Bony Moronie

"Bony Moronie" was the third single by Larry Williams, released in 1957.

"Bony Moronie"
Single by Larry Williams
B-side"You Bug Me Baby"
Released1957
GenreRock and roll
Length2:57
LabelSpecialty 615 (U.S.)
London HLU 8532 (UK)
Songwriter(s)Larry Williams
Larry Williams singles chronology
"Short Fat Fannie"
(1957)		 "Bony Moronie"
(1957)		 "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy"
(1958)

Original version

Williams' original peaked at #14 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores[1] chart and #4 on the U.S. R&B chart. Since then the song has been covered many times.

Hush version
"Bony Moronie"
Single by Hush
from the album Rough Tough 'n' Ready
B-side"Rocking Gypsy King"
ReleasedApril 1975
GenreGlam rock
Songwriter(s)Larry Williams
Hush singles chronology
"C’Mon We’re Taking Over"
(1974)		 "Bony Moronie"
(1975)		 "Glad All Over"
(1975)

In April 1975, Australian glam rock band Hush released a version, which peaked at number 4. The band performed the song on Countdown. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane said that "One of the defining moments of Australia's 1970s pop legacy was undoubtably Hush performing "Boney Moroney" (on Countdown)" He described how "Keith Lamb wiggled his satin flares-encased bum, thrust out his crotch and leered at the camera with a mischievous look in his eyes (and all the little girls understood). Les Gock dashed around the set in stack-heeled boots and glam threads, with peroxided streaks in his flowing, jet-black hair. Rick Lum hammed it up in a serious kind of way. Chris Pailthorpe cheerfully revealed his goofy, gap-toothed grin whenever the camera panned across his face."[2]

The song was the first single from the band's fourth studio album, Rough Tough 'n' Ready.

Track listing

7" single (ZS-123)

  • side A "Bony Moronie"
  • side B "Rocking Gypsy King"

Weekly charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart[3] 4

Year-end charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4][5] 10

Other cover versions

Several early rock singers recorded their own versions of the song, notably Johnny Burnette, The Standells, Bill Haley and Ritchie Valens. Dick Dale and his Deltones included a version on their 1965 album Rock Out With Dick Dale & His Del-Tones Live At Ciro's. Among others who have used the song are The Cyrkle on their 1966 debut album, Red Rubber Ball, Joni Mitchell during her 1970 concert in Amchitka for Greenpeace, pairing the song with Big Yellow Taxi in a medley.[6]The Who included a 1971 live performance on their 1994 compilation Thirty Years of Maximum R&B; Dr. Feelgood included it on their 1974 album Down by the Jetty; Johnny Winter included it on his 1974 album Saints and Sinners and on his 1975 album Captured Live!; Showaddywaddy and Julie Covington recorded for the 1977 Amnesty International benefit show The Mermaid Frolics, Gram Parsons performed it live in 1973, the performance was released in 1982 on Live 1973. Gram's friends, The Crickets, also recorded the song in 1974; Gram had planned to join them in the studio. James Booker covered the song on his album Resurrection Of The Bayou Maharajah (1993) as part of a medley with "Slow Down", "Knock On Wood", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", and "Classified".

French, Spanish and Serbo-Croatian versions

Les Habits Jaunes made a French cover version entitled "Miss Boney Maronie" in 1965.

The song was translated into Spanish by Enrique Guzmán and Manny Martinez, who renamed it "Popotitos".

Originally released as a single in 1961 by Guzman's and Martinez's band Los Teen Tops, "Popotitos" was also covered by a wide range of Spanish-speaking artists such as Ricky Martin and Miguel Ríos. The song was recorded by Argentinian rock/pop group Serú Girán in 1982, which introduced "Popotitos" to younger generations, and made it a hit again across Latin America.

A Serbo-Croatian version of the song was recorded by Yugoslav avant-garde rock band Laboratorija Zvuka and released on their 1982 album Duboko u tebi.[7]

Rumoured Beatles versions

According to biographer Mark Lewisohn, the Beatles (first as the Quarrymen) regularly performed the song, from 1957 until 1961 with John Lennon on lead vocal,[8] but there is no known recorded version. Lennon himself recorded it for his 1975 album, Rock 'n' Roll.[9] Roy Young recorded a single version in 1972 (liner notes CD set Roy Young The Best of 50 Years). Additionally three of Lennon's original Quarrymen cut a version during rehearsal in 1993 that came out on CD as The Quarry Men - The Rehearsal Tapes, copyrighted and privately released in 2004 (only via website sales, now out of print).[10]

Chart performance

Legacy

In the song "Land" on the album Horses (1975), Patti Smith refers to “Bony Moronie.” Echo & the Bunnymen's 1984 song “My Kingdom”, includes the lyric “Do you know how to dance like Bony Moronie?”. The 1988 song "Good Times" by INXS & Jimmy Barnes, which makes many references to classic rock & roll, features the lyric, "Bony Maronie's gonna be with Jim/I said long tall Sally's gonna be with Slim".

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2010). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (9th ed.). New York: Crown Publishing Group, Random House. ISBN 978-0-30798512-5.
  2. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 145. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 427. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. "National Top 100 Singles for 1975". Kent Music Report. December 29, 1975. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via Imgur.
  6. "Joni Mitchel : Big Yellow Taxi - Bony Maronie (Live @ Amchikta 1970)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  7. Janjatović, Petar (2007). EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960–2006. Belgrade: self-released. p. 124.
  8. Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle p. 362
  9. Allen J. Wiener (1992). The Beatles Ultimate Recording Guide. p. 136. ISBN 978-0816025114.
  10. "John Ozoroff Professional UK Musician with John Lennon's Quarry Men and Sixties Band The Four Pennies - Stories News CDs and Memorabilia". Johnozoroff.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  11. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 604. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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