"Hoots Mon" is a song written by Harry Robinson, and performed by Lord Rockingham's XI.[1] It was a number-one hit single for three weeks in 1958 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] It is based on the old Scottish folk song, "A Hundred Pipers". It was also one of the first rock and roll songs to feature the Hammond organ, which would become popular in rock and roll music the following year with Dave "Baby" Cortez's "The Happy Organ".
| "Hoots Mon" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Lord Rockingham's XI | |
| B-side | "Blue Train" |
| Released | 1958 |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Label | Decca[1] |
| Songwriter(s) | Harry Robinson[1] |
| Producer(s) | Harry Robinson[1] |
The record is mostly instrumental, punctuated by four stereotypical Scottish phrases:
- "Och aye", an exclamation meaning "Oh yes."
- "Hoots mon", an expression of dismissal or annoyance.[3]
- "There's a moose loose aboot this hoose" ("There's a mouse loose about this house"), a standard cliché highlighting Scots language pronunciation.
- "It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht." ("It's a fine, bright moonlit night").[1][4]
The author and journalist Benny Green played the tenor saxophone on the recording.[1]
The song was revived by Bad Manners and included on their album, Stupidity.[5] It was also used in a commercial for Maynards Wine Gums with the line "There's a moose loose aboot this hoose" changed to "There's juice loose aboot this hoose".[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 40. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 91–2. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Hoot". Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- ^ "Your Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: Braw". Literalbarrage.org. 8 January 2005. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
- ^ "Hoots Mon by Bad Manners on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
- ^ "StackPath". Hatads.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-08-01.