"Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces" is a song by

Cheech and Chong Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie a ...

that first appeared on the 1973 album ''

Los Cochinos ''Los Cochinos'' ("The Pigs") is a 1973 comedy album recorded by Cheech & Chong. The Spanish term ''cochino'' is a derogatory way of referring to a pig, as it also means "dirty", in contrast to ''cerdo'', a more neutral word for a pig as an animal ...

''.

Background

Sung in

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

Cheech Marin :''The surname'' Marin ''is of Spanish language origin. In Spanish, it is spelled'' Marín'', with an acute accent on the'' í. Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American actor, musician, comedian, and activist who gain ...

, playing the title character Tyrone (as in "tie-your-own") Shoelaces, it tells the story of Shoelaces' love of basketball. It is a parody of the No. 16 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 song "Love Jones" by

Brighter Side of Darkness Brighter Side of Darkness was an American R&B/ soul group. They were formed in 1971 at Calumet High School in Chicago, Illinois. Their lead singers were Ralph Eskridge and 12-year-old Darryl Lamont. The other members were Randolph Murph and Larr ...

. In the album version, the song is preceded by a mock interview with Jones' basketball coach named "Umgwana Kickbooti", in a parody of a '' Wide World of Sports'' interview conducted by a character named "Red

Blazer A blazer is a type of jacket resembling a suit jacket, but cut more casually. A blazer is generally distinguished from a sport coat as a more formal garment and tailored from solid colour fabrics. Blazers often have naval-style metal buttons ...

". The song's opening lyric, "basketball jones, I got a basketball jones", references "jones" as slang for craving or addiction. A "basketball jones" thus refers to loving basketball so much that it overtakes all other thoughts. Musicians who appeared on the record included

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

, Tom Scott,

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

(so the record became the highest-peaking single on which she appeared during 1973).

The Blossoms The Blossoms are an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording ...

and

Michelle Phillips Michelle may refer to: People *Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish ...

(from

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

) performed vocals as

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

s on the track. Some notes on the recording of the track, taken from the booklet accompanying ''

Where There's Smoke There's Cheech & Chong ''Where There's Smoke There's Cheech & Chong'' is an anthology album by Cheech & Chong. Released in 2002, it collects the duo's most popular comedy routines and songs from their eight studio albums, and additional rare material, including tracks t ...

'', read:

Cheech sings, and Tommy plays piano—that's all it was at first. In Cheech's words, "George Harrison and those guys were in the next studio recording, and so Lou dlerjust ran over there and played t for him They made up the track right on the spot." "That was a wild session," Lou Adler recalls. "I probably called Carole ingand told her to come down, but with Harrison and
laus Laus may refer to: * Laüs, an ancient city on the west coast of Lucania * Laus River, a river of southern Italy * Paul Laus (born 1970), former professional ice hockey player * Beatrice Kristi Laus (born 2000), Filipino-British singer-songwriter ...
Voorman—I didn't call and say come in and play. Everyone happened to be in the A&M studios at that particular time, doing different projects. It was spilling out of the studio into the corridors."

Other members of the ad hoc supergroup included

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

(piano), Tom Scott (sax), Billy Preston (organ), Jimmy Karstein (drums) and

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

(percussion).

Personnel

– Tyrone Shoelaces (voice) *

– electric guitar *

– bass guitar * Jim Karstein – drums *

– percussion *

– electric piano *

– piano * Tom Scott – saxophone *

– organ ;Cheerleaders (backing vocalists) *

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and she also recorded as a solo artist. She began singing as a child with her ...

* Fanita James * Jean King *

Ronnie Spector Veronica Yvette Greenfield (; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022) was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group The Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll". Ronnie formed the ...

;Horny Guys (brass players) *

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, David Hamilton, Lefty ...

* Dick "Slyde" Hyde * Paul Hubison ;Others *

Sister Mary Elephant "Sister Mary Elephant" is a comedy sketch by Cheech and Chong. The recording appeared on the duo's second album, ''Big Bambu'', released in 1972. It was re-released as a single in 1973 and peaked at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 197 ...

