Released 1962 Label Wand | Length 2:01 Producer(s) Bert Berns | |
B-side "I'm Laughing to Keep from Crying" Writer(s) Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr. | ||
"Nobody but Me" is a song written by O'Kelly, Rudolph, and Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers and first recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1962.
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The most commercially successful and widely known version to date is the 1968 US Top 10 garage rock hit by The Human Beinz which was their only chart success. The Human Beinz version uses only the closing refrain of the original song and is noted for repeating the word "no" 31 times in a row (the 31st time starting the word "nobody"), twice. The Isley Brothers version repeated "no" even more, 34 times in a row.
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers' original version, released as a single on Wand 131, failed to make the pop or R&B charts.
The Human Beinz
The song was covered by Youngstown, Ohio's The Human Beinz and made them one-hit wonders after the song reached number eight on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1968. The Human Beinz' recording was a reworking and extension of the last part of the Isley Brothers' original song. It was included on some versions of Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation, and is now recognised as a prime example of soul-influenced garage rock.
Dave Marsh, in his Book of Rock Lists named the version by the Human Beinz "The most negative song to hit the Top 40," noting that the word "no" is sung over 100 times in a mere 2:16. Marsh also counts the word "nobody" 46 times more. A segment of "Nobody But Me" was also featured during the "House of Blue Leaves" fight scene in Quentin Tarantino's 2004 film Kill Bill: Volume 1. It was also used in The Departed in the scene where Billy brutally beats the two gangsters from Providence. This version was also featured on the soundtrack to Recess: School's Out.
Other versions
The song was featured in at least three television commercials. In the mid to late 1980s for Mita Photocopiers and Idaho Potatoes (both with significantly altered lyrics), in the early 2010s for Nike, Inc., and the mid-2010s for the Dish Network.
Liverpool group The Mojos released an early version in 1964 (The Mojos EP, Decca Records).
George Thorogood and the Destroyers would later record a version more faithful to the Human Beinz cover than to the Isleys' original, and released it on 1982's Bad to the Bone. The L.A. punk band the Dickies also recorded a lightning-fast version of the song.
The French group The Dogs recorded a version in 1979 included in the album Different.
Canadian band Doug and the Slugs released their own cover of the single in 1983.
Garage/punk musician Nobunny reworked the song for his track "Nobunny Loves You".
Experimental group The Residents sampled this song in the track "N-Er-Gee (Crisis Blues)" from their 1974 album Meet the Residents.
A version of the song by Norwegian garage rock band "The Laundrettes" appeared on their 2007 greatest hits album.
A lip-dub of the song opened the seventh season of The Office.
Mike Sarne sings this in the film "Seaside Swingers" (1965) under the title ""Indubitably Me".