"My Toot Toot" also popularly known as "Don't Mess with My Toot Toot" or "(Don't Mess with) My Toot Toot" is a song written by Sidney Simien and performed by him under his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Rockin' Sidney. Simien wrote the song and released it on the Maison de Soul Records label in Ville Platte, Louisiana. In October 1984, he included the tune on his third album, ''My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues'', recording the entire album at his home studio in Lake Charles and playing all the instruments himself.

Content and history

In January 1985, "My Toot Toot" was released as a single in Louisiana and Texas and became Rockin' Sidney's first true regional hit. Thanks to Cleon Floyd, manager of R&B singer and uncle to King Floyd, it became a huge New Orleans hit. Floyd first heard the crowd's reaction to the song at a bill headlined by

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1936 or 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been ...

. Cleon was also the president of the Orleans Street Jocks Association and took twenty copies of the record back to the city; he quickly had to order more. By

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

, it was a jukebox and record hop smash. Huey Meaux got the original leased to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

, who released it nationally, and for a brief moment Rockin' Sidney made musical history. Epic managed to get Rockin' Sidney into the country Top 40 where it stayed for 18 weeks. It was the first zydeco song to receive major airplay on pop, rock and country radio stations. Later in 1985, "My Toot-Toot" was certified platinum and won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording. As a result, Sidney was featured in '' People'' magazine, '' Rolling Stone'', ''

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'' and ''Music City News'' and appeared on many national TV shows, including ''

Nashville Now ''Nashville Now'' was an American talk show that focused on country music performers in the style of ''The Tonight Show''. The show aired live on weeknights on TNN from 1983–1993. The host was Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph Emery. The sho ...

'', Church Street Station, '' Hee Haw'', '' Austin City Limits'', John Fogerty's Showtime Special, New Country and Charlie Daniels Jam. He was also a guest celebrity on ''You Can Be a Star''.

Covers

"My Toot Toot" has been covered by many artists including Fats Domino and

Doug Kershaw Douglas James Kershaw (born January 24, 1936) is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1948, he began his career as part of the duo Rusty and Doug, along with his brother, Rusty Kershaw. He had an extens ...

, Rosie Ledet, Jean Knight,

Terrance Simien Terrance Simien (born September 3, 1965) is an American zydeco musician, vocalist and songwriter. He and his group The Zydeco Experience won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2008 and for Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2 ...

Denise LaSalle Ora Denise Allen (July 16, 1934 – January 8, 2018), known by the stage name Denise LaSalle, was an American blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who, since the death of Koko Taylor, had been recognized as the "Queen of ...

Jimmy C. Newman Jimmy Yves Newman (August 29, 1927 – June 21, 2014), better known as Jimmy C. Newman (the C stands for Cajun), was an American country music and cajun singer-songwriter and long-time star of the Grand Ole Opry. Early life Newman was born ...

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

and Jello Biafra. Other versions include Louisiana Zydeco accordionist and singer Fernest Arceneaux, British-Jamaican television personality Rustie Lee, Swedish dansband Lasse Stefanz and Irish country singer Mike Denver. Denise LaSalle's version was a hit in the UK, peaking at number six in 1985 and number 76 in Australia.

Other-language covers

A Spanish version by La Sonora Dinamita titled "Mi Cucu" sold over a million copies in Mexico, Central America, and South America. A German beer company licensed the song to use in their radio and television commercials. The German cover version "Mein Tuut Tuut" by Leinemann reached number 15 on the West German chart in 1985.

Charts

Weekly charts

Rockin' Sidney version

Jean Knight version

Denise LaSalle version

"Mein Tuut Tuut"

Year-end charts

Denise LaSalle version

"Mein Tuut Tuut"

In popular culture

"My Toot Toot" has been used in soundtracks of the motion pictures ''

Hard Luck ''Hard Luck'' is a 2006 American thriller film written, produced and directed by Mario Van Peebles, who also co-stars in the film. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Jacquelyn Quinones, Cybill Shepherd, James Liao and Bill Cobbs. The film was release ...

'', '' One Good Cop'' and '' The Big Easy''. Over 20 years after "My Toot Toot" debuted, it continued to draw

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

from commercial use in Europe, and cover versions in several languages by dozens of musicians. In 2013, Melissa McCarthy parodied the song in an episode of '' Saturday Night Live''. Playing "Casey Patterson", a contestant on '' The Voice'' looking to leave her career replacing trailer hitches on U-Hauls, and to move from the "basement without the roof", which Jason Sudeikis' character Blake Shelton described as "a hole".

References

{{authority control 1984 songs 1985 singles Rockin' Sidney songs Denise LaSalle songs Epic Records singles