* Santana Street School 6th Grade Class

Chart performance

The song was released as a single in August 1973 and reached No. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the only spoof to peak higher than the corresponding original. It was backed with "Don't Bug Me", also from ''Los Cochinos''. To coincide with the graffiti artwork from the album's cover, both sides of the single feature the Ode label covered with graffiti.

Animated film

''Basketball Jones'' is a 1973 animated

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

based on the

song. The cartoon was created to promote the song's release in the United States. It is about a teenager named Tyrone Shoelaces and his love of basketball. The short was designed by animator Paul Gruwell who worked on many series, including ''

The Banana Splits ''The Banana Splits'' is an American television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red marching band hats with yellow plumes. ...

'', ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

'', ''

GI Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

'', '' The Transformers'', ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'', and the film '' Heavy Metal''. In the animation, Shoelaces, who appears as a stereotypical

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, is shown from birth having a skill for "dribbling" (in which he is shown to be

drooling Drooling, or slobbering, is the flow of saliva outside the mouth. Drooling can be caused by excess production of saliva, inability to retain saliva within the mouth (incontinence of saliva), or problems with swallowing (dysphagia or odynophagia ...

) and, as a result, his mother gives him a basketball for a gift. Shoelaces takes an immediate liking to the ball and takes it wherever he goes. This sets up a trip to the "basketball championship," in which he begins preaching to potential teammates, coaches, cheerleaders (complete with "day of the week" panties visible) to "help him out." A gospel chorus begins singing, and slowly escalates. A few short shots of Shoelaces actually playing basketball, mostly dribbling downcourt on a breakaway, are visible, but the rest of the video is primarily devoted to shots of increasingly unusual and distant people in "the entire stadium" and "around the world" singing along to "Basketball Jones." At the end of the short, Shoelaces begins growing at a dramatic pace, breaking through the stadium roof and becoming big enough to use the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

as a basketball while

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

, alley cats, men in business suits, a mountaintop

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

The Singing Nun Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire () and often called The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and a member of the Dominican Order in ...

, and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

sing along to the song. The short film encapsulates the political moods of the 70s and predicts

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's impeachment before the president actually resigned on August 8, 1974. "Basketball Jones" was originally seen in theaters in late 1973, before showings of

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably ''The R ...

's ''

The Last Detail ''The Last Detail'' is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby, from a screenplay by Robert Towne, based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Darryl Ponicsan. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid, Clifton James ...

'' at select screens. It can be seen during the 1974 film ''

California Split ''California Split'' is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and starring Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of gamblers and was the first non- Cinerama film to use eight-track stereo sound. Plot In Los Angeles, a f ...

'', directed by

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New ...

, although its use in the film prevented ''California Split'' from being released on VHS or Laserdisc due to

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

' refusal to pay

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

for the song. Altman later removed the song (but not the cartoon) from the film so it could be released on DVD. The film was broadcast in the United Kingdom on February 24, 1974, during an episode of the BBC television program,

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

. The cartoon was re-released in 1976, when it was shown before the film ''

Tunnel Vision Tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision. Causes Tunnel vision can be caused by: Eyeglass users Eyeglass users experience tunnel vision t ...

''. The film is perhaps best known for being featured in another highly acclaimed

film, the 1979 Oscar-nominated ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers an ...

'', where

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

's character, Chauncey Gardiner watches the cartoon in a limousine.

Cover versions

*The song was covered by

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

and

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...

in the 1996 film ''

Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...

''. Rock performed the higher-pitched vocals and shouted lines.

Popular culture

*The song is featured in a 2008 commercial for the television series ''

House of Payne ''House of Payne'' is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006. The series revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta led by patriarc ...

'' *The song is also featured on the season 22 episode of ''

'', " A Midsummer's Nice Dream". *The animated short is watched by the character "Chance" in the 1979 film ''

''.

References

{{Authority control 1970s American animated films 1970s animated short films 1973 singles 1974 animated films 1974 films 1974 short films American basketball films Animation based on real people Answer songs Cheech and Chong songs Comedy rock songs Fictional African-American people Fictional basketball players American hard rock songs Novelty songs Ode Records singles Song recordings produced by Lou Adler