"Splish Splash" is a 1958
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 ...
rock song performed and co-written by
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.
He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...
. It was written with DJ
Murray the K (Murray Kaufman), who bet that Darin could not write a song that began with the words, "Splish splash, I was takin' a bath", as suggested by Murray's mother, Jean Kaufman. The song was credited to Darin and "Jean Murray" (a combination of their names) to avoid any hint of
payola
Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...
. It was Darin's first hit and the song helped to give him a major boost in his career, reaching No. 3 on the
U.S. pop singles chart and No. 2 on the
R&B Best Sellers chart. "Splish Splash" was Darin's only entry on the
C&W Best Sellers in Stores chart, where it peaked at No. 14. In a 1967 interview, Darin claimed that he was so happy about having his first hit that his skin condition cleared up.
[
]
Production
''Splish Splash'' was recorded in a session at New York's Atlantic Studios on the evening of April 10, 1958. The personnel on the original recording included Jesse Powell on tenor sax, Al Caiola
Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...
, Billy Mure on guitar, Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall (October 24, 1920 – February 6, 2002) was an American jazz double-bassist.
Marshall was Jimmy Blanton's cousin. He studied at Lincoln University, then served in the Army during World War II. Following his discharge, he perf ...
on bass, and Panama Francis on drums.
The lyrics mention several characters from other songs of the period, including "Lollipop
A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are ava ...
", " Peggy Sue", and " Good Golly Miss Molly".Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...
. "She taught him to use the language in staccato notes: short fast, words...She was very fond of Bobby. Bobby told me she sharpened his respect for language".[David Evanier. "Chapter 3: The Nerve of a Burglar" ''Roman Candle: The Life of Bobby Darin (Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2004) pages 18-19.]
Other versions
British comedian Charlie Drake scored a top ten hit with a comedy version of the song in 1958, produced by future Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
producer George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...
on the Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
label. The song was remade in 1979 by Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
for her album '' Wet''. It features new lyrics by Streisand and backing vocals from Toto lead singer Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...
and Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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keyboardist Bill Champlin
William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...
. A short extract from the song also appears in the video for the 1812 Overture featuring Charlie Drake playing both the conductor and all the musicians.
A Brazilian Portuguese version of the song was recorded in 1963 by Roberto Carlos.
On 1965, Quebecois group César et les Romains broadcast a French cover of the song on television, over the network Télé-Métropole.Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and go ...
and Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television host, and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and p ...
performed the song on ''The Brady Bunch Variety Hour
''The Brady Bunch Hour'' is an American variety show featuring skits and songs produced by Sid & Marty Krofft Productions in association with Paramount Television. It ran on ABC from November 28, 1976, to May 25, 1977.
The series starred the o ...
''.
Sky diver Andre Tayir performs this song on the Kidsongs Kids’ 1990 video: ''Ride the Roller Coaster''.
In 1990, Joanie Bartels covered the song, releasing it as the only single from the album ''Bathtime Magic''. It also appears on the compilation album ''The Stars of Discovery Music'' and in the 1994 video ''The Rainy Day Adventure''.
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...
performs the song in the Bobby Darin biopic '' Beyond the Sea'' (2004).
In both the English and German versions of '' Animals United'' (2010), Billy the Meerkat
MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Ki ...
sings this song while taking a shower, but it's cut off by Toto the Chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...
.
In popular culture
"Splish Splash" was featured in the trailer for the Patrick Dempsey film ''Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and " Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits ...
''. It also appears in the soundtrack for the 1998 movie ''You've Got Mail
''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian play '' Parfumerie'' by Miklós László (which had earlier been adapted in 1940 as ''The S ...
''.
The song appeared in an episode of ''Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
'', in which Richie Cunningham becomes a DJ, 'Richie the C' (possibly a play on Murray the K).
In the ''Family Ties
''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States ...
'' episode " The Boys Next Door", Elyse performs the song with her childhood friend Roger at a class reunion.
It was featured in a DTV music video on The Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Com ...
, set mostly to clips of Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
characters bathing, particularly from the 1948 cartoon '' Mickey and the Seal'' (illustrating the singer's bath in the first verse), as well as '' Mickey's Birthday Party'' (to illustrate the party Darin walks in on).
The song was also featured on an insert on ''Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...
'', where the zookeepers at the Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...
are washing the elephants.
The song can also be heard in the films '' Because of Winn-Dixie'' and ''Air Bud
''Air Bud'' is a 1997 sports comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. The film was financially successful, grossing $4 million in its opening weekend and totaling $27.8 million in its run against an estimated $3 million budget.
Plot
Afte ...
''. It was partially sung in 2012 film '' The Dictator'', when the main character, General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...
) plays a practical joke on his new friend ( Jason Mantzoukas) by singing the song with a severed head as a hand puppet, while his friend is taking a shower.
References
External links
Official Bobby Darin Website, Bobby Darin: Splish Splash
Splish Splash page from the song's publisher Carlin America
{{Authority control
1958 singles
Bobby Darin songs
Songs written by Bobby Darin
1958 songs
Atco Records singles