Peak
1
Weeks
14
Score
3,123
Chart Year
1965
Credited to the songwriters Bert Berns and Wes Farrell, "Hang On Sloopy" was originally recorded by the R&B group The Vibrations as "My Girl Sloopy" in 1964, reaching #26 on the US charts. There are many rumors about the origin of the name "Sloopy." One popular explanation is that it came from Dorothy Sloop, who was a jazz singer from Steubenville, Ohio. Sloop, who died in 1998 at age 85, performed in the New Orleans area using the name "Sloopy." The McCoys began as the Rick Z Combo (named after lead guitarist Rick Zehringer, who later became Rick Derringer) in Union City, Indiana. They developed a following playing at Forest Park Plaza in Dayton, Ohio. They later became Rick And The Raiders, a group led by guitarist and lead singer Derringer. In 1965, Rick And The Raiders played a Dayton, Ohio concert as the backup band for The Strangeloves, who were a group of producers who wrote the song "I Want Candy" and made up a group for it. In a strange and brilliant marketing move, The Strangeloves claimed they were from Australia and said they were shepherds who got rich by crossbreeding sheep. The Strangeloves - Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer - arranged a recording session with Rick And The Raiders, who changed their name to The McCoys (after a Ventures song), and had them record a version of "My Girl Sloopy" as "Hang On Sloopy." >> The Strangeloves planned to record this song as the follow-up to their hit "I Want Candy," and began performing it on their tour. Another group on that tour, The Dave Clark Five, hear them doing the song and acquired a taste for Sloopy, realizing it could be a big hit. Dave Clark taped The Strangeloves performing the song and planned to record it with his group when they got back to England. The Strangeloves were in a tough spot because "Candy" was still climbing the charts, and they didn't want to release another single until it was on its way down. Lucky for The Strangeloves, group member Bob Feldman was afraid to fly, and on their drive back to New York, they stopped in Ohio and played the gig in Dayton where they met Rick And The Raiders, which was led by the 16-year-old Zehringer. The Strangeloves convinced the Raiders' parents to let them take the boys to New York (with Zehringer's parents along for the ride), where they sang over the already-recorded tracks. Said Derringer: "They gave us a small record player and a copy of the musical track and told us exactly what they wanted us to sing. We went out into the park for a few days, practiced singing it, and put the vocal on. They jumped up and down in the control room and yelled, 'Number One!' And a few weeks later, it was." Most of the group joined Johnny Winter's backup band in the early '70s, and in 1973 Rick Derringer joined the Edgar Winter group as lead guitarist and vocalist, after which he had a successful hard rock solo career. Report this ad The song is wildly popular in Ohio, especially at Ohio State University, where it is the signature song of their marching band. In 1985, "Hang On Sloopy" was named the official rock song of the state of Ohio. According to the resolution, John Tagenhorst, then an arranger for the Ohio State University marching band, created the now-famous arrangement of "Sloopy," which was first performed at the Ohio State vs. Illinois football game on October 9, 1965. The resolution continues: WHEREAS, "Hang On Sloopy" is of particular relevance to members of the Baby Boom Generation, who were once dismissed as a bunch of long-haired, crazy kids, but who now are old enough and vote in sufficient numbers to be taken quite seriously; and WHEREAS, Adoption of this resolution will not take too long, cost the state anything, or affect the quality of life in this state to any appreciable degree, and if we in the legislature just go ahead and pass the darn thing, we can get on with more important stuff; and WHEREAS, Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town, and everybody, yeah, tries to put my Sloopy down; and WHEREAS, Sloopy, I don't care what your daddy do, 'cause you know, Sloopy girl, I'm in love with you; therefore be it resolved, that we, the members of the 116th General Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, name "Hang On Sloopy" as the official rock song of the State of Ohio. This song was released on Bang Records (an independent label formed by Bert Berns and his Atlantic Records partners in 1965), which had a Derringer gun for a logo. That's what gave Rick