A number of singles covered so far on this blog (and speaking of which, we just recently passed the three review hundred milestone!) have been familiar to me in some capacity. The Beatles have been this ever present element in my life so naturally their many, many number ones are as known to me as the members of my family. Others, though, have just seeped in over the years through various means. Some I always seemed to understand were very, very good; others revealed themselves as stupid even when I was a child.
"The Purple People Eater" was a song I always seemed to know of and deep down always knew was the shits. It never connected with me as a kid and then proved to be bloody annoying as I got older. The golden era of Bubblegum pop is full of similar examples, the nadir being the dreadful nonsense that 1910 Fruitgum Company kept shoveling forth upon the public.
Like a lot of Bubblegum acts, Ohio Express were a manufactured entity. The Monkees had the higher profile due to their TV show and far stronger material and faced a considerable backlash when it came out that they didn't play the instruments on their singles but this type of blowback never harmed their competitors. If anything, the Ohio Express were worse because the quintet who posed for photos and did the promo work didn't even sing on "Yummy Yummy Yummy" (or didn't on the actual recording at any rate).
The thing that is most surprising about the Ohio Express' most notable chart entry (it's hard to believe they weren't a one hit wonder) is how garage rock it is. Had they been a genuine rock combo who had come out of Akron or Toledo or Youngstown then it would have been perfectly natural for them to have sounded that way but for them to have been a manufactured studio group their playing ought to have had all the ferocity of a Tonka truck. Yet, "Yummy Yummy Yummy" rocks, a quality that is easily its best feature.
The moronic lyrics are bad enough but they could have been sung in a style that could have made them funny. No, the thing that really brings it down is the deliberately dweebish singing. (I say "deliberately" because I can't imagine anyone, in any situation thinking they could be anything but the sound of a giant dork amping up his dorkness to the max) I suppose it's a choice I can respect since why would anyone with any sense equate romance with food so brazenly but it doesn't make the experience any more listenable.
"Yummy Yummy Yummy" is another of those singles that I have pretty much always been aware of. But unlike "The Purple People Eater", it has revealed itself to be (slightly) more than just an irritant. The solid tune just about makes me want to put it on again. Granted, I won't be putting it on again but at least I'm not out to avoid it at all costs for the rest of my life.
Score: 4
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