"Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" was Australian pop singer Johnny Farnham's first solo single. The

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

was released in November 1967 and was No. 1 on the ''Go-Set'' National Singles Charts for five weeks in early 1968 NOTE: ''Go-Set'' published its National Singles Charts from October 1966 until August 1974, they were compiled by

Ed Nimmervoll Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as a journalist a ...

. (six weeks on the Australian charts in 1968 based on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

). NOTE: In 2005, David Kent back calculated all chart positions for 1940–1969 based on existing local charts: there were no nationally recognised charts until ''

Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...

'' published their first charts in October 1966. Kent published his first

charts in mid-1974. It was the largest-selling single in Australia by an Australian artist in the 1960s. "Sadie" sold approximately 183,000 copies in Australia and was the highest-selling Australian single until "

Up There Cazaly "Up There Cazaly" is 1979 song by Mike Brady, written to promote Channel Seven's coverage of the Victorian Football League (VFL). It was first performed by the Two-Man Band, a duo of Brady and Peter Sullivan, and has since become an unofficial ...

" was released in 1979. It was also released in New Zealand, Denmark and Germany. The B-side, "In My Room", was written by Farnham. The A-side's label includes the acknowledgement "Vacuum cleaner solo: Mr. Jolly".

Background

Farnham's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Darryl Sambell Darryl Lloyd Sambell (26 November 194519 September 2001) was an Australian accountant, talent manager and music promoter from the mid-1960s. In 1967 Samball established the "Australian Musicians Booking Organisation" (AMBO), with fellow talent ...

, had disliked "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" because the lyrics were so persistent. However,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

's in-house producer David Mackay insisted, so the single was released in November 1967. The song was written by United States writers Ray Gilmore, Johnny Madara and Dave White. Sambell approached the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) TV program ''

This Day Tonight ''This Day Tonight'' (TDT) was an Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) evening current affairs program from 1967 to 1978. Founding When ''TDT'' premiered in 1967 it was the first regular nightly current affairs program on Australian TV, an ...

'' to do a " day in the life of" segment where they followed Farnham around to radio studios to promote the single. Sambell also arranged for the electrical appliance store

Godfreys Godfreys is an Australian retailer in the domestic and commercial floorcare and cleaning industry, headquartered in Melbourne. The company was founded by Godfrey Cohen in 1931, and it has since grown to approximately 200 company- and franchise- ...

to supply a vacuum cleaner salesman, a Mr Jolly, to be on hand. By arrangement with Sambell, Melbourne radio DJ

Stan Rofe Stanley Rofe (30 May 193316 May 2003) was an Australian rock'n'roll disc jockey and music news reporter. Often referred to as Stan the Man, he presented the first rock and roll music on Melbourne radio from 1956, on 3KZ, and was a champion of A ...

pretended that he disliked "Sadie" before playing it. Rofe continued the ploy on TV's ''

Upright Body relative directions (also known as egocentric coordinates) are geometrical orientations relative to a body such as a human person's. The most common ones are: left and right; forward(s) and backward(s); up and down. They form three pairs ...

'' and viewers responded with calls to play the song. Rofe was also a writer for ''

'', a teen-oriented pop magazine. Another writer for the magazine,

Molly Meldrum Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM (born 29 January 1943) is an Australian music critic, journalist, record producer and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent co-ordinator, on-air interviewer, and music news presenter on the former popular mus ...

, praised Farnham's efforts. "Sadie" hit No. 1 on the ''Go-Set'' National Singles Charts in January 1968 and remained there for five weeks. Selling 180,000 copies in Australia, "Sadie" was the highest selling single by an Australian artist of the decade. The B-side, "In My Room", was written by Farnham. The album, ''Sadie'', also produced by Mackay, was released in April. According to author Jeff Jenkins, another local pop performer,

Mike Furber Michael Alexander Furber (28 September 1947 – 10 May 1973) was an English-born Australian entertainer popular in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of Mike Furber and the Bowery Boys. Furber's group had hits with "Just a Poor Boy", "You Stole M ...

, had the first option on recording "Sadie", but declined. Furber later told Sambell that due to this mistake he was not destined for success.

Track listing

# "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady) (Ray Gilmore, Johnny Madara, Dave White) – 3:13 # "In My Room" (

Johnny Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...

) – 2:17

Cover versions

*An artist going by the name of Fred Splinge (almost certainly a pseudonym) recorded the song for the South African market in 1968. This version was the South African hit, peaking in the top 20 on the national charts. "Splinge" never issued another recording. *

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

band

Finders Keepers Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English language, English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself pe ...

recorded "Sadie, The Cleaning Lady" in mid-1968. *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

singer

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany. She had a number one hit in West Germany in 1964 with "''Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht''" (''"Lovesickness ...

recorded "Sadie" in English, Swedish (as "Mamma är lik sin mamma" with lyrics translated by

Stig Anderson Stig Erik Leopold Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997), better known as Stikkan Anderson, was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music, and is best known for managing the Swe ...

), Danish ("Mor er som hendes mor var") and German ("Frauen sind doch nur Frauen")—all in 1968. The Swedish-language version charted at

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

for six weeks between 6 October–10 November 1968, topping the chart. *Finnish singer

Katri Helena Katri Helena Kalaoja (née Koistinen, born 17 August 1945) is a Finnish singer. Career Katri Helena released her first songs in 1963 and has since sold over 630,000 certified records, which makes her the second-best-selling female soloist ...

recorded it in Finnish as "Äiti kuin äidinäiti" in 1968. *Fellow Australian

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 ...

parodied it with "Hector the Trash Collector" in 1968.

Chart positions

Notes and references

{{John Farnham 1967 songs 1967 debut singles Australian pop songs Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by David White (musician) Columbia Records singles EMI Records singles Songs written by John Medora Siw Malmkvist songs John Farnham songs