(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post.)
Brian Hyland - "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"
Hit Number 1: August 8, 1960
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Let me just start off by saying that I'm gonna refer to this song as "Itsy Bitsy" because the actual name of the song is too damn long for me to keep typing it out. Anyway, "Itsy Bitsy" is one of those that I think would be safe to put under the "novelty" category. It's a song about a girl who for some reason buys a real skimpy bikini, just to be too afraid to be seen wearing it. She goes to great lengths to make sure no one sees her in her yellow polka dot bikini, and at the end of the song she stays in the water for so long that she turns blue. So does she get hypothermia and die? That's for the listener to decide I guess.
Brian Hyland, the artist of this brilliant song, was just another one of those teen idols that were taking over the country around this time. When he was 14, he started with a group called the Delfis, who had failed to get a recording contract. Hyland, however, was able to get his own record deal, and he immediately came out with his first single, "Rosemary". He teamed up with the songwriting team of Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance, and they were the ones that helped Hyland out a lot. When he was 16, he came out with his first #1 song. That would be "Itsy Bitsy", and was written by the Pockriss and Vance team. So it didn't take him very long at all to reach the top. The song he got there with is a little bit questionable though.
The only reason I can think of this song being so popular, is that it's catchy as hell. Even though it's labeled as a "novelty song", it's certainly not a song that I find very funny. I'm left with more questions than answers. I just wonder what the hell happened to the girl? Why did she buy this bikini if she didn't want to be seen in it? Why was this song even written? The answers to these questions I only wish I had. But the one thing I will give this song, is how absolutely catchy it is. If you dare listen to the song, I can guarantee that it will be stuck in your head the rest of the day. It will make you want to scream. Kind of like that "Baby Shark" crap that you can't get away from. But "Itsy Bitsy" is a lot better than that! (Since I grade songs here, let me go ahead and give "Baby Shark" a big fat 1) But catchiness really is a legit quality of a song, and "Itsy Bitsy" certainly has that.
GRADE: 4/10
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