Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu - Dickey Doo & The Donts 1958 Swan

GERRY GRANAHAN (aka Dickey Doo )


Best known publicly for singing with the 50s groups "Dicky Doo And The Don'ts" and "The Fireflies", Gerry Granahan worked under several different pseudonyms including Gerry Grant. His highly successful career spans nearly 6 decades as both a highly successful singer/songwriter/recording artist and one of the most influential producers of pop-rock on the East Coast.Dickey Doo & the Dont's started out as a joke with a purpose. Gerry Granahan, a producer, songwriter, and performer needed an alias under which he could release his newest record without getting into legal trouble with another record label to which he was already under contract and the alias turned into a successful recording act. Granahan, born in Pittston, PA, was a musician and singer who'd handled demos for Hill & Range aimed at Elvis Presley. Signed to Sunbeam Records in 1957, he had a hit in mid-1958 with "No Chemise Please," a novelty song that got to number 23 on the Billboard chart. His next four singles stiffed, but then he found himself with a song that seemed like a certain hit, "Click Clack," and a label -- Swan Records of Philadelphia -- that wanted to release it; moreover, with Swan behind it, the label's silent partner, Dick Clark, would give it a boost on the local version of his daily music showcase, American Bandstand, thus ensuring it had every chance to become a hit. Granahan's different contractual relationships, with Sunbeam and an earlier contract with Atlantic, however, made it risky for him to release anything with Swan, at least under his own name. Thus were born Dickey Doo & the Dont's, a mythical act whose name would be attached to the song "Click Clack." Swan partner Tony Mammarella suggested the name Dickey Doo & the Dont's as an "in" joke that obliquely referred to Clark's secret involvement with Swan. The song broke out gradually and rose to number 28 during a three-and-a-half-month run. With a hit behind him, Granahan now faced another problem: coming up with a group to appear as Dickey Doo & the Dont's. He recruited a quartet -- Harvey Davis (bass), Al Ways (sax), Ray Gangi (guitar), and Dave Alldred (drums) -- to back him as Dickey Doo & the Dont's; Granahan was referred to on their recordings as Richard A. Doo. The quintet proved extremely popular in concert and charted more singles, including "Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu," "Leave Me Alone," and "Teardrops Will Fall," over the next year and a half. By the 1960s, the group had left Swan and moved to the United Artists label, where they cut two albums and remained under contract until 1965. Granahan continued his extensive activities as a producer during this period, working with the music of the Angels and Patty Duke, among others. Dickey Doo & the Dont's have never been compiled on one CD, but their music is spread among several compilations devoted to Swan Records and early '60s oldies

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Nee
• Na
• Nu
• Dickey
• Doo
• The
• Donts
• 1958

[LHopper106]

I have the original radio promo 45 from KPUG still. No, Don't think about that too much.

[raredoowop]

@LHopper106 .it's sound the same?

[rollpacific]

only the best and this tops them all.... thankyou

[raredoowop]

@rollpacific ,,it's my pleasre

[TheBebopAngel]

Amnon - I LOVE this one! Thank you!

[raredoowop]

@TheBebopAngel . I'm glad you enjoy this great version .this is my pleasure and you are very welcome,,,Amnon

[MalcNedd62]

I LIKE this s**t! No kidding! I think I actually prefer it to the Bad Manners version!

[soulfulady]

You've GOT to be kidding! This is absolutely GOD AWFUL!. My friend from New Jersey likes this blankety-blank-blank blank stuff. He's New Jersey and that's all I need to know about New Jersey. No wonder!

[HotRodThinkin]

after years of denial Robin Williams finally admitted this is where he got his "Mork from Ork" schtick

[Ezdduf4kuZ]

This is the first time I've heard this instrumental and I'm already telling myself I like it, I like it.! The title in itself is most instesting enough & furthermore I like how these lyrics were incorporated into the instrumental itself. Beats twangin' Eddy for a few...reason being is that I just listened to "Reville Rock"....so this came as a real surprize & again I like it! Thx4 postin'

[muvboy]

Saw them on an Alan Freed tour in Milwaukee in 1958 and remember them perfoming this. They did great choreography with Granahan joining in and twirling drumsticks as he danced since he didn't play an instrument, at least not at this show.

[OldMrMemories]

@DiscosDeFama I actually envy you discovering these songs as if they were new. How awesome

[DiscosDeFama]

Heard this for the first time the other day on Sirius Xm 50s on 5. I'm sure glad you posted it, thank you for sharing. Many of you have fond memories with this music as you grew up with it and heard it a long time ago. I did not grow up in this era so some songs are new for me such as this one. Keep up the good work and keep those wonderful songs coming.