"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular UK song, of the

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

type, sung by "

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

The Pipkins The Pipkins were a short-lived English novelty duo, best known for their hit single " Gimme Dat Ding" (written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood), which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Charts, No. 7 in Canada ( ''RPM'' Top Singles), and No. ...

, and written and composed by

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British- Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

and

Mike Hazlewood Michael Edward Hazlewood (24 December 1941 – 6 May 2001)Mike Hazelwood – Credits ...

. Released as a single, it is the title selection of an album which The Pipkins recorded and released on the EMI Columbia Records label. It also appeared on a compilation album of the same name, which The Pipkins shared with another up-and-coming UK group,

The Sweet The Sweet (often shortened to just Sweet), are a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer M ...

. It has also been included on many other compilation albums. "Gimme Dat Ding" was arranged by

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958. He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of ...

Chart history

The song peaked at number 6 on the UK Chart in March/April 1970. It reached number 7 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, number 9 on the US Hot 100 and number 20 in US Easy Listening. It did best in New Zealand, where it reached number 1.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Song profile

"Gimme Dat Ding" is a

call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

duet between a deep, gravelly voice, that of

Tony Burrows Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in the production of numerous transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of wh ...

, and a high tenor, that of

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway, (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic mill ...

. The voices are said to represent a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

and a

metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

. When Hammond and Hazlewood wrote and composed "Gimme Dat Ding," it was one selection from their musical sequence "Oliver in the Overworld," which formed part of the British children's show ''Little Big Time,'' hosted by Freddie and the Dreamers; this narrated a surreal story of a little boy seeking the parts to mend his grandfather clock. The lyrics relate to this story, the song being sung by a metronome who has been expelled by the Clockwork King. The "ding" has been stolen from the metronome by the "Undercog". The original version, as performed by Freddie Garrity, was released on the album ''Oliver in the Overworld'' in 1970.

Cover versions

Frankie Davidson Francis Joseph Davidson (12 January 1934 − 22 July 2022) was an Australian entertainer who had several hit records in the 1960s, appeared on many TV variety shows, and acted in several Australian television police dramas, including ''Matlock ...

released a cover version in Australia in 1970, reaching 21 on the local charts. A Czech version "Gimi Det Ding" was also released in 1970 as a vinyl single with alternate Czech lyrics (a silence-loving man complaining about his noisy female neighbour singing). The Norwegian vocal group

Bjelleklang Bjelleklang ( Norwegian: '' lit.'' Bell Sounds, '' coll.'' Jingle Bells) is a Norwegian '' a cappella'' vocal group formed in Lørenskog in 1986. The group performs both songs with only ''a cappella'' and songs with guitar or other unconventional ...

covered the song on their album ''YppeRu’ dOnK'' in 1994. The song was called Gummihatt (Swing) which is Rubberhat (Swing) in English.Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine
In the UK, interest in the song resurfaced in the 1990s when the

Maynards Maynards was a British confectionery manufacturer best known for manufacturing wine gums. It was acquired by Cadbury in the 1990s, which in turn was acquired by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) in 2010. In 2016, the brand was jo ...

confectionery company used it in a popular television commercial for their Just Fruits fruit pastille and fruit gum range between 1992 and 1994; the song began reappearing on radio playlists during that era. In 1997, Dairylea also used the song in two advertisements in the UK. An instrumental version arranged by Ronnie Aldrich was frequently used as background music during comedy sketches in ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, paro ...

.''

References

{{Authority control 1970 songs 1970 debut singles The Pipkins songs Songs written by Albert Hammond Songs written by Mike Hazlewood Novelty songs EMI Records singles Tony Burrows songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Music hall songs