B-side Henry James Recorded 1971 | Released 1971 | |
"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" is a song recorded in early 1971 by its composer Lally Stott, and made popular later that year by Scottish band Middle of the Road for whom it was a UK number one chart hit. That version is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold in excess of 10 million physical copies worldwide.
Contents
Charts
Lally Stott version
Middle of the Road version
Mac and Katie Kissoon version
History
The original recording by its composer Lally Stott, was a hit in France (Top 15), a minor hit in Italy, Australia and in the United States. Stott's record company, Philips, was reluctant to release the song overseas, and apparently offered it to two other groups: Scottish folk-pop group Middle of the Road, who were working in Italy at the time, and Mac and Katie Kissoon. While it is unclear which group Stott offered his song to first, Mac and Katie Kissoon produced their cover version first. Middle of the Road's version then initially became a hit in Continental Europe only, but later grew in popularity in the United Kingdom, reportedly via DJ Tony Blackburn favoring this version over the previously-produced version by Mac and Katie Kissoon. However, Middle of the Road's version didn't even chart on the United States Billboard Hot 100, and nearly flopped in the UK also, because it followed the Kissoon's previously-produced version. Middle of the Road's version eventually reached #1 in the UK and stayed there for five weeks in June 1971, while the Kissoons' version only reached #41. In the USA the Kissoon's version was a greater success, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, while Lally Stott's original version reached #92.
The song was dismissed by critics as bubblegum at the time, a view initially held by band leader Ken Andrews: "We were as disgusted with the thought of recording it as most people were at the thought of buying it. But at the end of the day, we liked it."
Cover versions
The song was featured on the Top of the Pops, Volume 18 album.
The song appears as a cover on a 1971 television show with Paula Koivuniemi and as a cover on a 1973 live record by the Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea.
Also in 1971, Irish singer Jackie Lee covered the song on her second album Jackie's Junior Choice.
It was later referenced in the Denim song "Middle of the Road" in 1992, and more recently covered by the novelty act Cartoons.
The song was also covered by the British band Lush in 1990, and released on the compilation album, Alvin Lives (In Leeds).
The song was also covered by music group 4 Ties in 1995 and released on the compilation album of the same title.
A re-worked version of this song (with modified lyrics) titled "Get the Party On" was included on The Cheeky Girls album PartyTime in 2004.
Language versions The song has been covered in many languages, including Catalan, Vietnamese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish and German. A Spanish language version was done by Middle of the Road followed by another version by Dolores Vargas. German versions were by Hajo and Mickie Krause who performed a dance song to the same tune, "Reiss die Hütte ab" (Tear The Hut Down) (Apres Ski Hits 2003). Koivistolaiset sang Finnish language version with lyrics from Vexi Salmi.