Song Of The Day 8/6/2012: Alexei Sayle - "'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?"

Those of you who are British and were around when this song conquered the British singles charts in 1982 and got sick of the resultant "Ullo John" mania are entitled to skip this one. Did you see yesterday's? It was by Queen.

This song is apropos of nothing as far as I can tell. It wasn't pertinent, didn't reflect common conditions in the U.K. at the time. It was just British comedian/actor Alexei Sayle (from The Young Ones) rattling off random Cockneyisms on top of a perky new wave/funk track. The song reached #14 on the British charts. The original issue featured four versions of the piece, each with different lyrics (especially Part IV, which we'll get to in a minute).

Somehow this set off a pop cultural mini-movement in England, including none other than Ian Dury aping the song in an advert for Toshiba stereo systems:

This ad campaign was resurrected seven years ago with Madness' Suggs.

And, as a special bonus, here's the "Part IV" version of this song. It's actually the recording that introduced me to this whole "'Ullo John" business. The lyrics are very NSFW. But it's quite an achievement.