Rama Lama Ding Dong

Rama Lama Ding Dong is a doo-wop song by the US music group The Edsels from 1958, which is one of the best-known representatives of this genre, although it never achieved great hit parades.

History of origin

Label of the single Rama Lama Ding Dong from Dub Records with the misprint Lama Rama ... , 1958

The song was composed and written by George Jones Jr. during his military service. After finishing their service with the US Air Force in 1957, George Jones (lead singer) and James Reynolds (second tenor ) founded the doo-wop band The Edsels in Campbell, Ohio , named after a car brand of the Ford company . Larry Green (first tenor), his brother Harry Green (baritone) and Marshall Sewell (bass) were recruited as further members of the vocal quintet. They played Rama Lama Ding Dong at their first appearances .

It is certain that the Edsels recorded the song as early as 1957 and not until 1958. The recording was erroneously released by the small record label Dub Records in Little Rock ( Arkansas ) under the title Lama Rama Ding Dong in June 1958 (Dub # 2843 ), but remained without any hit parade response.

Later success

Label of the single Rama Lama Ding Dong from Twin Records, 1961

Single Rama Lama Ding Dong , German pressing of Metronome, 1961

The Doo Wop experienced a renaissance in 1961; older, unsuccessful recordings at the time were dug up, reissued, and some of them have now entered the charts. This is exactly what happened to Rama Lama Ding Dong . When the Marcels brought out the Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart classic Blue Moon as a Doo-Wop title in February 1961 , Rama Lama Ding Dong first received attention. A radio DJ in New York remembered this track because it was arranged in a similar way and began with a comical intro similar to Blue Moon . In April 1961, the title was re-released on Twin # 700 and reached number 21 on the US Pop Hit Parade . In May 1961, the original Dub Records label followed suit and released the song again three years after its first release. In Germany the title was released in the same year on the Swedish label Metronome Records .

As with the musical style term Doo Wop, the title "Rama Lama Ding Dong" is also about onomatopoeia , ie the imitation of instrument or other noises by the human voice. In Doo Wop, the title or text was often designed as an onomatopoeia ( Sha-Na-Na , Ooby-Dooby ). The distinctive sequence of sounds "Rama Lama Ding Dong" was quoted in several other songs. In the novelty hit Who Put the Bomp by Barry Mann , the irony of which is based on the use of nonsense syllables that are popular doo-wop at the time, “Rama Lama Ding Dong” also appears. In the musical Grease , “Rama Lama Ding Dong” can be heard as a quote in the song We Go Together .

Cover versions

In April 1973, the US group Sha Na Na recorded the first cover version of Rama Lama Ding Dong for their LP The Golden Age of Rock & Roll . In December 1978 the British band Rocky Sharpe and the Replays covered the title and landed at number 17 on the British charts. In this version, the song is still popular in the German-speaking world. Among other things, he was and is played after a goal at football games , for example in the stadiums of VfL Wolfsburg and Wiener Austria , or in ice hockey as with the Kassel Huskies , Iserlohn Roosters , Hannover Scorpions or EHC Neuwied , as well as in American football with the Munich cowboys .

In 1978 another version by the German group Kool Cad & The Tailfins appeared under the label Crystal. In January 1980, Rama Lama Ding Dong was interpreted in an episode of the Muppet Show by a shepherd and his flock of sheep. DJ Ötzi published another cover version in February 2003 under the title Ramalamadingdong . The recording reached number 37 in the Austrian charts .

Chart placements

year	Interpreter	Chart positions					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1961	The Edsels	-	-	-	-	21st
1978	Rocky Sharpe and The Replays	37	11	7th	17th	-	in Austria: Entry into the charts in 1980
2003	DJ Ötzi	-	37	-	-	-

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Jay Warner: American Singing Groups. 2006, p. 171.
2. ↑ Rob Finnis, Liner Notes of the CD The Golden Age of American Rock'n'Roll, Vol. 4 ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Ace Records) 
3. ↑ Mitch Rosalsky: Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups . The Scarecrow Press Inc., Lanham / Maryland, Toronto, Plymouth 2002, ISBN 978-0-8108-4592-3
4. ↑ belonged to Old Town Records