Do Wah Diddy Diddy

"Do Wah Diddy Diddy" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and originally recorded in 1963 by the American vocal group The Exciters.

It was soon covered by British R&B, Beat and pop band Manfred Mann. Manfred Mann's version, which was more commercially successful, was recorded on June 11, 1964, released on July 10^[1] and spent two weeks #1 in the UK Singles Chart in August^[2] and two weeks at the #1 spot in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in October.^[3]

Other cover versions

• "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" was covered by French singer Sheila in 1964, as "Vous les copains" ("You, my friends"). It was also covered that year by Québécois singer Tony Roman, as "Do Wha Diddy".
• The British pop band, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich covered the song, and it appears on their greatest hits album.
• Andrew Gold covered the song on his 1976 album What's Wrong with This Picture.
• The song was covered by Dutch girl group the Dolly Dots in 1982.
• The Fools, a Massachusetts rock band, did their version in 1985 which was extensively played on MTV.
• The song was parodied by the controversial hip hop group 2 Live Crew on their 1988 album Move Somethin', and by the Macc Lads in their song Manfred Macc.
• The Moffatts covered the song in 1995.
• The song was remade by a Korean idol group Shinhwa in 1998.
• DJ Ötzi released his cover version in 2001.
• Riders in the Sky released a Monsters, Inc. version on the album Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites in 2002.

Cultural references

• As a result of the song's prominent use by Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in the 1981 film Stripes, it has become a popular military cadence.
• The song is a repeated motif in LA Story, a 1991 film by Steve Martin.
• It was used as the theme song for the Philippine television series Ang TV during the 1990s.
• The song was sung by Jesse and the Rippers on Full House.
• The song was sung by Melissa McCarthy during an episode of Mike and Molly after her character had gotten drugged up.
• The song was featured in the 1991 film My Girl, sung by main character Vada Sultenfuss when dealing with distressing situations
• The song was sung by Jill Taylor in the episode "Advise and Repent" on Home Improvement
• The songs tune was featured in Short Circuit 2 in an attempt to guide Sandy Banatoni to the Doo Wah's chinese restaurant where Benjamin Jahrvi and Fred Ritter are trapped.

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 1960s (UK)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1964 (U.S.)

References