Biographic - Sunday May 20, 2007 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

What links Otis Redding's soul classic "(Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" to John Lennon's "Jealous Guy?" What links the living pop of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Clair" to the janty whimsy of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" What do Peter Gabriel, Badly Drawn Boy and David Bowie have in common? The answer is whistling! Swedish Indie rockers Peter Bjorn and John have rocketed to fame around the world with the quirky hit "Young Folks." The Hallmark of the track, which has been featured on a number of tv commercials, as well s such tv shows as "Grey's Anatomy" is an infectious bout of whistling. It's just the latest in a cavalcade of hits that, since the inception of the pop charts, have featured this simple and cost-effective way of carrying a tune. In the 1950s, Crooners such as Pat Boone and Perry Como employed the device on hit singles. Guy Mitchell featured it on his chart-topper "Singing The Blues" although the actual whistling was done by Orchestra leader Ray Conniff. In the 1960s, everyone from The Beatles to The Rolling Stones had their whistling moments. And the Lovin' Spoonful had the world whistling the catchy refrain to the mega-hit "Daydream" Hugo Montenegro's use of whistling on the score to the Clint Eastwood movie "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" took the theme song onto the charts. In the 1970s, Paul Simon whistled merrily away on tracks such as "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard." During the 1980s, both The Bangles (Wak Like An Egyptian") and Guns 'N Roses ("Patience") gave whistling a dose of street cred. In the 1990s, veteran german Rockers The Scorpions scored a huge worldwide hit with the whistling-laced "Wind of Change." In more recent times, the likes of Sugar Ray, The Pixies and Tori Amos have all featured whistling in their record output. Perhaps the most interesting piece of whistling trivia concerns a pop hit from the late 1960s. When "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" soared into the Billboard top 20 in 1967, the producers needed someone to fill the shoes of the fictitious performer they had created. Consequently, two decades before the world had even heard of Mili Vanilli, unknown Billy Moeller became Whistling Jack Smith, lip-synching along to someone else's Whistling!

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