"Stakeboard" aka "Skateboard (Uh Ah Ah)" is song that became a 1977 single for German group Copains and a single for singer

Benny Schnier Benny aka Benny Schnier is a German singer and actor who had a number of hits during the 1970s. The hits include "Du bist 16", "Amigo Charly Brown", " Skateboard (Uh-ah-ah)" and "Bin wieder frei". Background He was born Hans Jürgen "Benny" Schni ...

. Both versions made the charts that year. It has been covered by a multitude of artists since the original release. The song had a resurgence of interest the mid-2000s.

Overview

The song Skateboard was written by Hans-Ulrich Weigel,

Frank Farian Franz Reuther (18 July 1941 – 23 January 2024), known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the pop band No Mercy, and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequent ...

Stefan Klinkhammer Stefan Klinkhammer (26 July 1935 – 30 March 2001) was a German musician who produced and composed a number of charting hits. His compositions include, " Dance, Bunny Honey, Dance for Penny McLean and "Skateboard" for Benny. He is also remember ...

, and Roland Kaiser. Along with " Amigo Charlie Brown" and "Bin wieder frei", "Skateboard" brought Frank Farian considerable success. With the kids riding around on skateboards and being noticed by Roland Kaiser and Frank Farian, an idea for a song came about. It was Kaiser who suggested to Farian that a song should be made about the sport. The idea appealed to Farian and with Kaiser, Fred Jay and Hans-Ulrich Weigel, Farian composed Skateboard. It took some time for the song to catch on, but it became a success when it did. When Benny's version became a hit, it became more popular than the version sung by Farian and his group Copains. In later years, the melody of the song was used as a stadium chant ("Chemie – uh ah ah – that’s football – wonderful") for German football club, Chemie Leipzig. The song appears in the book, ''Skateboard Music of the 1960s and 1970s''. Artists who recorded the songs, such as, Benny, Copains,

Leif Bloms Leif Bloms was a dansband in Växjö in Sweden. scoring chart successes at the Sverigetopplistan, Swedish album chart during the mid-late 1970s. Background The nucleus of the band was three brothers from Växjö. They tried to get a break for a f ...

, Cliff Carpenter,

Sten Nilsson The STEN (or Sten gun) is a British submachine gun chambered in 9×19mm which was used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and during the Korean War. The Sten paired a simple design with a low production cos ...

Đorđi Peruzović Đorđi Peruzović is a popular Croatian pop singer. He has been prolific in his recording from the late 1960s through to the 2010s. He had chart success with the song "Where Were You During Thundering". Background He spent his young years in Vrb ...

, Chinox, Nils Dacke, Les Copains, and

Kjell Vidars Kjell Vidars was a Norwegian band who recorded from the 1970s to the 1990s. Their recordings were released on the Nett, Snowflake, Troll and Mariann record labels. Background Kjell Vidars came about by chance. It was around 1969 when they were ...

, are featured in the book. According to the August - September 2002 issue of ''Trust'' magazine, issue #95, the song was on a list of "100 greatest singles of all time". It was also available as a phone ringtone. According to ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

'' in 2021, this was Benny's paying homage to the skateboard.

Copains version

Background

Copains recorded the song which was produced by

. Backed with "Rolling Skateboards, the song was released by

Hansa Records Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a record label based in Berlin, Germany founded in 1962. History In the early 1960s, brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel, grandchildren of Will Meisel, who was th ...

in July 1977. This is the English version of the song. Farian produced the song and sang lead on it. The single was released in Australia on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

103111.

Charts

Spending seven weeks in the German charts, it peaked at no. 38. It was also a hit in Sweden, peaking at no. 17 during its three-week run.

Appears on

Benny version

Background

Frank Farian produced the song for

, and backed with "Daniela, was nun?", it was released by

in late 1977. This version was the more successful one. Benny was actually discovered by Farian. It was Dieter Thomas Heck who came up with extra title, "a dangerous sport. According to the 29 December 1978 issue of ''

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

'', Benny hadn't had a good hit since " Amigo Charlie Brown". His producer Frank Farian thought they should take advantage of the skateboard boom in Germany. At first, he was skeptical but afterwards he was glad he recorded the song.

Charts

The record spent ten weeks in the German charts, peaking at no. 40 in 1977. In 2006, Benny released the album, ''Die Hits von Gestern und auch Heut’'' (''The Hits of Yesterday and Today'') aka ''Amigo Charly Brown'', which contained newly recorded versions of his hits such as " Amigo Charly Brown" and "Skateboard (Uh-Ah-Ah)". According to an article by Gute Laune TV, the songs had been in the Ballermann charts for some weeks.

Appears on

Television

* Hitparade No. 102, 06.03.1978 * Hitparade No. 104, 01.05.1978

Chart summary

Other versions

In 1978, The Chinox released a single of the song, but with it titled as "Skateboard ooh-ah-ah".

recorded a version of "Skateboard ooh-ah-ah" that was released in 1979. It appears on the '' Spelar Partyorgel Vol. 6'' album by Nils Dacke as part of a medley that also includes, "

Rivers of Babylon "Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari movement, Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group the Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms Psalm 19, 19 and Psalm 137, ...

" and "Tro Vad Du Vill". In later years it was covered by

Disaster Area A disaster area is a region or a locale that has been heavily damaged by either natural, technological or social hazards. Disaster areas affect the population living in the community by a dramatic increase in expense, loss of energy, food and se ...

. It was apparently covered by Harpo as well. But in a review of Disaster Area's ''Forever'' album, their version wasn't much of an improvement on that.''Plastic Bomb'', 052 2005
Page 40 DISASTER AREA-forever-CD
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External links

* elnoi2 channel, Aug 26, 2023
Benny Schnier - Skateboard (video)
* Copains Topic channel, Nov 23, 2023
Skateboard (Uh-Ah-Ah) (audio)
* Leif Bloms Topic channel, Jan 19, 2015
Skateboard-ooh-ah-ah by Leif Bloms (audio)
* ponocnosunce channel, Jul 27, 2014
ĐORĐI PERUZOVIĆ - Opet skupa ti i ja (audio)
* Lazy Rain channel, Nov 9, 2024
Kjell Vidars – «Skateboard» (video live performance)
* MrGulpereel channel, Jun 23, 2011
Kjell Vidars - Skateboard (audio)
* Disaster Area Topic channel, May 14, 2021
Skateboard (Uh Ah Ah) by Disaster Area (audio)
1977 singles Song recordings produced by Frank Farian Songs written by Frank Farian Songs written by Stefan Klinkhammer Hansa Records singles Jugoton singles RCA Victor singles

Overview

Copains version

Background

Charts

Appears on

Benny version

Background

Charts

Appears on

Television

Chart summary

Other versions

Further reading

External links