Hoots Mon

Album: British Beat Before the Beatles, Vol.3: 1958 (1958)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Lord Rockingham's XI were the House band for Jack Good's British TV show Oh Boy!. The Classic UK 45s website states that there were actually 13 musicians in Lord Rockingham's XI, "if you included the Scottish bandleader Harry Robinson and lady organist Cherry Wainer." The site adds that "Well known jazz 'buff'" and future BBC Radio 2 presenter Benny Green "played alto saxophone with the band, but was so embarrassed by it that he often played in sunglasses to hide the fact."
  • This was originally a single that Harry Robinson made with Jackie Dennis called "Linton Addie." He then turned to the traditional Scottish folk song "100 Pipers", and turned the tune into this chart-topping instrumental, punctuated by stereotypical Scottish phrases. Robinson recalled in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: "You couldn't have a rock n roll instrumental without someone saying something in it. We wanted a voice to recite a couple of silly couplets. I did it because I'm Scottish, but I overdid the accent, which resulted in Scotland thinking it must be a Sassenach. When we heard the playback, we fell about laughing and couldn't play anything for 15 minutes. The engineer couldn't get the bass right when the sound was transferred to disc, and he wanted us to re-do it. A lot of record-buyers complained because if you used a lightweight needle, it jumped off the disc because of the tremendous bass parts. It was banned in certain factories because of its pounding sound: it made the workers want to smash the tools up."
  • Harry Robinson, who died in 1996 later performed on Millie's "My Boy Lollipop" and provided the arrangements for a host of people, including The Seekers, Serge Gainsbourg, Nick Drake (including "River Man") and Sandy Denny. Among many other projects, Robinson also composed a national anthem for Zambia.

Comments: 2

  • Michael from Bradford, England"Hoots Mon" was followed up with "Wee Tom", 5 months later that made it to N°16.
  • Zabadak from London, EnglandThis was the first grunge single!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.