"Chirpy Chirpy, Cheep Cheep" is a song recorded in 1970 by its composer Lally Stott,[4] and made popular in 1971 by Scottish band Middle of the Road, for whom it was a UK #1 chart hit.[5] That version is one of fewer than fifty singles to have sold more than ten million physical copies worldwide.[6]
History
The original recording of the song by Lally Stott was first released in September 1970 in Italy, where he had been living for several years. It was a hit, entering the Top 20 at the beginning of October. The record company, Philips, was reluctant to release it overseas, and offered it to two other groups: Scottish folk-pop group Middle of the Road, who were working in Italy at the time, and the Trinidadian brother-and-sister duo Mac and Katie Kissoon. Philips eventually released Stott's version elsewhere and it topped the charts in Australia and Rhodesia, as well as hitting the Top Ten in South Africa. It was not a hit in the US, though peaked at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100, something that Middle of the Road never achieved.[7]
Middle of the Road released their version in October 1970 in Italy, though it failed to chart there.[8] It was released in the UK on 15 January 1971 and initially became a hit in continental Europe only, before later growing in popularity in the UK. It entered the UK Singles Chart in the final week of May and reportedly got a boost from DJTony Blackburn, who favoured this version over the one by Mac and Katie Kissoon (which had recently been released), and topped the charts three weeks later for five weeks.[9] Mac and Katie Kissoon's version, released in May 1971, had the most success in North America, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the Canadian RPM chart.
At the time, the song was dismissed by critics[who?] as bubblegum, a view initially held by band leader Ken Andrew: "We were as disgusted with the thought of recording it as most people were at the thought of buying it. But at the end of the day, we liked it."[citation needed]
In 2006 "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" topped a list of unintentionally creepy songs in The Observer.[10] Despite its popular appeal and popular chorus, the song has a theme of child abandonment.
The song was sampled in the Denim song "Middle of the Road" on their 1992 album, Back in Denim.
In a sketch in Victoria Wood As Seen on TV, a character telling her Forbes that her husband has been having an affair says that it must have been going on for a long time as ‘their tune was Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’.
^Unterberger, Richie (1 January 1997). "Various Artists - Bubblegum Classics Vol. 3". In Bogdanov, Vladimir; Erlewine, Michael; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas; Unterberger, Richie; Woodstra, Chris (eds.). AllMusic Guide to Rock. San Francisco: Miller Freeman, Inc. p. 1064.
^ abPorter, James (2001). "Bell Records". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. pp. 228–231.
^ abcMurrells, Joseph (1985). Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s : an illustrated directory. Arco Pub. p. 330. ISBN0668064595. In Britain it was a slow starter, but by June began to swiftly rise on the charts. By mid-August British sales were over 500,000, German over a million, Belgian 175,000 and other European sales made a total of over four million. The song became a hit in no fewer than 20 countries, the final tally being an estimated 10 million sales.
