"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 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 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 Save Me may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Save Me'', a 1994 film starring Lysette Anthony
* ''Sauve-moi'' (''Save Me''), a 2000 French film directed by Christian Vincent
* ''Save Me'' (film), a 2007 American film directed by Robert Cary
* ' ...
" 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 and Peruvian Incan. Add to this a catchy and continually-repeated chorus, some very attractive counter-harmonies, a pulsing beat with throbbing conga drums, 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". 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. ...
DJ Johnnie Walker 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 / 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 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''.
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