Who Put the Bomp (song)

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"Who Put The Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)" is a Doo-wop style hit song from 1961 co-written (with Gerry Goffin) and recorded by Barry Mann. He was backed up by The Halos[1], who had previously backed up Curtis Lee on the song "Pretty Little Angel Eyes". The song was originally released as a single on the ABC-Paramount label (10237).

In this song, Mann sings about the frequent use of nonsense lyrics in Doo-Wop music, and how his girl fell in love with him after listening to several of such songs. The theme is illustrated by these partial lyrics:

I'd like to thank the guy who wrote the song
that made my baby fall in love with me...
Who put the bomp in the bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp
Who put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong
Who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop
Who put the dip in the dip-de-dip-de-dip
Who was that man, I'd like to shake his hand
He made my baby fall in love with me (yeah!)
When my baby heard bomp-bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp-bo-bomp-bomp
Every word went right into her heart
And when she heard them singing ram-a-lama-lama-lama-lama-ding-dong
She said we'd never have to part

Examples of the type of song referred to include the Marcels' version of "Blue Moon" (in which they sing "Bomp bomp ba bomp, ba bomp ba bomp bomp" and "dip-de-dip-de-dip")[2] and the Edsels' "Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong", both of which charted earlier the same year[3].

The song inspired the title of a music magazine, called "Who Put the Bomp".

The song fits into the category of "self-referential" songs. Rock songs are often about rock (We're gonna rock around the clock), reggae songs about reggae, rap songs about rap, etc. In this particular song that aspect is accentuated by the fact that Mann is a songwriter singing about songwriters.

It is also an ironic, lightly self-mocking song. This is a frequent phenomenon in popular music, M's "Pop Muzik" being an example.

[edit] Chart Performance

The single debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 on August 7, 1961, and remained for twelve weeks, peaking at # 7[3]. Mann's version did not chart in the UK, though a cover version by the Viscounts reached # 21 there in September, 1961, and another version by Showaddywaddy charted at # 37 in August, 1982[4].

[edit] Covers and related songs

The song has been covered by:

The song was parodied by Bob Rivers as "Who Put the Stump?", involving, from the perspective of an angel on top of a Christmas tree, the tree being inserted up the angel's rectum[6].

The song "Deceptacon" by Electroclash/rock group Le Tigre includes the lyrics "Who took the bomp from the bompalompalomp, who took the ram from the ramalamadingdong?"

The song "We Go Together" in the Broadway musical and subsequent film Grease includes a similar mix of nonsensical lyrics.

A parody titled "Who put the Bomb in Tehran, Tehran, Tehran" was produced by political satirists Capitol Steps and included in their book Sixteen Scandals and the accompanying CD.[7] An earlier parody, "Who'll Put a Bomb on Saddam Saddam Saddam" was introduced in the Capitol Steps' 1990 album, "Sheik, Rattle and Roll."

The song "Who Put The Mush" by The McCalmans is a parody of "Who Put The Bomp", referring to similar nonsense lyrics in folk music, and explaining how the singer's rock-loving girlfriend left him as a result.

For a while, the Museum of Science (Boston, Massachusetts) had Leonard Nimoy perform a bit of this song in order to display the speaker quality in the Mugar Omni Theater.

[edit] References/Notes

  1. ^ Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Arthur Crier Story
  2. ^ Marsh, Dave, The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, 1999, Da Capo Press; ISBN 030680901X
  3. ^ a b Top Pop Singles 1955-1996, © 1997, Record Research Inc.; ISBN 0-89820-122-5
  4. ^ everyhit.com
  5. ^ Perhaps with good reason: their version of Heart and Soul, released earlier the same year, features their added lyrics "Bom ba bom, bom ba dip, da dip, dip..."
  6. ^ See [1]. The lyrics, available on Rivers' web site, include "Who put the stump in my rump ba-bump ba-bump".
  7. ^ Strauss, William (Bill) and Newport, Elaina, Sixteen Scandals: 20 Years of Sex, Lies and Other Habits of Our Great Leaders, 2002, Sourcebooks MediaFusion; ISBN 1-57071-890-3.