"I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)" is a song written by Ike Turner and recorded by

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner was an American musical duo consisting of husband-and-wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocalists, the Ikettes. ...

's backing trio The Ikettes in 1961. In 2017, '' Billboard'' ranked the song No. 63 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

Overview

Like most of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue's music during this time, it was recorded while the group was on the road. By 1961, the formerly known Artettes had been singing as a backing trio with Ike & Tina for over a year, having been involved since the hit, " A Fool in Love". To bide time in the studio, Ike Turner wrote a song custom-made for the girl group.

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

herself was involved in the recording, helping to arrange the vocals and could be heard singing along in the background. Ike Turner credited the song's production to him and Tina. Since Ike & Tina recorded for Sue Records, Ike Turner decided to distribute the record to another company, agreeing to sign an advance to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

' Atco subsidiary in late 1961 for the song. Released in November 1961, the song became a national hit reaching No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 3 on the R&B chart. "I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)" was the fifth hit single associated with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and the first of three charting singles for the original Ikettes between 1962 and 1965.

Later versions and samples

The song would later be recorded by: * The Spencer Davis Group * The Newbeats on their debut album '' Bread & Butter'' * Sylvie Vartan (called "Gong Gong" and recorded in French) * The Shangri-Las * The Sweet Inspirations *Decades later, the song, in its Sweet Inspirations version, would famously be sampled by Salt-n-Pepa on their 1993 hit, " Shoop". Upon hearing of the news of his song being sampled, Ike Turner re-recorded the song with Joe Louis Walker that same year.

In popular culture

*"I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)" is featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the 1988 film '' Hairspray'' *The song also appears in '' Kill Bill Volume 1'', where it is performed by The 5.6.7.8's.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

*Lead vocal by Delores Johnson *Background vocals by Joshie Armstead, Eloise Hester and

*Instrumentation by Ike Turner (piano) and The Kings of Rhythm *Written by Ike Turner *Produced by Ike Turner and Tina Turner (listed as "A I-&-T-T Production")

References

{{authority control 1961 songs 1961 singles Songs written by Ike Turner Song recordings produced by Ike Turner The Ikettes songs The Newbeats songs Atco Records singles