Zehringer the idea for his new name. Solomon Burke told Mojo magazine August 2008 that Berns, who at the time was his designated producer/writer, originally wrote an earlier version of this song for him, but the soul legend turned it down. Rick Derringer has claimed that The McCoys version was the record label's attempt to make a "white song" out of it. (The Vibrations were a Black band). He explained: "The idea was to find a band that looked like The Beatles now in '65 and to redo it as a 'white' song, a 'white' chart hit. And they found us." Johnny Thunder recorded a follow-up, also written by Bert Berns and Wes Farrell, called "Everybody Do The Sloopy," which reached #67 US in December 1965. Here are the versions of "Sloopy" that charted in America: 1964 - The Vibrations (as "My Girl Sloopy"), #26 1965 - The McCoys, #1 1965 - The Ramsey Lewis Trio, #11 1965 - Little Caesar & The Consuls (as "My Girl Sloopy"), #50 1970 - The Lettermen, #93 1975 - Rick Derringer, #94 Rick Derringer, whose group The McCoys topped the charts with their rendition in 1965, blew the lid off of the "Sloopy" story in a 2012 interview with Karen Kernan. Berns, the song's purported co-writer, once told the guitarist that he wrote the lyric while visiting Cuba, and that "sloopy" was a colloquialism for girls in that country - but that ended up being a tall tale. According to Derringer, the song was actually written by a "high school kid in St. Louis" who sold it to Berns. Unfortunately, Derringer is as clueless as the rest of us about the unknown girl who inspired it - but she wasn't from Cuba! Derringer released a remake of the tune in 1975 that is perhaps most memorable for its music video featuring a beautiful blonde dancer. When the video was uploaded to YouTube decades later, it spurred a debate around the web over the identity of the Sloopy Girl dancer. Some claimed it was Liz Agriss Derringer, a rock journalist who married the guitarist in 1969. Others suggested it was Liz Brewer, a British party girl who later authored books on social etiquette. Confused reporting has even rolled both ladies into one person. In actuality, neither Liz is the dancer in the video. According to a Puget Sound Media documentary about the musical mystery, the Sloopy Girl is Lisa Leonard Dalton, who was crowned Miss Gazzarri Dancer of 1974 at Gazzarri's, a famous Hollywood nightclub. The exposure got her the "Sloopy" gig, and she was given instructions to show up to the shoot in a tank top, short shorts and, most importantly, no bra. She was also given a newsboy cap to hide her blonde locks until the moment Derringer sang the lyrics, "Sloopy, let your hair down, girl." Lisa improvised her sexy dance and went home with around $200 for her day's work. She didn't actually see the video until Christmas 2013, when her brother-in-law found the clip on YouTube. Dalton launched her own Sloopy Girl YouTube channel in 2021.
Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) And everybody, yeah, tries to put my Sloopy down (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Sloopy, I don't care what your daddy do (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) 'Cause you know, Sloopy, girl, I'm in love with you (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) And so I say now Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Give it to 'em (yeah) Sloopy, let your hair down, girl Let it hang down on me (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Sloopy, let your hair down, girl Let it hang down on me, yeah, yeah (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh) Come on, Sloopy (come on, come on) Well, come on, Sloopy (come on, come on) Well, come on, Sloopy (come on, come on) Well, come on, Sloopy (come on, come on) Well, it feels so good (come on, come on) You know, it feels so good (come on, come on) Oh, shake it, shake it, shake it, Sloopy (come on, come on) Oh, shake it, shake it, shake it, yeah (come on, come on) Ohh Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Hang on, Sloopy Sloopy, hang on
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 14, 1965 | 99 | 27 |
| 2 | Aug 21, 1965 | 67 | 59 |
| 3 | Aug 28, 1965 | 49 | 77 |
| 4 | Sep 4, 1965 | 22 | 104 |
| 5 | Sep 11, 1965 | 11 | 115 |
| 6 | Sep 18, 1965 | 7 | 119 |
| 7 | Sep 25, 1965 | 2 | 124 |
| 8 | Oct 2, 1965 | 1 | 125 |
| 9 | Oct 9, 1965 | 2 | 124 |
| 10 | Oct 16, 1965 | 3 | 123 |
| 11 | Oct 23, 1965 | 6 | 120 |
| 12 | Oct 30, 1965 | 9 | 117 |
| 13 | Nov 6, 1965 | 20 | 106 |
| 14 | Nov 13, 1965 | 31 | 95 |