"Wot" is a 1982 single by English musician

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Captain Sensible co-founded the punk rock band The Damned (band), the Damned, originally playing bass before switc ...

released by

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. The song was produced by

Tony Mansfield Tony Mansfield (born 19 January 1955) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. Early work Mansfield was born in Wimbledon, London, and became best known as the main songwriter/producer for New Musik, a synthpop band that perfo ...

and features the group

Dolly Mixture Dolly mixture is a British confection, consisting of a variety of multi-coloured fondant shapes, such as cubes and cylinders with subtle flavourings, and sugar-coated jellies. The origin of the name is uncertain. It has been passed down throu ...

on backing vocals. The song charted in the United Kingdom and was a specialist hit in the United States, but enjoyed its greatest success in continental Europe.

Production

"Wot" is a song written by

and produced by

. The song features backing vocals from

Genre

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Stephen Cook described "Wot" as "

Sugarhill Gang Sugar Hill may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sugar Hill, Georgia, a city * Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, a town * Sugar Hill, Manhattan, New York, a section of Harlem * Sugar Hill (New York), a mountain in Schuyler County * Sugar Hill, P ...

-inspired new wave

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

". Stephen "Spaz" Schnee from the same website called the song a "radio-friendly

lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result o ...

of lighthearted keyboard-based pop".

Release

"Wot" was released on

. In the United Kingdom, "Wot" was in the United Kingdom charts for seven weeks, peaking at number 26. In the United States, "Wot" peaked on

Billboards A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's Hot Dance Club Play Singles chart at number 24. In France, the single was certified gold by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym ...

(SNEP). "Wot" was performed by Captain Sensible on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' with

as the backing group. Dolly Mixture had mixed feelings about appearing on ''Top of the Pops'' so often as it led to them being recognized more as backup musicians than for their own work.

Reception

Online music database AllMusic described both the songs "Wot" and "A Nice Cup of Tea" as "well-crafted pop tunes that deliver the goods".

Credits

Credits adapted from ''Wot'' record sleeve. *Mark Proctor – engineer * Matthew Fisher – engineer *Andy Gierus – assistant engineer *

Janette Beckman Janette Beckman is a British documentary photographer who currently lives in New York City. Beckman describes herself as a documentary photographer. While she produces a lot of work on location (such as the cover of The Police album ''Zenyatta ...

– photography *

– producer

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs Captain Sensible songs A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Tony Mansfield Songs written by Captain Sensible British disco songs English pop songs