Nobody But Me

Album

Nobody but Me

Label

Capitol Records

Genre

Rock

Composer(s)

Rudolph Isley;O'Kelly Isley;Ronald Isley

Entered Chart

Dec 9, 1967

Peak Date

Feb 3, 1968

Released

August 24, 1967

Recorded

Studio Cleveland Recording Company

Catalog #

Capitol 5990

B-Side

Sueno

Original Artist

The Isley Brothers

In literal terms, this is the most negative song ever recorded. The word "no" appears 100 times and "nobody" gets sung 46 times, according to rock critic Dave Marsh. This was originally recorded in 1962 by the Isley Brothers, who wrote it in the studio. The Human Beinz were a bar band from Youngstown, Ohio, who originally spelled their band name Human Beingz - the name was spelled wrong on their record contracts and that's how it stayed. "Nobody But Me" was their only hit, and it was a song the band loved to play live long before they recorded it. According to the band's guitarist Ting Markulin, their live version would last about 7 minutes, but the studio version was chopped down to 2 minutes to attract airplay. It took two days to complete the song, which was recorded on an 8-track tape machine. The dances that "nobody can do" like the singer: The Shingaling, The Skate, The Boogaloo, and The Philly. This was used in the movies Kill Bill: Vol. 1, What Women Want, Jersey Girl and The Departed. It was also used in the opening segment of the season 7 premiere of The Office, where the office workers lip-synch to it. >> Listen at the end for a tinging sound - that's their bass player Mel Pachuta hitting an empty Pepsi bottle with a drumstick. The producer was looking for something to add more excitement to the track, and that did the trick. This song gets used in commercials from time to time, including some Capital One spots in the '00s where David Spade played a customer service rep who said no to everything. It was also used in a popular Nike commercial in 2011 which featured athletes demonstrating all manner of difficult feats. The Jaded Hearts Club Band, a supergroup comprising Matt Bellamy, Graham Coxon, Miles Kane, Nic Cester, Sean Payne, and Jamie Davis, released a cover of "Nobody But Me" as their debut single. Their updated version features Miles Kane on lead vocals.

No-no, no, no, no-no-no, no, no-no, no, no-no
Na-no, no, na-no, no-no, na-no, no-no, no, no-no, no

Nobody can do the (Shing-a-ling) like I do
Nobody can do the (Skate) like I do
Nobody can do (Boogaloo) like I do
Nobody can do (Philly) like I do

Well, don't you know
I'm gonna skate right through
Ain't nobody do it but me
Nobody but me

Yeah, I'm gonna spin, I do
Ain't nobody do it but me, babe
(Nobody but me)
Well, let me tell you nobody
Nobody but me

Let me tell you, nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody) nobody
(Nobody)

No-no, no, no, no, no-no-no, no, no-no, no, no-no
Na-no, no, na-no, no-no, na-no, no-no, no, no-no, no

Nobody can do the (Shing-a-ling) like I do
Nobody can do the (Skate) like I do
Nobody can do (Boogaloo) like I do
Nobody can do (Philly) like I do

Ooh, yeah
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody
Nobody, nobody