"Bomb Iran" (or "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran") is the name of several parodies of the Regents' 1961 song "

Barbara Ann "Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached No.13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. A more well-known version of the song was recor ...

", originally written by

Fred Fassert Fred Fassert (born 1935) is an American songwriter most famously known for his composition "Barbara Ann", which was originally written for the band he was in at the time, The Regents. In 1961, the song reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ...

and popularized in a "party" cover version by

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

in 1965. The most popular of the parodies was recorded by Vince Vance & the Valiants in 1980. "Bomb Iran" gained a resurgence in notoriety in 2007 during John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

Origins

In reaction to the

Iran hostage crisis The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...

which began in November 1979, the first publicly known version of this parody was recorded by a group called "the Baritone Dwarfs" and aired on the radio in Boston in December 1979. A second version, with different lyrics, aired on KIXS-FM (now

KGSR KGSR (93.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Vibe 93.3") is a radio station city of license, licensed to Cedar Park, Texas, and serving the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. Owned by Sinclair Telecable Inc. d/b/a Waterloo Media Group, it broadcasts a rh ...

) in

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...

(which broadcasts to the military institution

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

) for a single weekend in January 1980. At least five more "Bomb Iran" songs were written and copyrighted in 1980. The lyrics have the line "Went to a mosque, gonna throw some rocks...Tell the Ayatollah...'Gonna put you in a box!'", which refers to

Ayatollah Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

. In addition to these parodies, another version of "Bomb Iran" was written by radio personalities Dana Michaels and Tom Rivers. This version of the song was produced by Rivers and performed by Michaels (guitar and vocals), Ernie Norris (guitar and vocals), John Rode (guitar and vocals), Mark Lewis (vocals), and Tony Blake (vocals), who called themselves the "Not Current in This Time Zone Singers".Kossen, Bill. "Not Current in This Time Zone Singers". ''Anchorage Daily News'', Aug. 3, 1980. It was first aired on KFQD Radio (where Rivers was program director) in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

on April 25, 1980,Skok, Mark. "The drums of war heard in Anchorage". ''Anchorage Daily News'', April 26, 1980. immediately after an attempt to rescue the American hostages in Tehran failed. Rivers later wrote in ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

'', "the phones lit up like a Christmas tree. We logged more than 20,000 calls in three days...and they were 97 percent positive."Rivers, Tom
"From Michigan to Alaska: PD Tom Rivers"
. ''Billboard Magazine'', July 19, 1980. Because of the song's popularity in Australia and New Zealand,

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

called Rivers to discuss a possible recording contract and tour. Another version of "Bomb Iran" was recorded in 1980 by a group called "J.C. & the B-1 Bombers".

Vince Vance & the Valiants

The most popular version of "Bomb Iran" was recorded by Vince Vance & the Valiants in 1980. The single was popular and frequently requested on the radio, but never charted because it lacked distribution and the rights to the music were not properly acquired. The song threatening Iran with nuclear annihilation also provoked retaliatory death threats and other altercations against the lead singer. However, after some legal wrangling, the single was finally re-released by Paid Records in September 1980. After its second release, the song reached number 101 on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart. The 1980 recording, along with a 1987 remix, was eventually included in the band's album ''I Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans'', released in 1996. One year after the original single release, in 1981, the band released another parody on the same topic called "Nuke Iran", to the tune of

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful song ...

's "

Duke of Earl "Duke of Earl" is a 1962 US number-one song, originally recorded by Gene Chandler. It is the best known of Chandler's songs, and he subsequently dubbed himself "The Duke of Earl". The song was written by Chandler, Bernice Williams, and Earl Edw ...

". In 2005, they created a similarly themed parody of

the Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...

' song "

Yakety Yak "Yakety Yak" is a song written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and released on Atco Records in 1958, spending seven weeks as #1 on List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States), the R&B chart ...

", this time with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

as the target, called "Yakety Yak (Bomb Iraq)". Foreshadowing this, ''

The Rush Limbaugh Show ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' was an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. At i ...

'' in 1990 featured a parody of "Barbara Ann" called "Bomb Iraq" following the start of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

John McCain controversy

The parody lived on and became political fodder when, on April 17, 2007, in Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

's (R-AZ) campaign for the 2008 presidential election, at an appearance in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, he responded to an audience question about military action against Iran by referring to "that old Beach Boys song, 'Bomb Iran'", then singing the parody chorus, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway, ah ..." McCain later claimed he was only joking, but his opponents used his comments against him throughout the 2008 campaign.

References

{{Iran–United States relations, state=collapsed 1980 in Iran 1980 songs 2007 controversies in the United States Vince Vance & the Valiants songs Black comedy music Musical parodies Novelty songs Political songs Songs about Iran Obscenity controversies in music Anti-Iranian sentiments John McCain 2008 presidential campaign Cultural depictions of Ruhollah Khomeini The Beach Boys Iran–United States relations

Origins

Vince Vance & the Valiants

John McCain controversy

See also

References