Hey, meme-spreader! Get laid! Get plucked!

October 5, 2009 4:12 AM

Did you have a "Mony Mony" chant? If so, what was it? (kinda NSFW)

This came up at a wedding reception on Saturday, and I've seen a couple of minor threads about it on other unrelated boards when searching.

What was your "Mony Mony" chant when a DJ played the song back in the late '80s?

In 1988 in Port Perry, Ontario, it was "Come on, motherfucker! Get laid! Get fucked!"

Any insight on how this started would also be welcome -- I was astounded to learn that my wife was also shouting this in South Carolina in 1988, as "Hey! Get laid! Get laid! Get fucked!". This, of course, in the pre-Internet age, when this would have just spread by word of mouth from high school to high school, which makes one wonder where "ground zero" was.

posted by Shepherd to media & arts (51 answers total)

'Hey Everybody, Get Laid, Get fucked!' - metro Detroit.
posted by mittenbex at 4:14 AM on October 5, 2009

I just remember the "Get laid! Get fucked!" part. - Philly
posted by orme at 4:38 AM on October 5, 2009

Hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked. NYC, late 1980s.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:46 AM on October 5, 2009

I have no idea what you are talking about. Can anyone explain?
posted by mary8nne at 4:50 AM on October 5, 2009 [11 favorites]

I've only ever heard this in one little bar in Towanda, PA.

(And I was so confused until my friend told me the slurring was 'get laid get fucked'.)
posted by sperose at 4:59 AM on October 5, 2009

On the other side of Toronto, Burlington, I just remember the "Get Laid, Get Fucked part!" clearly but I am sure there was a first phrase that included fuck in some form. At the time I wondered where it came from because it wasn't on my LP at home.
posted by saucysault at 5:02 AM on October 5, 2009

Hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked. Dunedin, New Zealand, late '80s.
posted by gaspode at 5:09 AM on October 5, 2009

mary8nne: Mony Mony, the song by Tommy James and the Shondells, goes "She was walking down the street/singing Mony Mony" followed by a few instrumental measures of equal length. For some reason kids like to sing some dirty nonsense during those measures, when the song is played, say, at a school dance or something.

That's all I know.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 5:12 AM on October 5, 2009

Grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri, and we made it local:

"Hey, St. Joe, get laid, get fucked."
posted by something something at 5:13 AM on October 5, 2009

Blair, Nebraska: "GO! Get laid, get fucked!"
posted by COBRA! at 5:15 AM on October 5, 2009

I also knew the same lyrics as your wife in the eighties in South Carolina - and so did my cousin in the Tampa/St. Pete area.
posted by pointystick at 5:22 AM on October 5, 2009

For what it's worth, we were still chanting that in '99 in Southern IL.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 5:32 AM on October 5, 2009

Tommy James & The Shondells recorded this in 1968 and it hit #1 in the UK back then.

Billy Idol recorded this as a single in 1981, and released a live version in 1987 on the album Vital Idol. Billy's version hit #1 in the US in 1987.

Although many other artists have recorded covers of this song, i think Billy Idol's is the only cover to make it on the charts.

I hadn't heard of this chant before. Was it usually done to the Tommy James version or the Billy Idol version or both?
posted by marsha56 at 6:03 AM on October 5, 2009

I think it's the Billy Idol version we're all talking about. At least, I really hope so.

Vancouver, at the time: mark me down for another "Hey motherfucker, Get laid, get fucked!"

Dark days, friends. Dark days.
posted by rokusan at 6:08 AM on October 5, 2009

Wow. I never heard the "Mother-Effer" version. We always chanted it as sort of a call-and-response: "Hey!" "Hey What?" "Get Laid! Get Fucked!" (Billy Idol version, Detroit area, early '90s I believe)
posted by Overzealous at 6:23 AM on October 5, 2009

Ours was certainly the Tommy James version.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:26 AM on October 5, 2009

We did the same version as Overzealous at Purdue back in the mid-80s - always to Billy Idol. I'll bet 90% of us didn't even know it was a cover song.
posted by COD at 6:33 AM on October 5, 2009

Ours (Colorado Springs, 1987-1988) was the same as Overzealous (Hey Hey What, also Billy Idol). I recall a discussion where one could see Billy mouth those words off mic during the video. One friend of mine yelled out "Hey Hey What" in the (high school) senior hallway during passing period and got the expected response. The teachers were confused.
posted by dr. fresh at 6:37 AM on October 5, 2009

"Hey motherfucker get laid get fucked." Boston suburbs, early 1990s.
posted by emd3737 at 6:38 AM on October 5, 2009

Both in Jacksonville, FL and Toledo, OH in the 80's it was just "get laid, get fucked!". Amazing how it was exactly the same wherever I moved.
posted by hollygoheavy at 6:47 AM on October 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

I recall having heard both the "Hey Hey What" version and "Hey get laid get stoned get fucked" in Michigan '89-90.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:49 AM on October 5, 2009

Way back in the mid-1980s when I was in high-school, the principal came onstage during prom and announced that the (much-requested) song Mony Mony would not be played, because he had received word that there was an inappropriate chant that would occur during the song. I had seen Billy Idol in concert, and had not heard any chant and had no idea what he was talking about. I forgot all about it until today. Now I know what the dirty chant is and my life is complete.
posted by Cookiebastard at 6:53 AM on October 5, 2009 [3 favorites]

"Hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked." Vancouver, early 90s.
posted by meerkatty at 7:04 AM on October 5, 2009

