"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular UK song, of the novelty type, sung by "

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" The Pipkins, and written and composed by Albert Hammond and

Mike Hazlewood Michael Edward Hazlewood (24 December 1941 – 6 May 2001)Mike Hazelwood – Credits ...

. 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

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, number 9 on the US

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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

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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
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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