"Goodbye Mr A" is the second single by English pop rock band the Hoosiers, from their debut album, '' The Trick to Life'' (2007). The song is written in the key of

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its ...

and was created in memory of frontman Irwin Sparkes' secondary school English teacher, Jonathan "Mr A" Anderton, after Sparkes heard of Anderton's death in 2006. It has been noted for its similarities to

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

's single "

Mr. Blue Sky "Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band's seventh studio album '' Out of the Blue'' (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the "Concerto fo ...

". Released on 8 October 2007, the song gave the band their second UK top-five single, entering the UK Singles Chart at 5 on 14 October 2007 and climbing to its peak of No. 4 the following week.

Music video

The music video to "Goodbye Mr A" is reminiscent of

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

and popular culture, such as the 1960s ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' television series. In the video, the Hoosiers kidnap Mr A, a comic-book character and the world's greatest superhero. They then take his place fighting crime as incompetent anti-heroes. Despite being fired into space at the end, Mr A. survives and opens his eyes; this is a reference to the film '' Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer''.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Use in other media

On 28 September 2007, the Hoosiers performed "Goodbye Mr A" on

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

's Entertainment Today segment. The song is part of the soundtrack for the video game '' FIFA 08''. It was also used in the 18 March 2009 episode of '' Waterloo Road''. This song was featured in the Halfords "Easter Getaway" advertisement. The instrumental for this song has also been used in the second teaser trailer for '' Toy Story 3'', which was released on 11 October 2009. It also appeared in the trailer for the film '' Juno''. In 2010, it was used as the opening theme for the CBBC show, '' Hounded''.

References

{{Authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs The Hoosiers songs RCA Records singles