SONG OF THE DAY
“Woo Hoo” by The 5678’s (Bomb The Twist, Time Bomb Records, 1996). Cover of the 1959 single by The Rock-A-Teens.
INTERESTING FACTS (from wikipedia)
– “Woo Hoo” is a rockabilly song, originally released by The Rock-A-Teens in 1959.
– The song is distinctive for its lack of lyrics apart from its title words, which gave it popularity around the world as it is not subject to language barriers. It makes use of the twelve-bar blues chord progression, further adding to its accessibility.
– It was later covered by the Scottish rock band, The Rezillos, (under the name “Yeah Yeah”), under the same title by the french psychobilly (or as they say themselves, “yéyé-punk”) band Les Wampas on their 1988 album, Chauds, sales et humides, by the Japanese girl band The 5.6.7.8’s on their 1996 album Bomb the Twist and as a dance/electronica track in 2005 by the AmericanThe Daltronics. It was also covered by Showaddywaddy.
– The 5.6.7.8’s version gained cult popularity when it was featured and performed by them in Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 movie Kill Bill: Vol. 1. The 5.6.7.8’s version is also included on the Kill Bill Volume 1 soundtrack. Additionally, it appears in the movie Glory Road.
It has been featured in advertisements for Carling beer (UK), Vonage (USA and Canada), and Chevy Cobalt. Chevrolet’s advertising agency, Campbell-Ewald of Warren, Mich., produced the Cobalt spot. Its chief creative officer, Bill Ludwig, says the original theme song ‘had no value to us anymore’ once agency executives realized the ad was sharing ‘Woo Hoo’ with the broadband phone company Vonage of Edison, N.J.” [Wouldn’t you have loved to have seen their faces at Chevrolet when they realized the consequences of not having purchased exclusive rights to the song?
– You can hear the original version of the song here: http://www.starcitypunk.com/content/music/rockateens_woohoo1.mp3
– The 5.6.7.8’s are an all-female Japanese garage rock trio, whose music is reminiscent of American surf music, rockabilly and garage rock. Each member is from Tokyo, Japan. They frequently cover songs from American rock and roll records. They made a brief appearance in the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill Volume 1, where they were shown playing barefoot in an izakaya.
– The 5.6.7.8’s formed when Sachiko and Yoshiko “Ronnie” Fujiyama, two sisters from Tokyo who both shared a passion for rock and roll, founded the band in 1986 with two other members. Originally, the lineup consisted of Yoshiko onvocals and guitar, “Rico” on second guitar, “Yoshie” on bass guitar and Sachiko on drums. After several line-up changes (including the bassist Yoshiko Yamaguchi, who was the bassist featured in the Kill Bill movie), the band eventually became a threesome after Rico and Yoshie’s departures. Yoshiko and Sachiko are still the main components in the band, and now Akiko Omo has rejoined the band as the bass guitarist.
– Even though the group mostly sing their songs in Japanese, they do many covers on American rock and roll records from the 1950s to the 1980s. However, their official website and most of their fansites and fanclubs are in Japanese, as they have the biggest following in Japan and have done countless performances in their home country.
– The 5.6.7.8’s recently became known in the West after their appearance in Kill Bill Vol. 1, in which they performed “I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield”, “I’m Blue” (a cover of The Ikettes’ song) and “Woo Hoo” in a Tokyo club, “The House Of Blue Leaves”.
– According to Kill Bill’s director Quentin Tarantino, he discovered the music of the 5.6.7.8’s after hearing it in an urban clothing store in Tokyo hours before going to the airport. Tarantino asked if he could purchase the CD from the store, as he had no time to go to a music shop. When the store clerk on duty said no, as the manager was not present at the time, Tarantino offered double the retail price of the CD and acquired it.
Track listing from the Kill Bill Vol. 1 soundtrack:
- “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” by Nancy Sinatra – 2:40
- “That Certain Female” by Charlie Feathers – 3:02
- “The Grand Duel (Parte Prima)” by Luis Bacalov – 3:24
- “Twisted Nerve” by Bernard Herrmann – 1:27, from the eponymous film.
- “Queen of the Crime Council” by Lucy Liu and Julie Dreyfus – 0:56
- “Ode To O-ren Ishii” by The RZA – 2:05
- “Run Fay Run” by Isaac Hayes – 2:46
- “Green Hornet Theme” by Al Hirt – 2:18
- “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” by Tomoyasu Hotei – 2:28
- “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by Santa Esmeralda – 10:29
- “Woo Hoo” (cover The Rock-A-Teens) by The 5.6.7.8’s – 1:59
- “Crane/White Lightning” by The RZA and Charles Bernstein – 1:37
- “The Flower of Carnage” by Meiko Kaji – 3:52, from Lady Snowblood
- “The Lonely Shepherd” by Gheorghe Zamfir and James Last – 4:20
- “You’re My Wicked Life” by David Carradine, Julie Dreyfus and Uma Thurman – 1:14
- “Ironside” (excerpt) by Quincy Jones – 0:16
- “Super 16” (excerpt) by Neu! – 1:06
- “Yakuza Oren 1” by The RZA – 0:22
- “Banister Fight” by The RZA – 0:21
- “Flip Sting” (SFX) – 0:04
- “Sword Swings” (SFX) – 0:05
- “Axe Throws” (SFX) – 0:11