My Toot-Toot

"My Toot Toot" also popularly known as "Don't Mess with My Toot Toot" or "(Don't Mess with) My Toot Toot" is a song written by Sidney Simien and performed by him under his stage name Rockin' Sidney. Simien wrote the song and released it on the Maison de Soul Records label in Ville Platte, Louisiana. In October 1984, he included the tune on his third album, My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues, recording the entire album at his home studio in Lake Charles, Louisiana and playing all the instruments himself.

For other uses, see Toot Toot (disambiguation).

"My Toot-Toot"
Single by Rockin' Sidney
from the album My Toot-Toot
Released1985
GenreZydeco, country, novelty[1]
Length3:28
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Sidney Simien
Producer(s)Sidney Simien, Floyd Soileau, Huey P. Meaux
Official audio
"My Toot-Toot" on YouTube

Content and history

In January 1985, "My Toot Toot" was released as a single in Louisiana and Texas and became Rockin' Sidney's first true regional hit.[2] Thanks to Cleon Floyd, manager of R&B singer and uncle to King Floyd, it became a huge New Orleans hit. Floyd first heard the crowd's reaction to the song at a bill headlined by Solomon Burke. Cleon was also the president of the Orleans Street Jocks Association and took twenty copies of the record back to the city; he quickly had to order more. By Mardi Gras, it was a jukebox and record hop smash.

Huey Meaux got the original leased to Epic Records, who released it nationally,[3] and for a brief moment Rockin' Sidney made musical history. Epic managed to get Rockin' Sidney into the country Top 40 where it stayed for 18 weeks.[4][5] It was the first zydeco song to receive major airplay on pop, rock and country radio stations.[2] Later in 1985, "My Toot-Toot" was certified platinum and won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording.[6]

As a result, Simien was featured in People magazine, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Music City News and appeared on many national TV shows, including Nashville Now, Church Street Station, Hee Haw, Austin City Limits, John Fogerty's Showtime Special, New Country and Charlie Daniels Jam. He was also a guest celebrity on You Can Be a Star.

Covers

"My Toot Toot" has been covered by many artists including Fats Domino, Doug Kershaw, Rosie Ledet, Jean Knight, Terrance Simien, Denise LaSalle, Jimmy C. Newman, John Fogerty and Jello Biafra. Other versions include Louisiana Zydeco accordionist and singer Fernest Arceneaux, British-Jamaican television personality Rustie Lee, Swedish dansband Lasse Stefanz and Irish country singer Mike Denver. LaSalle's 1985 version was a hit, peaking at number six in the UK Singles Chart, number three in the Austrian chart and number 76 in the Australia chart.[7][8]

Other-language covers

A Spanish version by La Sonora Dinamita titled "Mi Cucu" sold over a million copies in Mexico, Central America, and South America.[9] A German beer company licensed the song to use in their radio and television commercials. The German cover version "Mein Tuut Tuut" by Leinemann reached number 15 on the West German chart in 1985.

Charts

"My Toot Toot" has been used in soundtracks of the motion pictures Hard Luck, One Good Cop and The Big Easy.

Over 20 years after "My Toot Toot" debuted, it continued to draw royalties from commercial use in Europe, and cover versions in several languages by dozens of musicians.

In 2013, Melissa McCarthy parodied the song in an episode of Saturday Night Live. Playing "Casey Patterson", a contestant on The Voice looking to leave her career replacing trailer hitches on U-Hauls, and to move from the "basement without the roof", which Jason Sudeikis' character Blake Shelton described as "a hole".[32]

References
  1. "Gettin' to the root of 'toot-toot' (with a word from Sidney too)". Chicago Tribune. August 4, 1985. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  2. Bradshaw, Jim (January 25, 2013). "A Simple Song that Went to the Top". The Daily Review. Morgan City, LA. p. Opinions section, 4.
  3. Selvin, Joel (December 1, 1986). "The Song That Turned It Around". San Francisco Chronicle (Final ed.). San Francisco, CA. p. Daily Datebook section, 54.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  5. Minton, John (1998). "Zydeco on CD". The Journal of American Folklore. 111 (442): 417–434. doi:10.2307/541051. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 541051.
  6. ""Toot Toot" tune garners Grammy Award for native of St. Landry". State Times. Baton Rouge, LA. February 26, 1986. p. 2-E.
  7. "Denise La Salle: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 172. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. Tighe, James (July–August 1991). "The House of Zydeco: Floyd Soileau and Maison de Soul". Living Blues. Vol. 22, no. 4. Oxford, MS: Center for the Study of Southern Culture. pp. 23–26. ISSN 0024-5232.
  10. "Rockin' Sidney – My Toot Toot". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  11. "Rockin' Sidney: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  12. "Hot Country Singles". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 32. August 10, 1985. p. 40.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "Jean Knight – My Toot Toot". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  15. "12 October 1985". sacharts.wordpress.com. Retrieved January 24, 2023. Note: Rock.co.za incorrectly lists the song as having a number-three peak. The author of this WordPress blog has recreated the South African charts based on data directly provided by Springbok Radio.
  16. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. June 1, 1985. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  17. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. June 15, 1985. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  18. "Denise LaSalle – My Toot Toot" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  19. "Denise LaSalle – My Toot Toot" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  20. "European Top 100 Singles". Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 31. August 5, 1985. p. 8.
  21. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – My Toot Toot". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  22. "Denise LaSalle – My Toot Toot" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  23. "Denise LaSalle – My Toot Toot". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  24. "Denise LaSalle – My Toot Toot". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  25. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. June 22, 1985. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  26. "Offiziellecharts.de – Denise LaSalle – My Toot Toot" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  27. "European Top 100 Singles". Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 40. October 7, 1985. p. 13.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – Leinemann – Mein Tuut Tuut" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  29. "Jahreshitparade Singles 1985" (in German). Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  30. "Top 100 Singles". Music Week. January 18, 1986. p. 10.
  31. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1985" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  32. The Voice Season 4 - SNL, September 23, 2013, retrieved August 15, 2022
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