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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- Jonathan King smash hit from 1971 which sold 3 million copies and was Top Ten in Holland and Europe and Top Thirty in the UK. Blue Swede copied the grunted arrangement as did David Hasselhoff and others. But JK's was the original.
This is my favourite version of this great song. The arrangement is simply wonderful and imaginative.
feelgood song, this is the version I remember
GREAT SONG
brilliant Jonathan king
a good song from a talented artist..
guy was a genius
Best versión without a doubt.
Those version of this song i like best.
"The woman I'm with" is my girlfriend at the time, Janet, now a proud mother.
I wanted to create a reggae rhythm without using obvious instruments - least likely? Male voices. So up came Oooga Chagga!
Should've been an extended version of this to save me playing it twenty times on the trot. Same with Johnny Reggae.
liked most stuff from jonathan king,he did try to be different.
Yes he was!
Björn Skifs and Blue Swede (Blåblus) is the most famous version, that's the one I grew up with. =)
HOOKED ON A FEELING pieseň JONATHANA KINGA, ktorá bola v UK rebríčku desať týždňov od 20. novembra 1971 a skončila na 23.m. Bola to vlastne upravená verzia piesne od B.J. Thomasa z roku 1968 do úvodu ktorej použil King slová Ooga Chaga Ooga Ooga Chaga ako parafrázu na Chaka Khan a skladbu prearanžoval v tanečnom rytme. S cover verziou takto upravenej piesne švedska skupina Blue Swede obsadila v roku 1974 vrchol rebríčka v USA a stala sa prvou skupinou na vrchole tri roky pred skupinou ABBA a jej hitom Dancing Queen. Ďalšiu cover verziu naspieval David Hasselhoff.
Saw BJ do that song with his band in front of maybe 10 people. BJ had done a concert and was staying at the hotel in Everett, Washington. He came down just to sing to the few and the club band.
Check out the Animals "Mama Told me Not To Come". Song was written for them Three Dog covered their arrangement right down to the under water piano intro. Their vocals made it the number 1 hit.
Unlike Zeppelin, everybody got their credit.
Yes; this is constantly used in films; sadly they tend not to use my original (using the Oooga Chagga chant; BJ Thomas did the first country version) but the cover 3 years later by a Swedish session group. I get no money for my arrangement!
That's just because Blue Swede sounds better overall.
And maybe it's just because it was 3 years later, but Blue Swede's version does sound better overall to me (and I do mean to myself, and only me when I say that).
MtLAngel24 And that may well be true and why they had the US hit too. But mine was still the original and first interpretation - and the first hit of the song done this way. I'd feel different if the Blue Swede version had also been totally different - as mine was to the BJ Thomas original. But by using so much of my interpretation it became 50% Mark James/BJ Thomas and 40% JK. And only 10% "better overall" Blue Swede.
You are right, after rediscovering this song I went back and listened to all 3 versions you definitely deserve a lot of credit for the success of this song. For me not so much for the ooga-chugga chant but more for that iconic horn melody in the chorus and changing the first vocal note of the chorus to that descending melody.
I agree, your arrangement rocks! :) Definitely beats BJ Thomas' version and David Hasselhoff's cheesy version as well. But, sadly I prefer Björn Skifs' tone of voice and his version is a bit more Kick-ass although they overdid the Oga Chakas a bit. But if it hadn't been for your arrangement, all the latter versions may have never existed, so thank you!
I like this version better than the blue swede, Much more put together and very tight...
Blue Swede's version (my fave),a 1974 US hit, was based off of this version.
I do believe we are back in "not allowed to like it" territory......
who is that woman hes with?
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!!!
Uh, Reservoir Dogs.
You're thinking of Blue Swede's rendition.
BOTH :)
William Massengill the version that was seen in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was sung by Blue Swede.
Not gonna lie I love this version better than Blue Swede's. It's just so energetic and tight. You can tell Jonathan is having fun on it which is what adds to the fun feel too.
