everybody go, hotel motel holiday inn

February 28, 2005 1:23 AM

Boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie! What songs use this lyric (or some clear variation of it?) I'm pretty sure it originates from Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'. At the very least this song popularized it. And it appears in, for example, Kid Rock's 'Bawitdaba', Will Smith's 'Freakin it', and 311's 'Welcome' So what other songs make some use of this classic hip-hop lyric???

(If I can find enough, this'll be my MeFi CD Swap theme)

posted by John Kenneth Fisher to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Google says Falco. Or maybe this one.
posted by pracowity at 1:31 AM on February 28, 2005

And there's this:

Late one night this summer, after one too many Hefeweisens, I found myself surrounded by a group of Spaniards in a Berlin bar trying to figure out the mystery of that unintelligible chorus [to Aserejé]. In a flash of recognition, a childhood memory came back to me of one of the first hip-hop hits to make it on to the charts — "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang. Over a beat sampled from Queen, the gang proclaims, "I say-a hip hop, hippie to the hippie, to the hip hip-hop, and you don't stop the rocking, to the bang bang boogie, say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat." Las Ketchup had apparently tried to lift their lyrics from these old school rhymes, but without the basic understanding of English which would be required to do so successfully.

So I suppose you should include the Ketchup Song, where "Aserejé" = "I say-a hip" and where "an de buididipí" = "of the boogie, the beat," if I'm reading that right.
posted by pracowity at 1:43 AM on February 28, 2005

Response by poster: As much as this is, in theory, Google-able, I figured I'd ask here as all the variations of it make Googleing difficult.

(Kid Rock's, for instance, has all kind of 'Bawitdaba da bang da bang diggy diggy diggy' in there)


(on preview: oooh, responses coming in already? sweet.)
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 1:44 AM on February 28, 2005

As an aside, I have a live recording of Ani DiFranco veering into this, from one of her songs.
posted by armoured-ant at 2:47 AM on February 28, 2005

I have a fairly terrifying live recording of a band I was in playing a live mixture of "Rapper's Delight" and the Cure's "Fascination Street." It was a Halloween joke. It worked better than you might imagine. You definitely don't want it for your mix tape, though. Unless you like to inflict pain.
posted by litlnemo at 4:27 AM on February 28, 2005

I second "The Ketchup Song", and would like to add that I don't believe the girls themselves couldn't understand the lyrics of the original:

The 2002 hit "The Ketchup Song" (known in Spanish as "Asereje"), is about a guy who loves this song but doesn't understand the lyrics, so he makes up his own. What he makes up translates into the lyrics of "The Ketchup Song."

The chorus is thus the Sugarhill Gang tune converted into pseudo-Spanish, while the verses are in proper Spanish and tell the story of Diego trying to make out the words.

Plus, I'll now have it stuck in my head all day. Thanks.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:10 AM on February 28, 2005

On a related note, other lines from the original were also recycled by other artists. For example,

just Throw your hands up in the air
And party hardy like you just dont care

was used in The Bloodhound Gang's "Fire Water Burn" (among others), which was in itself a list of rock and hiphop clichés.

Also, "Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn" was referenced in the Dutch-language track "Doekoe" by party-ragga rapper Def Rhymz.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:19 AM on February 28, 2005

Response by poster: As an aside, I have a live recording of Ani DiFranco veering into this, from one of her songs.

I'd very much like to know which song, as maybe I can track it down.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 7:03 AM on February 28, 2005

The Jamaican duo Xanadu and Sweet Lady did a sweet cover of "Rapper's Delight." There's a short review here (scroll down to #9).
posted by hydrophonic at 7:41 AM on February 28, 2005

I'd very much like to know which song, as maybe I can track it down.

It's on the version of 'Fire Door' found on disc 2 of Living in Clip, Ani DiFranco's live double album.

In other news, I reckon a really easy way to find out who wrote the song would be to post an MP3 of it right here, and wait for the Cease and Desist...
posted by armoured-ant at 7:56 AM on February 28, 2005

litlnemo: I like to inflict pain. Can I get a copy of that?
posted by squidlarkin at 8:33 AM on February 28, 2005

I hate to admit that I even know this, but the phrase in question can also be heard in "Angry White Boy Polka" by Weird Al from his album Poodle Hat.
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:59 AM on February 28, 2005

It's also in Andrew Kerr's Special K (he varies the rapping in the song; I think this has been every version I've heard, but I'm at work and can't listen to that mp3 to verify its presence.)
posted by Zed_Lopez at 10:50 AM on February 28, 2005

squidlarkin: If you are really that sadistic, I can send it to you. Email me at the address in my profile. The recording is really rough, though.
posted by litlnemo at 5:26 PM on February 28, 2005