Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: "Zabadak!"

February 17, 1968 (1 week)

I've always been mildly irritated by the song "Iko Iko". It's an earworm but not the kind that I might occasionally welcome. Being an old number from New Orleans, it might have been taken far too seriously than it deserved by people like Dr. John. On the other hand, being a novelty song at heart, others like The Belle Stars and Cyndi Lauper might not have taken it seriously enough. On top of all that, it has always smacked of that kind of condescending children's pop song that kids aren't actually interested in. (That said, I can just about tolerate The Dixie Cups' version which strikes a balance between having fun with "Iko Iko" while also respecting the material)

"Zabadak!" is not unlike "Iko Iko", only it hasn't subsequently been played to death on the radio, hardly anyone has covered it over the past sixty years and it has become largely forgotten. It is no better a song — in fact, it may be a bit worse — but at least we aren't all fed up with it. As far as I can tell, it has never been reclaimed by a well meaning sub-Saharan African group (or, worse still, an earnest bunch of Europeans) nor has it ever been subjected to comedy music hell. Were kids into "Zabadak!" at the time? Perhaps but I'm not convinced they were the target audience. 

Before I get to why I'm not terribly impressed with "Zabadak!", let me express some admiration for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. It seems that they were a pretty typical pop/rock group of the era only they were quite happy to record whatever eccentric shit they'd been handed. Novelty pop has its limits but respect ought to be accorded to those who take the task seriously. Just as super serious actors are often the most suitable for comedy movies (or, similarly, unsmiling, gimmick-free professional wrestlers often appeal more to kids than cartoony "sports-entertainers"), novelty pop becomes far easier to swallow when it's being played by a real group. The silliness will reveal itself either way so why needlessly hammer the point home by presenting it as stupidly as possible?

While "Zabadak!" initally brought to mind "Iko Iko", further listening has made me think of The Beach Boys in their post-Pet Sounds doldrums. The harmonies could have come straight out of the Wilson-Love-Jardine playbook but meshed with the tribal arrangements leaves the bad taste of "Little Pad" from the uneven Smiley Smile in my mouth. Talented people messing around in the studio assuming that whatever results will be worthwhile. Yes, DDDBM&T took what they were doing seriously but they still didn't have much to work with. Had they been a self-sufficient unit then they might have developed a certain amount of quality control; instead, they had to rely on some meagre contributions from others. Just because it hasn't been covered and/or played on the radio endlessly over the years doesn't mean "Zabadak!" isn't any less half-baked than much of the novelty pop detritus we've been subjected to.

Score: 4