No, I'm not talking about a musical hook, like a nice melody or a good chorus, or a repeating theme such as a keyboard or guitar riff. The "Hook" I'm examining here is that one little thing, that clever or annoying (often both) USP that makes what is essentially a terrible, or even just ordinary song into something catchy and memorable, and ultimately popular. The gimmick, in other words. Yeah, I could have called this section "The Gimmick", but do you know how hard it is to track down Google images of Gimmicks? Seems like they're some sort of protected species, I don't know...
Anyway, the point is that so many of the so-called "novelty singles" survive and indeed thrive on a single idea, one small thing that sets them apart and draws the attention and interest of people, so that even if the song is bad, or just unremarkable, a clever little gimmick hooks in the listener, and possible despite themselves they remember the song and maybe even sing it in their head, even if they don't know quite why. A good example is Bucks Fizz's debut, but I won't be going into that here as they're due to feature in "Eurovision Hell" very soon. But they're a perfect example. "Making your mind up" is a truly godawful song and Bucks Fizz aren't any great shakes as a singing group, but the thing people remember about that song is when the two guys whipped the skirts off the girls. That was what won them the competition, and it's what made the single famous.
Shaddup you face --- Joe Dolce --- 1980
The one I'm starting with is the "Italian" song we all thought was so funny back in 1980. Released by an American living in Australia, it's sung in a way that really should have had the Italian-American Defamation League up in arms, but then, it's all in fun, so shaddup ya face! Seriously, the song is awful. It's a pastiche of Italian pop songs, sung with an overstressed Italian accent by a man who is not Italian, although he has Italian grandparents, who were apparently the inspiration for the song. But the song itself is totally unremarkable, until the final line in the chorus, which is of course also the title, and this is what people remember it for. In fairness, they might also recall "Wassa matta you?" but most people will remember the "Ah, shaddup you face!"
I suppose it's a triumph of false marketing really. When I first heard the song I genuinely believed the guy was Italian --- he goes out of his way to pretend he is, or give the impression he is --- and the next day everyone in work was singing "Wassa matta you?" to the point it got really annoying, and I'm sure not just for me. Even now it's sort of passed into the cultural consciousness, with people often saying in a joking way "Ah shaddup ya face!" and everyone knows what they're referring to.
But it's a perfect example of a song which, had it not included the final line and been called something else, might very well have been giggled at but not sold in the volumes it did. I mean, it was number one in fifteen countries, for Chrissakes! It was not that good! But you see, the Hook made it seem better than it was, and that's why people bought it. It was funny --- barely --- different --- certainly --- and it had that line! It no doubt became a favourite, for a time, at parties and get-togethers, when someone would do their worst Italian impression and stumble around drunkenly trying to remember the lyric, while everyone shouted at the chorus "Ah shaddup you face!"
If only Joe Dolce had taken his own advice. Thank god for the Sopranos, is all I can say!