goody goody gumdrops!

January 16, 2003 7:31 AM

released 35 years ago, "yummy yummy yummy i got love in my tummy", unarguably the most important pop song since "itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini", roared to the top of the charts and its supporous and encrustulated bubblegum effluviance can still be heard in today's poppiest artistes. simple simon says: are YOU down with fruitilicious?
posted by quonsar (22 comments total)

Thank you for this post, it was truly needed! How could we allow this pivotal and poignant moment in history go unrecognized! Again, I thank you!
posted by Pollomacho at 7:34 AM on January 16, 2003

I wondered how your doctorate was coming along.
posted by machaus at 7:35 AM on January 16, 2003

Fruity.
posted by 111 at 7:35 AM on January 16, 2003

Two words: Sugar, sugar. Or is that one word?
posted by skyscraper at 7:37 AM on January 16, 2003

unarguably the most important pop song since "itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini"

As if.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 7:42 AM on January 16, 2003

Quonsar, Quonsar bo Bonsar Bonana fanna fo Fonsar
Fee fy mo Monsar, Quonsar!
posted by mss at 7:48 AM on January 16, 2003

Feh. Newsfilter.
posted by luser at 8:08 AM on January 16, 2003

The Julie London version on the Six Feet Under soundtrack is surprisingly rather hot.

Which, I guess, means that any song could be made attractive if done right...
posted by Katemonkey at 8:13 AM on January 16, 2003

from the Onion

30th Anniversary Of 1973 Commemorated
WASHINGTON, DC—Across the U.S., ceremonies have already begun to commemorate the 30th anniversary of 1973. "No one who lived through 1973 can ever forget it," said singer Tony Orlando, unveiling a plaque Monday on the National Mall reading "1973: 1973-2003." "From Richard Nixon's second inauguration to Billie Jean King's defeat of Bobby Riggs, 1973 was a special year that will be celebrated all year long." The U.S. Postal Service announced plans Tuesday to observe the milestone with a paisley stamp trumpeting "30 Years Of 1973."
posted by blue_beetle at 8:14 AM on January 16, 2003

are YOU down with fruitilicious?

I plan on working that question into many conversations today. Thank you for that.
posted by iconomy at 8:35 AM on January 16, 2003

I used to play sarcastic versions of songs like this (also Bobby Goldsboro tunes like "Honey") in the early Eighties at performance art festivals.

That said, I'll switch stations in half a heatbeat if Goldsboro or Diamond start crooning, but I'll listen to the 1910 Fruitgum Company any time.

Seeing photos of the 1910 boys in 2003 is pretty scary, though.
posted by kozad at 8:50 AM on January 16, 2003

They were OK.

Crazy Elephant could kick their ass though....
posted by jonmc at 8:56 AM on January 16, 2003

Favorite version: The Residents, on "The Third Reich-N-Roll"
posted by britain at 9:08 AM on January 16, 2003

One slight problem, quonsar, Ohio Express brought us those odes to pre-adolescent oral sex, Yummy Yummy ("I got love in my tummy") and Chewy Chewy ("Do it to me, chewy, chew me out of my mind").

1910 Fruitgum Company brought us the great date rape ballad, 123 Red Light ("If you stop me again, then this love will end, so baby please don't refuse").

No wonder my generation has such a healthy attitude toward sex!
posted by mischief at 9:11 AM on January 16, 2003

Mischeif- That's not to mention the Cattanooga Cats creators of the legendary My Birthday Suit ("don't I look cute in my birthday suit") which shocked the squares by causing an epidemic of feline nudism.
posted by jonmc at 9:35 AM on January 16, 2003

The Julie London version on the Six Feet Under soundtrack is surprisingly rather hot.

What surprise? Julie London could sultrify vastly inferior pieces, so a song as, as, as perfectly shrinkwrapped as Yummy Yummy Yummy was right in her wheelhouse. (That soundtrack is excellent, by the way.)


(I was going to make a crack about getting Julie London and Julie "Catwoman" Newmar mixed up, but now that feline nudism has been mentioned, my sense of propriety forbids me to actually Go There.)
posted by chicobangs at 9:48 AM on January 16, 2003

I love the lyrics - they are so profound. And as mischief pointed out, they were written by the same prolific pop poet who brought us these deep thoughts:

Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy Baby
Always got a mouthful of such sweet things to say
Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy Baby
Chewy's full of sugar and I love her that way

Wow - this has me groovin'... think I'll put on my high heeled sneakers and my wig hat on my head...um, no wait - that's another era.
posted by madamjujujive at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2003

mischief: god, i get the best stuff all mixed up in my poor head. ohio express it was, indeed. and it isn't ALL healthy - remember this ode to pedophilia? i had the distinct distinction of being entertained by gary puckett and the union gap at the venerable lowell showboat! yummy yummy yummy!
posted by quonsar at 10:25 AM on January 16, 2003

Those of you with a private - or, if you're brave, public - jones for such things may be interested in Right to Chews, a collection of bubblegum covers. The glammy take on "Yummy Yummy Yummy" alone is worth the price of admission.
posted by kgasmart at 10:28 AM on January 16, 2003

q: I was thinking of that as well. How about Young Blood or Shout?

("I still remember
When you used to be nine years old yeah, yeah
An' now that you're grown up
You're old enough to know")

gassy: Covers? I don't need no steenking covers. Hell, man, I have the originals!
posted by mischief at 10:34 AM on January 16, 2003

G. G. Allen was supposedly a huge Ohio Express fan. Seriously.
posted by tingley at 11:13 AM on January 16, 2003

G. G. Allen was supposedly a huge Ohio Express fan. Seriously.

Not as bizarre as you think. The Ramones often called themselves a "psychotic version" of the Bay City Rollers when they started out and they've covered the 1910 Fruitgum Company's Indian Giver. I think the Circle Jerks and the Germs have also done Sugar Sugar. More info on the punk-bubblegum connection can be found in Bubble Gum is the Naked Truth.
posted by jonp72 at 4:55 PM on January 16, 2003