Martian Hop

"Martian Hop" is a song written by the Ran-Dells which was released in 1963. It has been described as a one-hit wonder novelty song and it reached #27 on the black singles chart and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[1] The song was later covered by Rocky Sharpe and the Replays.

Cultural climate

The pop culture of the late 50s and 60s was saturated with the beginnings of the Space Age. John Glenn orbited the Earth in 1962 and John F. Kennedy had just announced the intention of the United States to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This excitement over space related material increased the song's popularity, assisting its rise as a one-hit wonder.^{[citation needed]}

Creation

According to a post by Mark Frauenfelder on the blog Boing Boing, the song is the product of impromptu beach jam sessions of Ran-dell band members Robert Lawrence, Steven Rappaport, and John Spirt. The song, which tells of Martians throwing a dance party for "all the human race"^[1], is the product of the three band members joking around in John Spirt's living room at his residence in Wildwood, New Jersey.^[2]

Early electronic music

The song also stands as one of the earliest instances of popular electronic music as it incorporates the use of a sine wave generator for sounds at the beginning of the song and at the key change. Steve Rappaport wanted to attract the attention of radio DJs so they would play the song. The song was the "first pop record to use additive synthesis from sine wave generators."^[3]

See also

• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Martian Hop" at top40db.net Retrieved on August 10, 2009
2. ^ "1963 novelty song "The Martian Hop," by the Ran-Dells" at BoingBoing.net Retrieved on 16 March 2011.
3. ^ The Ran-Dells Retrieved August 10, 2009

External links

• The Martian ( Hop ) Chronicles - The Story of the Ran-Dells