Thanx 4 the BJ
Well done Jonathan King! Wow, Blue Swede really copied your arrangement, right down to the horn arrangement and even the bass line! (As a bassist, I always found that quite clever). Well, your (and by proxy Blue Swede's) versions are very catchy indeed. I lernt something today.
This explains a few things.
QUE BONITO
Happy and perky is fine with me Ben but I'd add "Original" because, if I hadn't converted Mark's fabulous song, it would never have crossed out of the country ghetto into the big wide world! JK
To be fair, the Blue Swede version did hit #1 on the US charts, while the JK version did not chart in the US and was only a minor hit in England. So that may explain why the Blue Swede version gets used in movies.
Although, they did rip off your "Oooga Chagga" chant from your cover version, obviously, and I guess the lesson is, write your own songs, not just a cool arrangement of others' songs.
And why not do both, as I did? Write some of my own hits, adapt existing songs (some that were never hits, like this, from the BJ Thomas country version), produce other people. Why be limited as a creative force?
7oundof7 So...you're actually Jonathan King? If it's you, I will say that I only tonight found out you added the "Ooga Chaka", which is the version of the song that most people know...I also didn't know about the BJ Thomas original until now.
Yes I had the idea of doing the song with a reggae rhythm and getting the guys to grunt that Ooga Chagga intro to catch peoples' attention. The Blue Swede version was an exact copy of mine, but better promoted by their label in the USA. Their US promotion man was a friend of mine.
What made you decide on caveman-style chanting? It definitely does get the attention when you first hear it, I think it's what everybody remembers about the song haha!
That illustrates what being a Producer is. Coming up with clever ideas to hook the ear of the listener; attention grabbed, then they stay tuned and hear the song. And if that's good (thank you Mark James), it sells.
Oh, definitely:) a lot of my favorite songs are covers that have been tweaked to make it their own. And while making an awesome song, they help me discover bands that I haven't heard of or thought much about. Oh and, happy and perky were compliments lol. It's got it's own style compared to the others, even though they're really perky too, I like it :)
Hell's Yeah!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, B.J Thomas and Jonathan King, but I love Blue Swede's version more! D:
BLUE SWEDE are much, much better! Better tempo, much better vocals, better background vocals and not so ridiculous as this one from J.King.
In the end - The Blue Swedes version was the only one that reached No1 place at Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the list for 18 weeks are still being played and being popular around the world. Bjorn Skifs (the singer in Blue Swede) are still appearing on the stage with this song and he is still looking just as young as in the 70´s. Still one of the biggest stars in Sweden, what is J.King nowdays???
+Jan Brollan Blue Swede's version sounds too much like the band Chicago with all that brass. Just because it got to No. 1 and is popular with today's millennials doesn't make it better. B. J. Thomas's original version with the electric sitar and without those ridiculous, unnecessary, stupid Ooga Chaka chants is the best of all.
Jan Brollan no one knows who Blue Suede is.
BJ Thomas did the first version of the song, not Jonathan King.
But not the first version with the chanting, like the description says.
Sorry mate, reggae under various guises (bluebeat, ska, rock steady) was around well before 1971, trst me I was there.
Well showbiz did him well, because you know he would never have a hot girl like that if he was just an ordinary guy, or "bloke" as you Brits would say.
Oh really? O_O
@nickzedd No Nick - it was entirely original when I came up with it.
His vocal style sounds like it took a lot of inspiration from Paul McCartney
I always thought Johnathan wrote this, but he didn't.
Blue Swede's version is like a cover band version of King's song. It really rips it off quite a bit. Vocals, arrangment and of course the chanting.
can somebody tell me if anyone knows millon dollar bash by jonathan king ( cover of bob dylan )
greetings
I think exactly the same. 7oundof7, How did you made up the chaga ouga?, how did it come to your mind?
I hate to correct people because it sounds mean, but this was originally performed by BJ Thomas. Johnathan King was the first to put the ooga chackas in there, though. My favorite versions are BJ's and Blue Swede's. They're very different styles, so I can't decide which I like better. I think Blue Swede refined JK's version. But this version is very happy and perky lol
Well, this is not the original. BJ Thomas originally sang this song in 1968.
