PopNose MP3 of the Week
1. Pipkins – “Gimme Dat Ding”
Welcome one and all to the slight return of PopNose, an MP3 each week (at least initially) which will build over time into a De’Agostini style partwork celebrating the unique essence of pop, viz. people doing ridiculous things on record in order to make a quick buck. I have not done extensive research on the Pipkins, to do so would be to spoil the magic of this delightful track. I do know that it got to No.6 in 1970 and that it surfaces on 1970s compilations to this day.
The thing that makes “Gimme Dat Ding” so enjoyable is the stereo separation of the two singers, one in each ear. If they’re the same singer putting on two silly voices, so much the better. On the right we have a flighty voice singing a rinky-dink dance number that makes me think of flappers. On the left we have a gruff commentary on same by a sozzled old brute. It’s just like toasting! Well, maybe not, but at the very least this record invents the Sugarcubes, and more importantly Aqua – that winning combination of lead lady singer and rubbish bloke singer, even if in this case the ‘lady’ isn’t.