"Wordy Rappinghood" is the debut single by American new wave band

Tom Tom Club Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include the UK top 10 hit " Wordy Rappinghood" and the US top 40 hi ...

, from their 1981 self-titled debut album. It uses part of a traditional Moroccan children's song and game, "

A Ram Sam Sam "Ram Sam Sam" (), also known as "A Ram Sam Sam", "Aram Sa-sa", and by other names, is a Morocco, Moroccan Moroccan music, song that has gained popularity as a children's song around the world since the mid-20th century. Lyrics In most forms, th ...

", made popular by the 1971

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

recording. In the United States, the song topped the ''Billboard'' Disco Top 80 chart along with " Genius of Love".

Structure, instrumentation and production

The song opens with the sound of a

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

and features jarring

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

chords and a distinctive

drum break In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion instrument, percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main section (music), parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interp ...

. The words of the fifth verse are spoken in French: "Mots pressés, mots sensés, mots qui disent la vérité, mots maudits, mots mentis, mots qui manquent le fruit d'esprit" which translate as: "hurried words, sensible words, words that tell the truth, cursed words, lying words, words that lack the fruit of the mind."

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth ( ; born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, ...

and

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist, Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...

had relocated to

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. A neighbor,

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell OJ (born 22 June 1937) is a Jamaican-British former record producer and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall ...

, owner of

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, invited them to record at his

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

. Frantz and Weymouth co-opted

Steven Stanley Steven J. C. Stanley (born July 11, 1958), is a Jamaican audio engineer, record producer and keyboardist who has worked in the reggae, dub and rock music genres since 1975, most notably with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and Black Uhuru. Sta ...

, a keyboard player who had worked as the sound engineer on

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

's album ''

Lord Upminster ''Lord Upminster'' is the second solo studio album by the English rock and roll singer-songwriter Ian Dury. It was released by Polydor Records in September 1981. It was recorded over a period of one month at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, ...

'', and Monte Browne, a bass player formerly with T-Connection.

Track listings

*US 12" single :A. "Wordy Rappinghood" (Special 12" Version) – 6:39 :B. "Spooks" – 6:28 *European 7" single :A. "Wordy Rappinghood" – 3:50 :B. "Wordy Rappinghood" (You Don't Ever Stop) – 4:05 *European 12" single :A. "Wordy Rappinghood" (Remix) – 6:42 :B. "Elephant" – 5:11

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chicks on Speed version

"Wordy Rappinghood" was covered by German

electroclash Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a Music genre, genre of popular music that fuses 1980s Electro (music), electro, New wave music, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, re ...

group

Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist art music ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997 at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status throughout the 2000s and became most well known as catalysts of the musical genre electroc ...

and released as the second single from their album '' 99 Cents'' in 2003. Their version featured guest vocals by other female musicians such as

Miss Kittin Caroline Hervé (born 15 July 1973), known professionally as Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worke ...

Kevin Blechdom Kevin Blechdom (born Kristin Grace Erickson; 1978 in Florida) is an American experimental electronic musician and performance artist. She is based in Santa Cruz, California, Santa Cruz, California. Early life and education Kristin Grace Erickson ...

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

, Adult.'s

Nicola Kuperus Nicola Kuperus is an American musician and artist. She is a member of the band ADULT. with her husband Adam Lee Miller (formerly of Le Car (band), Le Car). ADULT. owns and manages Ersatz Audio, a record label based out of Detroit, Michigan. In 20 ...

, and Tom Tom Club founding member

. This cover was sampled in the song "Really Rappin' Something" by the Kleptones from the album '' From Detroit to J.A.'' in 2005. In 2007, the Playgroup remix of Chicks on Speed's version appeared on the compilation album ''

FabricLive.33 ''FabricLive.33'' is a DJ mix compilation album by Spank Rock, as part of the FabricLive Mix Series. Track listing # Intro # Kurtis Blow – The Breaks – ''Universal'' # CSS – Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (Spank Roc ...

'' by

Spank Rock Naeem Juwan Hanks, better known by his stage name Spank Rock, is an American rapper and songwriter from Baltimore. He rose to fame with his 2006 album '' YoYoYoYoYo'', which was produced by former group member Alex Epton ( XXXChange). A harbinge ...

''.

Critical reception

Christopher Lloyd of '' Drowned in Sound'' described the song as an "ultra-catchy seven minute dancefloor killer".

Track listings

*European CD maxi single #"Wordy Rappinghood" (Radio Edit) – 4:20 #"Wordy Rappinghood" (The Playgroup Remix) – 5:23 #"Wordy Rappinghood" ( Dave Clarke's Non Techno Mix) – 3:37 #"Wordy Rappinghood" (The Playgroup Instrumental Mix) – 5:24 #"Wordy Rappinghood" (music video) *German 12" single :A1. "Wordy Rappinghood" (Album Mix) – 6:26 :A2. "Wordy Rappinghood" (Acapella Version) – 4:10 :B1. "Wordy Rappinghood" (The Playgroup Remix) – 5:23 :B2. "Wordy Rappinghood" (Dave Clarke's Non Techno Mix) – 3:37

Charts

Uffie version

French-American electronic artist

Uffie Anna-Catherine Hartley (born December 9, 1987), known professionally as Uffie (), is an American-French singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ, and fashion designer formerly signed to French electronic music record label Ed Banger Records. Uffie's music ...

covered the song in 2011. The single, produced by labelmate

DJ Mehdi Mehdi Favéris-Essadi (20 January 1977 – 13 September 2011), better known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was a French-Tunisian hip hop and house music producer and DJ. He was signed to the label Ed Banger Records, founded by his friend Pedro W ...

, was released on April 18, 2011, through

Ed Banger Records Ed Banger Records (sometimes referred to as Ed Rec) is a French electronic music record label founded by Pedro Winter in 2003 as a division of Headbangers Entertainment. It focuses on house music, particularly French house, as well as alternati ...

Because Music Because Music is a record label based in France. The label was founded in 2004 by Emmanuel de Buretel and Eric Bielsa upon their exit from major labels. Because Music has acts such as Justice, Christine and the Queens and Aime Simone on their r ...

and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. Her version was used in a global

Evian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

ad campaign.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1981 songs 1981 debut singles 2003 singles 2011 singles Tom Tom Club songs Uffie songs Because Music singles Elektra Records singles American funk songs American hip-hop songs Island Records singles PolyGram singles Sire Records singles Songs about hip-hop Songs about language Songs written by Chris Frantz Songs written by Steven Stanley Songs written by Tina Weymouth Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Warner Records singles Songs based on children's songs

Structure, instrumentation and production

Track listings

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chicks on Speed version

Critical reception

Track listings

Charts

Uffie version

See also

References

External links