Ya Ya

"Ya Ya" is a song by Lee Dorsey. The song was written by Lee Dorsey, Clarence Lewis, Morgan Robinson and Morris Levy. It was inspired by a children's nursery rhyme.

Chart performance

The song reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B singles chart in 1961.^[1]

Covers

• Petula Clark recorded the song ("Ya Ya Twist") in French (released in 1962, #1^[2])
• In 1962, Dalida covered the song in German under the title "Ya Ya Twist"
• In 1964, Joel Denis covered the song in french "Le Yaya"
• Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers (wrongly believed to be The Beatles, who had no involvement in the track) recorded the song in 1961. It is erroneously available on the 1964 release The Beatles' First among others.
• John Lennon included a snippet of himself and his son Julian playing the song on the 1974 album Walls and Bridges. Lennon covered the song fully on his 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll.
• Goran Bregović covered the song as "Ringe ringe raja" in his soundtrack for the 1995 film Underground.
• Lee Michaels covered the song on his 1971 album Fifth
• Steve Miller covered the song on his 1988 album Born 2 B Blue
• In 1994 Mitsou covered the song in french "Le Yaya"

References