"The Laughing Gnome" is a song by English singer

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, released as a single on 14 April 1967. A pastiche of songs by one of Bowie's early influences,

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

, it was originally released as a

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

single on Deram Records in 1967. The track consists of Bowie meeting and conversing with a gnome, whose sped-up voice (created by Bowie and studio engineer

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

) delivers several

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s on the word " gnome". At the time, "The Laughing Gnome" failed to provide Bowie with a chart placing, but on its re-release in 1973 it reached number six on the British charts and number three in New Zealand.

Release and reception

The single was not a commercial success upon initial release in April 1967, despite a positive review in the ''

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'', which declared it "A novelty number chock full of appeal. This boy sounds remarkably like Tony Newley, and he wrote this song himself. An amusing lyric, with David Bowie interchanging lines with a chipmunk-like creature." William Mann's 1967 review of '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' compared that album's similar interest in music-hall and

Victoriana Victoriana is a term used to refer to material culture related to the Victorian period (1837–1901). It often refers to decorative objects, but can also describe a variety of artifacts from the era including graphic design, publications, pho ...

influences to "The Laughing Gnome": "a heavy-handedly facetious number which ... steadfastly remained the flop it deserved to be". ''NME'' editors

Roy Carr Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the '' New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and '' Melody Maker'' magazines. Biography Born in Bla ...

and

Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...

later described it as "Undoubtedly the most embarrassing example of Bowie juvenilia". However, Bowie biographer David Buckley has called "The Laughing Gnome" a "supremely catchy children's song" and compared it to contemporary material by Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett, while Nicholas Pegg considered that "the world would be a duller place without it". The song became a hit when reissued in 1973, in the wake of Bowie's commercial breakthrough ''

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'') is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-pr ...

'' and the US reissue of his 1969 hit "

Space Oddity "Space Oddity" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album ''David Bowie''. After the commercial f ...

". Despite it being radically different from his material at the time, the single made No. 6 in the UK charts and was certified silver in the UK (250,000 copies sold), which according to Carr and Murray left Decca Records as "about the only unembarrassed party". A second reissue in 1982 was not as successful, failing to chart. In 1990, Bowie announced that the set list for his "greatest hits"

Sound+Vision Tour In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

would be decided by telephone voting, and ''NME'' made a concerted effort to rig the voting so Bowie would have to perform "The Laughing Gnome" (with the slogan "Just Say Gnome"). The voting system was scrapped. Bowie later joked to ''NME''s rival '' Melody Maker'' that he had been considering performing it in a new '

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

-influenced' arrangement. He also considered performing it on his 2003 tour. In 1999, Bowie appeared on the bi-annual Red Nose Day telethon for

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

performing a tongue-in-cheek composition entitled "Requiem for the Laughing Gnome", a deliberately poor piece of music seen as a parody of the original release. The mono single and its flip side were given a stereo remix in July 2009 at Abbey Road Studios for the 2010 double-disc "deluxe" package of Bowie's debut album. According to the sleeve notes, "The Laughing Gnome" was recorded at

Decca Studios Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980. The building was once West Hampstead Town Hall, and had been converted to a recording studio b ...

No. 2 on 26 January, 7 February and 10 February, and 8 March 1967. The original 1967 record is considered collectable, with UK pressings in perfect condition being valued at £200 by ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' magazine's 2016 Rare Record Price Guide. In 2011, a Belgian demonstration pressing (also from 1967) sold for more than £2300.

Track listing

# "The Laughing Gnome" (Bowie) – 3:01 # "The Gospel According to Tony Day" (Bowie) – 2:48

Personnel

Producer * Mike Vernon Musicians *

– vocals, guitar * Derek Boyes – organ * Peter Hampshire – guitar * Dek Fearnley – bass * John Eager – drums *

– gnome vocal

References

Sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laughing Gnome, the 1967 singles 1973 singles David Bowie songs Novelty songs Fictional gnomes Songs about fictional characters Songs written by David Bowie Deram Records singles Song recordings produced by Mike Vernon (record producer) 1967 songs