Wang Dang Sweet Poontang

"Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" is a hard rock song written and performed by Ted Nugent. It was first released in 1977 on the Epic album Cat Scratch Fever and as the B-side of the Epic single, Cat Scratch Fever. The song was produced by Lew Futterman and Cliff Davies.[1] An extended live version of the song was released in 1978 on the Double Live Gonzo! album. The song has also been covered by various artists, including a 2020 cover by heavy metal supergroup BPMD.

"Wang Dang Sweet Poontang"
Song by Ted Nugent
from the album Cat Scratch Fever
A-side"Cat Scratch Fever"
ReleasedJune 1977 (1977-06)
Recorded1977
GenreHard rock
Length3:17
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Ted Nugent
Producer(s)Lew Futterman, Cliff Davies

The song's title is a rhyming and unsubtle reference to the male and female genitalia.[2][3] The lyrics pay tribute to "a teenage queen" named Nadine who is "lookin' so clean, especially down in between."[4][5]

As Nugent became active in conservative politics in his later years, the song's sexually explicit content drew attention in news and satire publications.

Versions

Studio version

The original studio version of the song, running three minutes and 17 seconds, was released in June 1977, as the second track on Nugent's third studio album, Cat Scratch Fever.[6] The studio version was also released in July 1977 as the B-side of the single, Cat Scratch Fever.[1]

Live versions

An extended live version of the song, recorded in July 1977 at Nashville Municipal Auditorium and running six minutes and 18 seconds, was released in January 1978 on Nugent's Double Live Gonzo! album.[7] In the introduction to the song on Double Live Gonzo, Nugent described it as "a love song" that he wanted to dedicate to "all that Nashville pussy."[8] The band Nashville Pussy took its name from Nugent's introduction of the song.[9]

A second live version of the song, recorded live at Cape Cod in 1981 and running five minutes and 39 seconds, was released in 2017 on the album, Cape Cod 1981.[10] A third live version of the song, running five minutes and 54 seconds, was released on the 2019 album, The Little Box of Ted Nugent: Rare Live Broadcast Recordings.[11]

Re-releases

Since their original release, the studio and 1977 live versions of the song have been featured on multiple compilation albums, including:

Covers

The song has also been covered by other artists including Ain't Dead Yet in 1992,[18] Malfunkshun in 1995,[19] American Dog in 2003,[20] Alex Mitchell in 2006,[21] Jake E. Lee in 2008,[22] BPMD in 2020.[23]

Reception

Drummer Mike Portnoy has described the introduction to the 1977 live version as "one of the greatest live intros of all time. It was such a classic, and everyone got so off on hearing it."[24]

In 2001, music critic Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune included Wang Dang Sweet Poontang in his list of five guilty pleasures, calling it "despicable misogyny, but the rawwwk doesn't get much rawer."[25]

The song has also been ranked as one of the most popular in Nugent's oeuvre. Ultimate Classic Rock ranks the extended live version as No. 4 in its list of Nugent's best songs.[26] The website "Classic Rock History" ranks it No. 3 in its list of the "Top 10 Ted Nugent Songs".[27]

In a 1980 interview with Nugent in Musician (Player and Listener), he asserted that his solo on the song in Detroit on September 3, 1979, was the second most important event of the 1970s.[28] In 2007, Nugent unveiled a monument to his mother and spoke of her influence: "I didn't change the lyrics to 'Wang Dang Sweet PoonTang' or anything but I was constantly reminded of her presence to always take the high road and be a gentleman at all costs."[29]

As Nugent became active in conservative politics, the song drew attention in the media. In 2007, Reason magazine published a piece asking, "I'm just wondering, has Mike Huckabee listened to 'Wang Dang Sweet Poontang' by Ted Nugent? Does he know what that song is referring to?"[30]

After Nugent called President Obama a "subhuman mongrel", he promised to stop calling people names, but added: "However, I have a little escape clause here, because when I'm on stage singing 'Wang Dang Sweet Poontang,' would you give me permission to go overboard on occasion?"[31]

In April 2017, Billboard and Spin both published a tweet from actor Chad Lowe displaying a photograph of Nugent standing next to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office with the caption: "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang!"[32][33]

During the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, the satirical website The Hard Times published an article reporting that the Joe Biden campaign had adopted "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" as an unofficial anthem to "energize donors" at Zoom events. The article further asserted that Nugent had demanded that Biden cease using the song.[34] The satire published by The Hard Times resulted in some confusion as various websites assumed the account to be factual, rather than satirical. For example, Spin tweeted Nugent's cease and desist demand as factual in nature.[35] Further, Texas radio station KLBJ-FM reported it on Facebook as a "huge blow to the Biden campaign."[36]

References
  1. "Cat Scratch Fever". 45cat. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  2. "Wang". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  3. "Poontang". Wiktionary. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  4. "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang". MusixMatch. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  5. "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang (Live at Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN - July 1977)". Official Ted Nugent Page (provided to YouTube by Sony Music Entertainment). Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  6. "Cat Scratch Fever". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  7. "Double Live Gonzo!". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  8. "Ted Nugent". Columbia Daily Spectator. April 5, 1978.
  9. "Nashville Pussy Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  10. "Cape Cod 1981". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  11. "The Little Box of Ted Nugent: Rare Live Broadcast Recordings". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  12. "Great Gonzos! The Best of Ted Nugent". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  13. "Out of Control". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  14. "The Ultimate Ted Nugent". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  15. "Playlist: The Very Best of Ted Nugent". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  16. "The Essential Ted Nugent". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  17. "Ted Nugent The Box Set Series". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  18. "Alive MCMXCII". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  19. "Return to Olympus". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  20. "Red, White, Black and Blue". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  21. "World's Greatest Tribute to Ted Nugent". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  22. "Runnin' with the Devil". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  23. "American Made". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  24. Chad Childers (June 5, 2020). "BPMD Explain Why They Chose Each Song on 'American Made'". Loudwire.
  25. "Guilty pleasures". The Santa Fe New Mexican. October 28, 2001. p. G5.
  26. Matthew Wilkening (April 13, 2013). "Top 10 Ted Nugent Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  27. Aaron D. Backes (30 March 2019). "Top 10 Ted Nugent Songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  28. Richard Crouse (2000). Big Bang, Rock Trivia. Hounslow Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-88882-219-7.
  29. "Ted Nugent erects monument to mom". UPI. July 27, 2000.
  30. David Weigel (November 28, 2007). "Stop Polluting My Culture, Mike Huckabee!". Reason.
  31. "Ted Nugent's ridiculous fake apology for racism". Salon. February 27, 2014.
  32. "David Crosby Calls Ted Nugent & Donald Trump a 'Pair of A--holes' After White House Photo Op". Billboard. April 20, 2017.
  33. "David Crosby Has Some Thoughts About Ted Nugent and Donald Trump Hanging Out". Spin. April 20, 2017.
  34. Eli Johnson (August 3, 2020). "Ted Nugent Demands Biden Campaign Stop Playing "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" at Events". The Hard Times.
  35. @Spin (August 5, 2020). "Ted Nugent Demands Biden Campaign Stop Playing "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" at Events" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. "Huge blow to the Biden campaign!". KLBJ 93.7. August 3, 2020 – via Facebook.com.
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