Sill waiting for you to re-release "Mary my love" JK.
graag wou ik weten of iemand het liedje ( miilon dollar bash ) kent van Jonathan king is een cover van bob dylan
groetjes
@hughmooney61 Well I disagree - and he could certainly make hit records!
erm......"insert guardians of the galaxy reference here" ?
The King does it better! Liken it or lump it!
I really don't like this version. I'm glad Blue Swede made a good improvement with this song, and Blue Swede's version is the best version of that song. This version is the worst, and the original BJ Thomas version is in the middle.
this was a terrible version. I don't see how the Blue Swede's version charted so high. BJ Thomas has the best version IMHO.
Top Man!
jag förstår inte erat resonemang denna låt heter hight on beliving och vist är det samma låt den svenska heter hooked on a beliving men döm inte i förväg era dj
@7oundof7 ...if this really was your idea, in 1971 before reggae was "mash up de nation" then you were brilliant and ahead of your time--and Blue Swede grabbed your ball and ran all the way with it.
@dig6dog Oh, quite gay, Dog, believe me.
Of course Jonathan King could never sing but he knew how to exploit the show business and he had a sense of humour. All in all he was shit.
@7oundof7
Still think u should re-release mary mary!! LOL.
Is this the same Johnathan King that did Everyone's Gone To The Moon?
@7oundof7
Whatever way this sound came about its a great little record no doubt about that!!
superstar, met him in about 2000 in inverness terrace.How the hell does a 42 year old man get overawed!
No; OnThis Spot; the chant had nothing to do with Running Bear - it was my idea to use the reggae rhythm in an unusual way, that's all.
A quick Google answers/corrects most of the questions below. This song was originally recorded by BJ Thomas, who had a #5 hit with it in America in 1968, which you can hear right here on TH-cam. In 1971, Jonathan King released this version, adding the American Indian chants from Johnny Preston's 1959 "Running Bear," also on TH-cam. Obviously that was either a song that King liked as a child, or he just did it as a joke. Blue Swede made the chants more prominent and less like Preston's.
why the pic at :54?
I hope you don't include me in that 'we' bit
I think this man made one of the greatest ever contributions to modern music when he added that "ooga-chaka" part... But WHY did he do that?! It's so damn weird...
weird.....but i remember it.....
at least he got the lyrics right. Blue Swede totally butchers the second verse.
No, this predates Blue Swede's version by 3 years. Go look it up.
It is, however, a cover of BJ Thomas' song from 3 years before.
Guy cant even sing, shoulda been locked up for this..
Oh no Sphinx, they copied me!
He had a nice voice to be sure.
king by name, king of the seventies music scene by nature!!!!!
gee...I heard this on the radio today for the first time
I thought it was a modern band with a vintage sound to it...
seems it IS vintage
Great song!!! love it!!
I can't ever remember this!!
Sorry, i just watched BJ,s version, JK is 10 times better.
Everyone knows you did not write this song because you say JK sang it first. Everybody knows BJ Thomas sang it first.
Bj thomas sang this..he was the orignal
I cant find any reference on the web to suggest that he`s passed away . Are you sure ?
For anyone interested Mark James who composed this song also composed many Elvis songs including Suspicious Minds , Always On My Mind , Raised On Rock , Moody Blue and It`s Only Love .You can see Mark James on youtube - ` Mark James Blue Suede Heaven `
Awesome !!!
Thanks !
Wow some real ravers in the audience!
Sadly I didn't write this superb song; Mark James did (and recently passed away), a wonderful writer.
..and nobody else can sing it like BJ!
twat!!!!
i have this on a 45 released by decca in 1971 its a very rare copy was bought in 2001 from a record store in blackpool
thak god for blue swede this one is not good at all
it.s wonderfool!!!this song it.s wery smile:)))
Well, it's verry good. But he wasn't first. Mark James wrote it and B.J. Thomas recorded it before JK did. But it's good in most versions.
jk is the man.clever as u like.not appreciated enuff.