cappella'' vocal group formed in Lørenskog in 1986.
The group performs both songs with only ''a cappella'' and songs with guitar or other unconventional m ...
covered the song on their album ''YppeRu’ dOnK'' in 1994. The song was called Gummihatt (Swing) which is Rubberhat (Swing) in English.
[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
In the UK, interest in the song resurfaced in the 1990s when the
Maynards
Maynards was a British confectionery manufacturer best known for manufacturing wine gums. It was acquired by Cadbury in the 1990s, which in turn was acquired by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) in 2010. In 2016, the brand was j ...
confectionery company used it in a popular television commercial for their Just Fruits fruit pastille and fruit gum range between 1992 and 1994; the song began reappearing on radio playlists during that era. In 1997,
Dairylea also used the song in two advertisements in the UK.
An instrumental version arranged by
Ronnie Aldrich was frequently used as background music during comedy sketches in ''
The Benny Hill Show.''
References
{{Authority control
1970 songs
1970 debut singles
The Pipkins songs
Songs written by Albert Hammond
Songs written by Mike Hazlewood
Novelty songs
EMI Records singles
Tony Burrows songs
Number-one singles in New Zealand
Music hall songs