Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)

"Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)"
Single by Scatman John
from the album Scatman's World
Released November 30, 1994
Format
Genre Eurodance
Length
  • 5:03
  • 3:30 (Radio Edit)
Label RCA
Songwriter(s)
  • John Larkin
  • Antonio Nunzio Catania
  • Tony Catania
  • Catania Music Studios
Producer(s)
  • Antonio Nunzio Catania
  • Tony Catania
  • Catania Music Studios
Scatman John singles chronology
"Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)"
(1994)		 "Scatman's World"
(1995)
Music video
"Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" on YouTube

"Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" is a song by American Eurodance artist Scatman John. It was a worldwide hit in 1995 and reached number 1 in 12 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.

Background

Born in El Monte, California, Larkin suffered from a severe stutter by the time he learned to speak which led to an emotionally traumatic childhood. At age twelve, he began to learn piano and was introduced to the art of scat singing two years later through records by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, among others. Larkin became a professional jazz pianist in the 1970s and 1980s, playing many engagements in jazz clubs around Los Angeles. His first known performance on a studio album was in 1981 on the album Animal Sounds by Sam Phipps. In 1986, he released the self-titled album John Larkin on the Transition label. This album was produced by John himself, along with Marcia Larkin.

To advance his career in 1990, Larkin moved to Berlin, Germany. From there, he discovered the appreciative jazz culture and started playing jazz gigs.[1] This was when he first decided to take a monumental step away from his insecurities and add singing to his act for the first time. His agent Manfred Zähringer from Iceberg Records (Denmark) thought of combining scat-singing with modern dance music and hip hop effects. Larkin was resistant at first, terrified of being laughed at and criticized once again, but BMG Hamburg was open.

Larkin was worried that listeners would realize he stuttered, and his wife, Judy, suggested that he talk about it directly in his music. Working with dance producers Ingo Kays and Tony Catania, he recorded the first single, "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)". After his first big hit, he adopted the new name and persona of "Scatman" John.

Release and legacy

Scatman John in the "Scatman" music video.

The song, a blend of jazz scatting, rap, and house beats was released in November 1994, as the lead single from his second album Scatman's World. Sales were slow at first, but the song was picked up by many radio stations, and eventually became very successful internationally, reaching number one in many parts of Europe and charting in Australia, New Zealand and in Japan. "Scatman" was a number 1 hit in a total of 12 countries, like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Switzerland. Scatman John performed the song live on BBC's Top Of The Pops show and MTV's Most Wanted with Ray Cokes.

The song has received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its inspiration and happy go lucky nature and has since gained a cult following. It was used in the popular Good Humor ice cream advertising campaign of 1995–96, sung as "I'm a Good Humor Man". It was also used in the 1996 Martin Lawrence/Tim Robbins buddy road comedy Nothing to Lose and in an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head.[2]

Scatman John won the March 1996 Echo Award for the best Rock/Pop single for "Scatman".[3]

Music video

The music video for "Scatman" was directed by Kerstin Mueller.[4] It was shot in black-and-white and features a fractured screen with several boxes showing shots of John singing along with various random people dancing, miming and playing drums. The video was played in heavy rotation on music channels in 1995.

Accolades

Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
2013 Vibe United States "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks From The '90s That Changed The Game"[5] 28
2017 BuzzFeed United States "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s"[6] 94

Track listings

CD maxi
  1. "Scatman" (Basic-Radio) – 3:30
  2. "Scatman" (Jazz-Level) – 3:41
  3. "Scatman" (Second-Level) – 5:40
  4. "Scatman" (Third-Level) – 5:46
  5. "Scatman" (Game-Over-Jazz) – 5:03
CD maxi 2
  1. "Scatman" (new radio edit) – 3:21
  2. "Scatman" (Pech Remix) – 4:55
    • Remixed by Pech
  3. "Scatman" (Arena di Verona Mix) – 6:04
  4. "Scatman" (extended radio version) – 5:11

Charts and sales

References

  1. ↑ Scatman John’s Interview with Ira Zimmerman, mnsu.edu.
  2. ↑ "The Stammer Of Success". tedium.co. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Echo 1996 - The Winners" (PDF). Music & Media (1996-03-09, page 15). Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Scatman John Music Videos". IMVDb. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks From The '90s That Changed The Game". Vibe. October 9, 2018.
  6. ↑ "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 6, 2008)
  8. ↑ RPM: issue date November 6, 1995
  9. ↑ RPM: issue date September 4, 1995
  10. ↑ Billboard 25 March 1995. Billboard. 1995-03-25. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  11. ↑ Finnish peak
  12. ↑ "Scatman John singles, German Singles Chart" (in German). musicline. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  13. ↑ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 04.02.1995 - 10.02.1995" (PDF). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  14. ↑ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  15. ↑ "Japan #1 IMPORT DISKS by Oricon Hot Singles". Hbr3.sakura.ne.jp. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Single top 100 over 1995" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  17. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Scatman John – Scatman" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  18. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 (21 May 1995-27 May 1995)". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  19. ↑ Billboard: Hits of the World, May 13, 1995
  20. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  21. ↑ "Official UK Dance Singles Chart (07 May 1995-20 May 1995)". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Billboard AllMusic (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  23. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box (1995-10-14). Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  24. 1 2 "1995 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  25. ↑ 1995 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at Archived 2010-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  26. ↑ 1995 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  27. ↑ 1995 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  28. ↑ Canada Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1995
  29. ↑ 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com Archived 2009-02-14 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
  30. ↑ 1995 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  31. ↑ 1995 Swedish Singles Chart
  32. ↑ Austrian certifications ifpi.at Archived 2010-02-01 at WebCite (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  33. ↑ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com Archived 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
  34. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Scatman')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
  35. ↑ Norwegian certifications Ifpi.no Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved July 10, 2008)
  36. ↑ Swiss certifications Swisscharts.com (Retrieved July 24, 2008)
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