Napoleon XIV

	Chart positions ; Explanation of the data
	Singles
	They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

Napoleon XIV is the pseudonym of the music producer Jerry Samuels (* 1938 in New York City ), under whom he released some records in the 1960s.

Live and act

His greatest success was his novelty song They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa, first published in 1966 ! . The fun number, which is more of a speech underlaid with a drum rhythm than a song, is about a man whose partner or dog (which is, as a quote from the author suggests, his reinterpretation from partner to dog during the development of the Text) ran away and lost his mind about it. Then, he announced, the “nice young men in clean white coats” would pick him up.

The special thing about the song is that Samuels experimented with different speeds of the recording tapes in order to represent the range from calm, rhythmic narration to a shrill, crazy-sounding accusation against the partner.

In Great Britain the title reached number 4 in the charts and in the USA it reached number 3. In Germany it did not achieve a high ranking, but was so well known that a German version with the title Ich glaab, die pick mich auf, Ha-Haaa! (Interpreter: Malepartus II, actually the Hessian band The King-Beats) appeared as a record. There was another German version with a different text; the interpreter called himself "The Emperor of China".

The piece is an early forerunner of rap and hip-hop , has meanwhile been covered several times (including 1990 by Lard and 2005 by Neuroticfish ), reissued by Warner Bros. in 1973 and is still considered a cult song today. On the B-side of the record is the same track played backwards; consequently the interpreter calls himself VIX Noelopan. The record was produced by Kim Fowley .

Napoleon XIV can be described as a typical one-hit wonder , as his name only comes with the title They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa! although he released several other records.

swell

^ British Hit Singles & Albums , 18th Edition, Guinness World Records Limited 2005, ISBN 9781904994008 .
↑ Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7 .
↑ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=675 (Jul. 17, 2014)

personal data
SURNAME	Napoleon XIV
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Samuels, Jerry (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American music producer
DATE OF BIRTH	1938
PLACE OF BIRTH	new York

[Guinness-1] British Hit Singles & Albums , 18th Edition, Guinness World Records Limited 2005, ISBN 9781904994008 .

[Billboard-2] Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7 .

[songfacts-3] ttp://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=675 (Jul. 17, 2014)