Ebeneezer Goode

"Ebeneezer Goode" is a song by Scottish electronic music group the Shamen. Remixed by the Beatmasters, the song became their biggest hit when released as a single on 24 August 1992 by One Little Indian, topping the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. The group's original version featured on the vinyl edition of their fifth album, '' Boss Drum'' (1992).

"Ebeneezer Goode" was one of the most controversial UK number-one hits of the 1990s due to its perceived oblique endorsement of recreational drug use, and it was initially banned by the BBC. It has been claimed the single was eventually withdrawn after the band were hounded by the British tabloid press, although the Shamen stated it was deleted while at number one due to its long chart run "messing up our release schedule". Its music video was directed by Richard Heslop.

Lyrics

The song is best known for its chorus, Eezer Goode, 'Eezer Goode / He's Ebeneezer Goode", the first part of which is phonetically identical to "Es are good" – 'E' being common slang for the drug ecstasy. However, 'E' is also sung many other times during the song, ostensibly as ''e'' (i.e. ''he''), such as in "E's sublime, E makes you feel fine". The lyric alludes to the advantages of the drug, though with an admonition against excessive use:

The song also contains references to the use of cannabis with ecstasy, referencing the rolling of a cannabis joint with the lines "Has anybody got any Veras?" ("Vera Lynns" being rhyming slang for "skins" or rolling papers) and "Got any salmon?" ("salmon and trout" being rhyming slang for "snout" or tobacco).

The "A great philosopher once wrote..." sample at the start of the song is Malcolm McDowell from Lindsay Anderson's 1973 film '' O Lucky Man!''

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''Music & Media'' said the song "is a thinly disguised tribute to the drug XTC, although some might think it's about nice chocolates". They added, "Whatever the moralists may say – 'naughty, naughty' like the lyrics icin the intro – it's a brilliantly constructed pop song with both radio and club appeal as proved before by other Euro-crossover hits such as ' Move Any Mountain' and ' Love Sex Intelligence'." Andy Beevers of ''Music Week'' commented, "Bringing together very authentic old-fashioned acid house sounds and a cheeky rap, this has instant appeal and is going to be a huge hit. A word of warning, however: it will make 'absolutely outrageous, mate' this summer's most irritating catchphrase." James Hamilton from the ''Record Mirror'' Dance Update described it as "pure corny pop with a laddishly spoken and chanted very silly vocal about a geezer what's called Ebeneezer, punctuated by "wicked mate" comments and Sid James-like guffaws" and a "twittery bleeping jaunty bounder". Stuart Maconie from '' Select'' remarked "the full blown end-of-pier rave style" of the track.

In 2017, ''Mixmag'' ranked "Ebeneezer Goode" number four in their list of "10 of the Best Songs Celebrating Ecstasy", writing, "There'll never be another group like The Shamen, Scottish psychedelic evangelists fronted by a north London geezer (Mr C) who hit the top of the charts with an arch ditty about eccies. From the opening "Naughty, naughty, very naughty" to its blatant chorus – "Eezer Goode"(ie, "E's are good"!) – it mischievously characterised MDMA as an impish "Mr Puncinello". Its success was a cheeky daytime radio wink to a million pill-poppers at a time when rave was an all-encompassing national phenomenon."

Chart performance

The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number six in September 1992, climbing to number one two weeks later (ironically during the BBC's drug awareness week) and staying there for four weeks. It was the UK's 13th-biggest-selling single of 1992.

In the US, Epic Records did not service the single to radio stations nor released the single commercially. They did, however, service the single to club DJs via two separate white labels: the first one with the UK mixes (catalog No. EAS 5001), and the second one with the US mixes (catalog No. AED 4917). The only information on these releases were the artist name, the name of the single, and the catalog number. "Ebeneezer Goode" received heavy club play in US clubs, but Epic Records did not hire a record club promoter to push the song up the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Play chart; therefore, DJs were not pressured to report the song back to ''Billboard''. Because of its lack of promotion, the single charted only for one week, debuting and peaking at No. 2 on the Hot Dance Breakouts chart for the week ending 5 December 1992.

Music video

The accompanying music video for the song consisted of club scenes intermixed with a caped man (ostensibly Ebeneezer Goode himself, played by Jerry Sadowitz) running around parts of a city. It was directed by British director of music videos and films Richard Heslop. Due to the use of flashing images in the video, some TV music channels make epilepsy warnings. Some channels, including VH1, edit the video to reduce the frame rate of these scenes, which deletes each bright frame.

Performance on ''Top of the Pops''

When the Shamen appeared on BBC1's ''Top of the Pops'', Mr. C was expected to tone down the song due to its being broadcast. The group replaced the final lyric "Got any salmon?" with "Has anyone got any underlay?" When later asked about this in a radio interview, he replied it referenced ''rugs'', not drugs.Bussmann, Jane: ''Once In A Lifetime: The Crazy Days of Acid House'' ()

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

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1992 songs
1992 singles
Songs about drugs
The Shamen songs
UK singles chart number-one singles
Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Music Week number-one dance singles
Number-one singles in Israel
Controversies in the United Kingdom
Obscenity controversies in music
1992 controversies
One Little Independent Records singles
Music videos directed by Richard Heslop
Songs banned by the BBC
UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles