"Zabadak!" is a song by British musical group

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich were an English rock band active during the 1960s. Formed in Salisbury in 1964, the band consisted of David John Harman (Dave Dee), Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy), John Dymond (Beaky), Michael Wilson (Mick) ...

, written by

Ken Howard Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. (March 28, 1944 – March 23, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in ''1776'' and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show '' The Whit ...

and

Alan Blaikley Alan Tudor Blaikley (23 March 1940 – 4 July 2022) was an English songwriter and composer, best known for writing a series of international hits in the 1960s and 1970s in collaboration with Ken Howard, including the UK number ones "Have I the ...

. It was released as a single in September 1967, peaking at number 3 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 ...

and becoming the group's only single to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 52. The song uses pseudo-African style percussion (created in the studio by the group) and a nonsense lyric in its repetitive chorus, to highlight the meaning of its two verses (sung in English). This use of an African motif was typical of the group's dabbling with other world styles of music, such as the Latin style of " Save Me" and the Greek style of "

Bend It! "Bend It!" is a song by English pop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, released as a single by Fontana on 9 September 1966. Written by the band's management team Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, the song's Greek flavour and tempo changes gar ...

Reception

Reviewing for ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Derek Johnson described "Zabadak" as "loaded with appeal and yet completely different from anything they have previously waxed. The basic influences are a blend between

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ele ...

and Peruvian

Incan The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

. Add to this a catchy and continually-repeated chorus, some very attractive counter-harmonies, a pulsing beat with throbbing

conga drums The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

, and a lush string section in the background – plus a haunting tune that nags at the brain – and you've got a Hit". ''

Billboard 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 ...

'' wrote that this "African flavored rhythm item has much of the feel of "

Pata Pata "Pata Pata" is an Afro-pop dance song popularized internationally by South African singer Miriam Makeba. "Pata Pata" is credited to Makeba and Jerry Ragovoy. Her most popular recording of "Pata Pata" was recorded and released in the United Stat ...

". In a guest column for ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'',

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended ...

praised "Zabadak!" as "a well-produced record and a different sound".

Track listing

7": Fontana / TF 873 # "Zabadak!" – 3:35 # "The Sun Goes Down!" – 2:48 7":

Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

/ 148 595 STF (Germany) # "Zabadak" – 3:35 # "Nose for Trouble" – 4:01

Charts

Cover versions

* In 1967, German pianist

Horst Jankowski Horst Jankowski (30 January 1936 – 29 June 1998) was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music. Biography Born in Berlin, Jankowski studied at the Berlin Music Conservatory and p ...

released an instrumental version of the song on his album ''And We Got Love''. * In 1967, British band

The Sorrows The Sorrows are a rock band formed in 1963 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, by Pip Whitcher, and were part of the British beat boom of the 1960s. They were a fixture in the English mod scene and are sometimes referred to as freakbeat. Care ...

released an Italian-language version of the song as a single only in Italy. * In 1979, German band Saragossa Band released a cover of the song as a single, which peaked at number 6 in Germany and number 8 in Austria. * In 1980, German organist Franz Lambert released an instrumental version on his album ''Pop-Orgel-Hit-Parade 6''. * In 2000, Czech band

Těžkej Pokondr Těžkej Pokondr was a Czech comedy band consisting of Miloš Pokorný and Roman Ondráček. Pokondr is a portmanteau of their surnames and it was proposed to them by Ondřej Hejma. The duo was known for their humorous cover versions of popular ...

released a Czech-language version, titled "Zabávať", on their album ''Ježek v peci''. *In 2008, German band beFour included a version on their album ''

We Stand United ''We Stand United '' is the third studio album by pop group beFour via Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabadak (Song) British songs Songs written by Alan Blaikley Songs written by Ken Howard (composer) 1967 songs 1967 singles Fontana Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Steve Rowland