One of my bands is a cover band that does this. What I hear every week from the stage is "Hey! Hey What? Get laid, get fucked"
posted by sourwookie at 7:09 AM on October 5, 2009

"Hey! Get laid, get fucked!", no "motherfucker", no call-and-response - near Philly, mid-to-late 80's. I distinctly remember it connected to Billy Idol's version of the song, which made the whole thing a titillating bit of pubescent raunch during junior-high dances.
posted by mkultra at 7:26 AM on October 5, 2009

Whoops, meant to add to mine that this was a few months ago, so it hasn't completely died out.
posted by sperose at 7:30 AM on October 5, 2009

Yep, in shoreline CT it was definitely "hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked". WOW that takes me back.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 7:38 AM on October 5, 2009

Oh and that was the late 80s/early 90s.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 7:38 AM on October 5, 2009

Another Vancouver vote, early to mid 90s, "hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked".

Good times, good times. Man I'm old.
posted by cgg at 8:10 AM on October 5, 2009

Ours was just plain "hey, get laid, get fucked", in the mid-to-late 80s and beyond in Arizona.

And I really hated it and thought it was cheesy.
posted by padraigin at 8:38 AM on October 5, 2009

"Hey, get laid, get fucked" El Paso, TX, late 80s
posted by 23skidoo at 8:38 AM on October 5, 2009

Slight variant:

"Hey! Hey you! Get laid! Get Fucked!"

- Southeastern Wisconsin, early-to-mid 90s.
posted by elmer benson at 9:33 AM on October 5, 2009

"Hey! Hey you! Get laid! Get Fucked!"

Same here, rural Idaho (as opposed to heavily-populated, cosmopolitan Idaho), mid-late eighties. It seemed to come out of nowhere.
posted by Skot at 9:39 AM on October 5, 2009

FWIW, this seemed to run alongside the chant of "Rock your balls off", which is definitely not on the original version, and is one of those "might be/might not be" lyrics in the Billy Idol version.
posted by mkultra at 9:50 AM on October 5, 2009

Toronto, late 80's (from my sister), 90's (for me): Come on motherfucker let's get fucked.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:59 AM on October 5, 2009

Definitely "Hey, hey what, get laid, get fucked", circa 1990, Chicago suburbs.

Any DJ who played this song was hopelessly out of touch -- we did NOT want to hear fake old Billy Idol and this boring, overlong, warmed-over cover song -- so the chant was a bit hostile.
posted by xil at 11:04 AM on October 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

"Hey.....get laid, get fucked!" Michigan, Tennessee, late 1980s-1990s.
posted by Stewriffic at 11:22 AM on October 5, 2009

Shouting from the rooftops of a 1989 graduating all-girl Catholic high school dance it was the same as mkultra.

And then we were threatened with a dance shut down if we did it again. So much hate against Bill Idol.
posted by stormpooper at 11:22 AM on October 5, 2009

Oh and that was a SW Chicago burb.
posted by stormpooper at 11:23 AM on October 5, 2009

I always remember hearing "Hey, say what? Get laid, get fucked!"
posted by bDiddy at 12:25 PM on October 5, 2009

Our local (Long Island) variation was "Hey, hey sluts! Get laid! Get fucked!"
posted by keever at 12:35 PM on October 5, 2009

My throat still hurts from screaming "Hey, motherfucker, get laid, get fucked!" at Cafe Bong with the Chicago meefs on Friday.

Or maybe I'm getting sick.
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:06 PM on October 5, 2009

New York City metro area, early 1990's -- "Hey hey slut / get laid / get fucked".
posted by Asparagirl at 2:11 PM on October 5, 2009

Central NY - It was "hey hey what" etc. etc.
posted by stefnet at 2:17 PM on October 5, 2009

Late '80's in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto) was Hey! (pause) Get laid get fucked!

Some high schools in the area actually banned the song from school dances to try to stop the profanity. Fools! the cursing cannot be stopped!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:01 PM on October 5, 2009

I can't believe I forgot! The alternate no-profanity version was "Hey, hey what, this DJ sucks!"
Still hate that damn song...
posted by xil at 6:01 PM on October 5, 2009

Late 80s/early 90s, west/southwest suburbs of Chicago: "Hey hey what, get laid, get fucked!"
No-profanity version: "Hey hey what, Mickey Mouse Donald Duck!"

My dad was a high school teacher and junior class sponsor, so he was in charge of the prom every year. When that song was popular, the school actually had it written in the contract for prom DJs that they were not allowed to play that song because of the chant. (I am pretty sure this came down from higher-ups and was not my dad's idea)
posted by SisterHavana at 9:42 PM on October 5, 2009

Interior British Columbia, late 80s: Hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked.

It was actually banned pretty quick by our principal too.

I always wondered how it spread through the schools the way it did. I mean, who was traveling around teaching it? How could we all have known how to do that?
posted by miles1972 at 11:38 PM on October 5, 2009

At my (mostly) jewish junior high school in Toronto, we had a dance for Grades 7 and 8 (1993?). Our chant: "Granny and grandpa eat bagels and lox"

But, outside of school, it was "Hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked"
posted by evadery at 8:57 AM on October 6, 2009

Fascinating. Thanks, all!
posted by Shepherd at 12:33 PM on October 7, 2009

In Kansas City circa 1988, it was "Hey girl, get laid, get fucked."

I always wondered how it started, and whether Billy Idol had anything to do with it.
posted by bingo at 8:52 AM on January 7, 2010