Ebony and Ivory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Ebony and Ivory” | ||
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| Single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder from the album Tug of War |
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| B-side | "Rainclouds" | |
| Released | March 29, 1982 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1981 | |
| Genre | Soft rock | |
| Label | Parlophone/EMI (UK) Columbia (US) |
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| Writer(s) | Paul McCartney | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Paul McCartney singles chronology | ||
| "Temporary Secretary" (1980) |
"Ebony and Ivory" (1982) |
"Take It Away" (1982) |
| Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||
| "That Girl" (1982) |
"Ebony and Ivory" (1982) |
"Do I Do" (1982) |
"Ebony and Ivory" is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney, performed with Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. At the simplest level, the song is about the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial harmony on a deeper level. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!".[1] The song is featured on McCartney's album Tug of War as well as several of Wonder's Greatest Hits albums. The song reached number one in the UK charts in 1982.
Although written by McCartney alone, the song was performed live in the studio by both McCartney and Wonder, though due to conflicting work schedules, both recorded their parts for the song's music video separately (as explained by Sir Paul in his commentary for "The McCartney Years" 3-dvd boxed set).
"Ebony and Ivory" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was the fourth-biggest hit of 1982.[2] For McCartney, the song's run atop the chart was the longest of any of his post-Beatles works, and second longest career-wise (behind "Hey Jude" with The Beatles); for Wonder, it was his longest-running chart-topper.[3]
Following the song's massive chart success, it was derided as "saccharine" and was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine.[4] On October 2007 it was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners.[5]
[edit] Popular culture references
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This song has been parodied in many US television shows, such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Everybody Hates Chris and Saturday Night Live, as well as movies such as Undercover Brother and Guess Who.
- On the TV show Friends, the song was sung (off-screen) by Chandler Bing and his co-worker Shelly at a Karaoke in the first-season episode, "The One with the Ick Factor". In the season-10 episode, "The One with Ross's Tan", Ross gets confused by the spray-on tan machine he was using, resulting in him being extremely dark on the front and light on the back. Upon seeing him, Chandler observes that he could sing a duet of "Ebony and Ivory" by himself.
- On the show "Father Ted", Graham Norton's character, Father Noel Furlong, sings the song in a caravan with his religious retreat group in the episode, "Hell".
- In Undercover Brother, the song is sung with Denise Richards and Eddie Griffin. Denise Richards does not actually sing the song- it is sung by Bethany Joy Lenz.
- In the pilot episode of Everybody Hates Chris, the song played over a fight scene featuring African-American Chris (Tyler James Williams) and racist, caucasian Joey Caruso (Travis T.Flory).
- In the episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons named "Marge's Son Poisoning", Seymour Skinner and his mother are seen singing that song in a karaoke contest.
- In an episode of Eve, JT's mother and Donavon sing this song whilst playing the piano.[episode needed]
- In an episode of MTV's Rob and Big, Rob Dyrdek and Big Black sing karaoke to the song while wearing wigs.
- The song was covered by a hardcore band Murphy's Law for their The Best of Times album.
- In an episode of the sitcom Early Doors, the song is sung by the two Police Officers Phil and Nige at the Karaoke for Mel's 21st Birthday.
- In an episode of Season 3 on Las Vegas, Josh Duhamel's character and James Lesure's characters sing Karaoke to the song.
- In the film Guess Who, the song is played on the radio as Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac awkwardly listen during a drive.
- Comedian/musician Stephen Lynch referenced the song in "Vanilla Ice Cream" on his 2005 album The Craig Machine.
- Dante, the main character in the video game series Devil May Cry, dual-wields two handguns called "Ebony & Ivory".
- In the video game Xenosaga, the character Albedo Piazzolla makes a direct reference to McCartney himself and a lyric of the song, "Ebony and Ivory, living in perfect harmony".
- In the second and third seasons of the television show Arrested Development, character George Oscar Bluth performs a duet with a black puppet named Franklin titled "It Ain't Easy Being White" which parodies the song.
- In a 1982 episode of Saturday Night Live, the song is spoofed and sung by "Stevie Wonder" (Eddie Murphy) and "Frank Sinatra" (Joe Piscopo).
- In 2005's Racing Stripes, the two flies, Buzz and Scuzz, duet on the song while moving back and forth between the black and white stripes of "Stripes" the Zebra (the characters are voiced by Steve Harvey, who's black, and David Spade, who's white).
- Popular internet game reviewer "Yahtzee" of Zero Punctuation plays the song in the background during the end credits in his review of "Uncharted."
- Paul McGrath has stated once that when Manchester United were on a pre-season tour, the bouncers of a club said if either Paul or team-mate Remi Moses 'clicked' with a girl they would have to leave. McGrath and his Utd team-mates proceeded to lie on the ground arm in arm while Ebony and Ivory played.
[edit] References
- ^ Martin, George (editor): Making Music, page 62. Pan Books, 1983. ISBN 0-330-26945-3
- ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles - 1982
- ^ Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.
- ^ Run for Your Life! It’s the 50 Worst Songs Ever! Article on Blender :: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More
- ^ Ebony and Ivory voted worst duet. BBC News (2007-10-06). Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ The Escapist : Zero Punctuation: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 15, 1982 - June 26, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Don't You Want Me" by Human League |
| Preceded by "My Camera Never Lies" by Bucks Fizz |
UK number one single April 20, 1982 |
Succeeded by "A Little Peace" by Nicole |
