"I Beg Your Pardon" is the debut single by Canadian synth-pop duo

Kon Kan Kon Kan is a Canadian synthpop project conceived and formed in 1988 by Barry Harris in Toronto, Ontario. Kon Kan were awarded a 1990 Juno for the song "I Beg Your Pardon" and nominated for a 1991 Juno Award for the single " Puss N' Boots/Thes ...

, from their 1989 debut album '' Move to Move''. It was written by Kon Kan member

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Life and career Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December ...

, and American musician

Joe South Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter; February 28, 1940 – September 5, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1970 for " Ga ...

, who is credited due to the song's sampling of Lynn Anderson's 1970 hit "

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

", which he wrote. "I Beg Your Pardon" also contains samples of other songs, including GQ's " Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)",

Silver Convention Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird. Career The group was initiated in Munich by producers and songwriters Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze. ...

's "

Get Up and Boogie ''Get Up and Boogie'' (sometimes also known simply as ''Silver Convention'') is the second studio album by the German disco group Silver Convention, and perhaps best known for including the song " Get Up and Boogie", which hit #1 on June 15, 197 ...

", and

Spagna Ivana Spagna (born 16 December 1954), also known simply as Spagna (), is an Italian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her worldwide hit song " Call Me" released in 1987. Career Spagna started her career singing in English and in the ...

's " Call Me". Music critic James Masterton wrote that the song was one of the first big club hits to contain prominent samples. The song was 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 ...

, reaching the top twenty in a number of countries including the UK and

U.S. 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 territori ...

, where it peaked at numbers 5 and 15, respectively. Barry Harris said that the song was "the question to Lynn Anderson's '

' answer." It was Harris's first studio project, and was initially released on an unknown independent record label in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Background

Barry Harris took inspiration from the Pet Shop Boys' 1987 single " Always on My Mind", which had repurposed

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

's 1982

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

into an upbeat synthpop song. Harris wanted to do the same with Lynn Anderson's 1970 country hit "

". As he was a DJ at the time, he was "exploding with ideas" for little sounds he incorporated into "I Beg Your Pardon". Harris said, "The lyrics were about my first love relationship. As I had never really attempted to write lyrics seriously before, I already had the melody of the verses in my head so I simply started with a 'Once Upon a Time' idea… 'there once was a time and there once was a way…' and it pretty much flowed from there." Musically, in this song, Harris also wanted to emulate " Bass (How Low Can You Go)" by

Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...

, as well as "

S'Express S'Express (pronounced ''ess-express''; sometimes spelled S'Xpress or S-Express) were a British dance music act from the late 1980s, who had one of the earliest commercial successes in the acid house genre. "Theme from S'Express", which containe ...

", two sample-based hits from 1988. The result was unique; Masterton wrote that Kon Kan's pop song "sounded like very little else on the market," and was quickly rewarded with chart success.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1988 songs 1988 debut singles Kon Kan songs Songs written by Joe South Atlantic Records singles Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year recordings {{1980s-pop-song-stub