"Liar, Liar" is a song written by Jim Donna and Dennis Craswell. It was originally recorded by American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

band

the Castaways A castaway is a person cast adrift or ashore. Castaway or Cast Away may also refer to: Businesses * Castaways (casino), a former Las Vegas, Nevada hotel *Castaway Cay, a private island operated by the Walt Disney Company * Castaway Entertainmen ...

in 1965. It reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

History

"Liar, Liar" was written by Jim Donna on a napkin in his parents' house, drummer Dennis Craswell and Donna's sister Joanne helped Donna write it. It took 2 hours to write but after that it was completed. Donna and Craswell took it to the other members of The Castaways and they liked it. The song was recorded on March 2, 1965. The song was shown off to Soma Records founder and President Amos Heilicher and he liked it and signed The Castaways on a contract. "Liar, Liar" was the first and only hit single by the Castaways. The song peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1965. The producer for the track was Timothy D. Kehr. Guitarist Robert Folschow contributed the distinctive falsetto vocal on "Liar, Liar" and Dick Roby did the scream on the song. The Castaways performed "Liar, Liar" in the 1967 beach party film ''

It's a Bikini World ''It's a Bikini World'' is a 1967 American musical comedy film starring Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley and Bobby Pickett. The film features cameos by the music groups the Gentrys, the Animals, Pat & Lolly Vegas, the Castaways and R&B girl ...

''. The song also appears on the 1972 compilation album '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968''. It also appeared in the movies

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. It follows a heist involving a confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of ...

and

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) D ...

Debbie Harry version

"Liar, Liar" was recorded by American singer

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

for 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 ...

to the 1988 film ''

Married to the Mob ''Married to the Mob'' is a 1988 American crime romantic comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, written by Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, and Alec Baldwin. P ...

'' and produced by

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro ...

. It was their first collaboration since the 1982 Blondie album '' The Hunter''. The following year, the two would team up again for Harry's album '' Def, Dumb and Blonde''. A music video, co-directed by

Adam Bernstein Adam Bernstein (born May 7, 1960) is an American film director, music video director and television director. For his work on the television show '' Fargo'' in 2014, he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directin ...

, was produced to promote the single. The song debuted and peaked at number 14 on ''

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 advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart for the week ending September 10, 1988.

Track listings

*7-inch single :A. "Liar, Liar" – 3:01 :B. "Queen of Voudou" (performed by the Voodooist Corporation) – 3:39 *12-inch single :A. "Liar, Liar" (extended version) – 5:45 :B1. "Liar, Liar" (7″ version) – 3:01 :B2. "Liar, Liar" (instrumental) – 4:50

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liar, Liar (Song) 1965 singles 1965 songs 1988 singles American garage rock songs Debbie Harry songs Protopunk songs Reprise Records singles Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman