Boom Bang-a-Bang
"Boom Bang-a-Bang" is a song recorded by Scottish singer Lulu. The song was written by Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne. It was the British winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, held in Madrid. It was the joint winner with three other entries: Salomé singing "Vivo cantando" for Spain, Lenny Kuhr singing "De troubadour" for the Netherlands, and Frida Boccara singing "Un jour, un enfant" for France.
"Boom Bang-a-Bang" | |
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Single by Lulu | |
Released | 1969 |
Length | 2:22 |
Label | EMI Music/Columbia Records |
Songwriter(s) | Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne |
Eurovision Song Contest 1969 entry | |
Country | |
Artist(s) | |
Language | English |
Composer(s) | Alan Moorhouse |
Lyricist(s) | |
Conductor | |
Finals performance | |
Final result | 1st |
Final points | 18 |
Entry chronology | |
◄ "Congratulations" (1968) | |
"Knock, Knock Who's There?" (1970) ► | |
Audio | |
"Boom Bang-a-Bang": Live at the Eurovision Song Content (1969) on YouTube |
Lyrically, the song is a plea from the singer to her lover to "cuddle me tight". She then goes on to explain that "my heart goes boom bang-a-bang boom bang-a-bang when you are near", complete with appropriate musical accompaniment. The single made No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and was a major hit throughout Europe.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Over two decades after its first release, the song was included on a blacklist of banned songs issued by the BBC during the 1991 Gulf War.[7]
Boom Bang-A-Bang was also the name of a BBC One 1-hour programme made to celebrate 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. Broadcast during Eurovision week, the special was hosted by Sir Terry Wogan and featured archive footage and highlights of past contests, along with a performance of that year's UK entry by Daz Sampson. The song is the theme tune for the BBC Three sitcom Him & Her (2010).
Chart performance
Chart (1969) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia Kent Music Report[8] | 15 |
Ö3 Austria Top 40[9] | 10 |
Belgium Ultratop[1] | 4 |
Denmark Hitlisten[10] | 9 |
Dutch Single Top 100[11] | 19 |
Official Finnish Charts[4] | 10 |
German Musikmarkt[12] | 8 |
Irish Singles Chart[2] | 1 |
New Zealand RIANZ[13] | 5 |
Norway VG-lista[3] | 1 |
Spain Promusicae[4] | 5 |
Swiss Hitparade[5] | 3 |
UK Singles Chart[6] | 2 |
See also
References
- "Belgium charts". BECharts.
- "Irelandcharts". IECharts. Archived from the original on 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
- "Norway charts". NORCharts.
- "Billboard Magazine, June, 1969". Billboard. 7 June 1969.
- "Switzerland charts". CHCharts.
- "Official UK charts". UKCharts.
- "BBC Four - More Dangerous Songs: And the Banned Played On - 16 songs banned by the BBC". BBC. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
- McGrath, Noel. Australian Encyclopaedia of Rock. Outback Press.
- "Austria charts". AUTCharts.
- "Billboard Magazine, May 24, 1969". Billboard. 24 May 1969.
- "The Netherlands charts". NLCharts.
- "Germany charts". DECharts.
- "New Zealand charts". Flavour of New Zealand.