"Shaddap You Face" is a

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 wit ...

written and performed by Joe Dolce (released under the name Joe Dolce Music Theatre) about a rebellious Italian boy. Released in late 1980, it set a number of sales and longevity records. It was released by Mike Brady's record label Full Moon Records. By February 1981, the single had sold over 290,000 units in Australia, surpassing Brady's own "

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 ...

" to become Australia's best-selling single ever.

Writing

Dolce, who is Italian-American, said he wrote "Shaddap You Face" based on memories of his childhood, when his family members would speak in broken English.

Sales

"Shaddap You Face" went to number one for eight weeks on the Australia

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 (historian), David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music ...

in 1980. It reached number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 21 February 1981 and stayed there for three weeks until 8 March 1981, keeping Ultravox's single "

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" out of the top spot throughout. The song became the 15th biggest hit of 1981 in the UK. "Shaddap You Face" was also number one in 11 other countries. There have been over 50 different foreign language cover versions, and hundreds more published informally on YouTube with new versions of the song being recorded and uploaded every year. In the US, the song peaked at number 53 in 1981 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 43 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' Top 100, and number 24 on ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record W ...

''. However, it was regularly played on the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

show to the point of being number six on the year-end Funny 25 that year. In the Canadian province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, "Shaddap You Face" reached number one for twelve weeks.

Other versions

Lou Monte Lou Monte (born Louis Scaglione; April 2, 1917 – June 12, 1989) was an Italian American singer best known for a number of best-selling, Italian-themed novelty records which he recorded for both RCA Victor and Reprise Records in the late 195 ...

released a cover of the song in 1981. Other notable cover versions have been done by

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

(hip-hop), EMF (British),

Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...

( Manuel in the British television sitcom ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...

''), Werner Böhm, alias: Gottlieb Wendehals (German, title: ), Sheila (French, titled: ), Dingetje (Dutch, titled: ), De Strangers (Dutch, titled: ), (German, titled: ),

Franco Franchi Franco Franchi (born Francesco Benenato; 18 September 1928 – 9 December 1992) was an Italian actor, comedian and singer. He was born in Palermo, Sicily and began his career in the 1950s, although his career only really took off in the 1960s. ...

with the duo Franco e Ciccio (Italian, title: ), an Aboriginal language version by Gnarnyarrhe Waitairie, a Papua New Guinean version by the Breeze Band (title: –

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

version), and a spoken word interpretation by Samuel L. Jackson. A Czech interpretation written by Zdeněk Borovec, , performed by

Helena Vondráčková Helena Vondráčková (born 24 June 1947, in Prague) is a Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades. Early life/career Beginnings Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatiňany. She took piano lessons from an ea ...

and Jiří Korn, was a hit in Czechoslovakia in 1981. The National Folk Festival in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

featured 'The Inspired Shaddap You Face Contest' in April 2006. Festival artists were invited to perform their interpretations of the classic song. The Cygnet Folk Festival in Tasmania featured the second 'Inspired Shaddap You Face Contest' in the following year. Joe Dolce was invited to be the MC at both events.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Parodies

"Bite Your Bum", a parody of "Shaddap You Face", was made in 1981 by Australian artists Peter Plus with Bazz and Pilko (

Barry Ion Barry Vincent Ion (born 9 October 1941) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio personality. He played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL), Yarraville in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), and Woodville in th ...

and Tony Pilkington). It reached No. 32 in New Zealand.Flavour of New Zealand, 10 May 1981
/ref> Another parody was composed in 1990 for a McCain pizza slices television commercial in the United Kingdom.

References

External links

Joe Dolce official websiteJoe Dolce official Facebook Page
{{Authority control 1980 songs 1980 singles Australian pop songs Novelty songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Belgium European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Switzerland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs about fictional male characters Full Moon Records singles Epic Records singles MCA Records singles