"He's Gonna Step on You Again" (also known as "Step On") is a song originally performed by

John Kongos John Theodore Kongos (born 6 August 1945) is a South African-born singer and songwriter of Greek ancestry, best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "He's Gonna Step on You Again", on which Happy Mondays based their hit "Step On". His other big ...

, co-written by Kongos and

Christos Demetriou Chris Demetriou born in Paphos, Cyprus, is a songwriter, musician, and record producer. A cover of a song he co-wrote with John Kongos, ''He's Gonna Step On You Again'' (which later became ''Step On'' by the alternative dance band Happy Mondays ...

, and first released in 1971 by

Fly Records Fly Records is a British independent record label, established in 1970 by the independent music publisher David Platz, and initially managed by Malcolm Jones from the offices of Essex Music in London. History Platz had been producing records ...

. It entered 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 22 May 1971 and spent 14 weeks there, peaking at No. 4. Covers of the song have been chart successes several times, including for

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder ( bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined t ...

in 1990. It was cited in the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as being the first song to have used a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

. However, according to the sleeve note of the CD reissue of the ''Kongos'' album, it is actually a tape loop of African drumming, and the use of tape loops and instruments using prerecorded samples such as the

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

and

Optigan The Optigan (a portmanteau of Optical Organ) is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built under ...

was well established by this time.

Chart performance

Cover versions

1987 Australian versions

In 1987 three Australian bands (

The Party Boys The Party Boys was an Australian rock supergroup with a floating membership commencing in 1982. Created by Mondo Rock's bass guitarist, Paul Christie with founding member Kevin Borich (ex– La De Da's, Kevin Borich Express) as a part-time v ...

Chantoozies The Chantoozies are an Australian pop group, formed in 1986. The group featured four female vocalists: Eve von Bibra, Angie La Bozzetta, Ally Fowler and Tottie Goldsmith, and four male musicians: Brett Goldsmith (bass guitars, keyboards, prog ...

and

Exploding White Mice Exploding White Mice were an Australian punk-pop band from Adelaide which formed in 1983 with Paul Gilchrist on vocals, Andy MacQueen on bass guitar, Gerry Barrett on guitar, Craig Rodda on drums and Giles Barrow on rhythm guitar. In 1984 Barret ...

) each released their own cover version of "He's Gonna Step on You Again". The Party Boys' single was issued in May, and peaked at No. 1, for two weeks, in late July on the

Australian 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 1 ...

chart while the Chantoozies version reached No. 36.

The Party Boys

The Party Boys were an

Australian rock Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, Australian rock and Aussie rock, is rock music from Australia. The nation has a rich history of rock music and an appreciation of the roots of various rock genres, usually originating in the United ...

band with a floating membership that mostly performed cover versions and existed from 1982 until 1992. By 1987, the members were

Kevin Borich Kevin Nicholas Borich (born 27 October 1948, Huapai, North Island, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of The La De Das, the leader of Kevin Borich Express, and a founding memb ...

on guitar and backing vocals, John Brewster on guitar and backing vocals, Paul Christie on drums and backing vocals, Richard Harvey on drums,

Alan Lancaster Alan Charles Lancaster (7 February 1949 – 26 September 2021) was an English musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Status Quo, playing with the band from 1967 to 1985, with brief reunions in 2013 and 2014. As ...

on bass guitar and backing vocals, and

John Swan John Swan may refer to: * John Swan (engineer) (1787–1869), British marine engineer, pioneer of the screw propeller and inventor of the self-acting chain messenger *John Swan (Bermudian politician) (born 1935), British-Bermudian politician * John ...

on lead vocals. Their version also reached No. 10 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. The Party Boys also recorded a 12" single, "He's Gonna Step on You Again" (Stomp mix) with Nick Mainsbridge remixing, which was backed by "She's a Mystery".

Chantoozies

The

released a version in 1987 as the second single from their debut studio album ''

''. The song peaked at number 36 on the Australian

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 ...

=Track listings

= 7" single (K301) *Side A "He's Gonna Step on You Again" *Side B "Twenty Six 02" 12" single (X 14504) *Side A "He's Gonna Step on You Again" *Side B1 "He's Gonna Step on You Again" *Side B2 "Twenty Six 02"

=Charts

Happy Mondays version

English band

covered the song in 1990, retitling it "Step On", with two different music videos. It was originally intended as a contribution to the '' Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary'' compilation for their US label Elektra, but they decided to keep it to release as a single, and instead covered Kongos's "

Tokoloshe Man "Tokoloshe Man" was a 1971 UK hit single by John Kongos, released on Fly Records. It stayed in the UK Singles Chart top 10 for five weeks, peaking at number 4. Kongos' previous single release was "He's Gonna Step on You Again", another number 4 U ...

" for the compilation. The Happy Mondays version incorporates a short

of three guitar notes from the original. "Step On" became Happy Mondays' biggest-selling single, peaking at No. 5 in the UK and No. 57 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The lyric "you're twisting my melon, man" was used for singer

Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer/songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed Bla ...

's autobiography ''Twisting My Melon''.

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1971 songs 1971 debut singles 1987 singles 1990 singles Ariola Records singles CBS Records singles Mushroom Records singles Chantoozies songs Factory Records singles Fly Records singles Happy Mondays songs John Kongos songs Number-one singles in Australia Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon Songs written by John Kongos