While Allan was certainly ahead of his time, I'm sorry to inform you the animation was made by yours truly in 2012. The main source of inspiration was Saul Bass and his intro for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World. Thanks for the comment!
Absolutely brilliantly produced video. The animation was such a spot on match with the spirit of the song, you'd think Allan Sherman had produced it himself.
I've loved Allen Sherman's music and this song in particular for many years now. I stumbled across this video about ten minutes ago, and it is brilliant! Exquisitely illustrated, perfectly in time with the music, and 100% true to the spirit of that music as I interpret it. I think Mr. Sherman himself would have loved it. Very enthusiastic thumbs-up!
It was "Py-Co-Pay" (formerly a product of the former Block Drug Company). "Boo-Boop" was a reference to the bleeped-out names of "other razor blades" people formerly used until they switched to the PERSONNA brand {"What do YOU think of Personna, Mr. Jones?"/"I think the Personna blade is better than *boo-boop* and *boo-boop*"}
I LOVE THE ANIMATION! YOU ARE FANTASTIC! I've loved this song for years, but your animation really suited the music wonderfully! Why haven't I seen this before? Why hasn't this had millions more views? Why haven't you done more? You are truly talented! Your transitions, your content, your style, it was excellent! I have watched this 4 times now and LOVE IT! Thank you SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK!!
ZooTycoonLord Actually, that's a different Alan Sherman. Though coincidentally, both died at about the same time. Lots of people make that mistake. Edit: It appears I made a big error in judgement. There were two Alan Shermans, yes, but this was indeed the same one that played Cat in the Hat. My mistake, I likely accidentally read the page wrong. Sorry for the confusion!
Thanks for placing this song up! I used to play it on my college radio show over three decdes ago. The animations help, but one MUST have seen those commercials in the 1960's to understand the puns.
wonderfull. Stunning animation, so simple, but perfectly like those comercials around 1940-60, not to mention how it's similar to the opening of "Bewitched". hilarious, yet, catchy lyrics with a nice singing voice, I must add. In other words, a piece of art ^^
It's always "just soap." I first heard this parody in the mid-90s, and I've carried that message with me my entire life. It's all "just soap." Thanks, Allan. You said what American was thinking.
One of the rare Allan Sherman songs that was based on a then-current song (Chim Chim Cher-ee, of course, was written by the Sherman Brothers -- no relation -- for Mary Poppins; it even won an Oscar for Best Original Song). Most of the time Allan Sherman used songs in the public doman -- Frere Jacques, Greensleeves, Ponchielli's "Dance fo the Hours," Pop Goes the Weasel, etc. He encountered trouble from some artists not wanting their songs "done," while others granted him very limited permission (e.g., he could perform a parody in a theater, but not on television, nor permit it to be recorded). In a couple of cases, he mistakenly thought that the songs were in public domain, but they turned out to be, and he was sued. In this case, he must have gotten permission from either the Shermans or (more likely) Disney.
Completely amazing. I thought this was an actual '60's animation until I read the comments. Brilliantly done. (That explains the font listing at the end ... which I loved!) Big Allan Sherman fan, but I did not know this one!
I don't know if someone posted it already, but I found out what the "boo-boop" thing was: There was a commercial at the time for some brand of razor (I don't remember which one), which had supposedly real people saying how much better it was than their old brand. They'd say things like "I used to shave with a (old brand), but after trying this brand, I find I get a much closer shave." They would mention their old brand by name, but the name would be covered up with a "boo-boop" sound effect. It was considered very bad form at the time to mention a competing brand in your commercial. And there's a subtle dissing of competing brands when you bleep out their names.
This is terrific! Beautiful typography--plus, I've been wondering for years how to spell all those products. You have solved several mysteries. Please do more!
Autronic Eye was an option on GM products in the 50's and 60's. It would automatically switch the high beam headlights to low when an oncoming car approached.
the Roman numerals in the credits at the end say 1965. A very cute song. Anybody have any other information on Alan Sherman? his car winks when a cute little Volvo goes by giggle giggle giggle
Oh darn, did I really forget to list that font? It's Loungy of Fontdiner.com. www.dafont.com/fontdinerdotcom-lou.font And of course thanks for all the lovely comments!
England calling. This is England calling. I cannot begin to tell you how much Allan Sherman cheers me up every time I listen. I was born in 1961 and hadn't heard of Allan until one day two years ago they played Old King Louie on BBC Radio 2. That very afternoon I got in the car and drove a 44 mile round trip to a record store to buy My Son, The Greatest (the only CD available over here), and it has delighted me and family and friends ever since. Allan is not only funny but he has a lovely voice - it's kind of warm and friendly. He must have been such good fun to be around. I am not Jewish but come from a very Jewish area (Cheetham Hill) of Manchester, England, where catholic boys such as myself did shop work in the shmutter trade - the orthodox lads had to observe the sabbath on Saturdays - the busiest trading day of the week - but we catholic boys could run the shop or market stall. I have such happy memories of lovely, generous,.friendly Jewish families, and this kind of brings it back. It was such an integrated community back then, and I think it probably still is now - I hope so. This is a wonderful video and I thank you so much for all your efforts.
Wonderful video from a great funny record! Though I'd like to offer to correct a few misheard brand names (understandable after all these years): Py-Co-Pay (tooth brushes,) Vytrol-D (the "secret ingredient" in Alberto VO-5, later replaced by Mirol and Mirol-Plus, whatever the hell THEY were...) Acrilan (synthetic fiber, for carpets, I think,) and Marfak (Texaco auto chassis lube.) I just read about a Texaco station owner who named his poor kitty cat Marfak...
Bless you, metalgeo. I knew all the lyrics by heart as a kid, but it was the 1970s and some of those products were obsolete by then. So finally, after all these years, I know it was Vitriol-D he was singing about! (Why anyone would name something after vitriol is a head-scratcher.)
Fantastically done! You caught the animation style of the mid-60's brilliantly. It was only when I paused at the credits that I realized this was not done by the animator who did the credits for "It's a Mad Mad Mad World".
Again, let me say that you did a hell of a job here. I was honored to be the person that you consulted for info about the "giant in the washing machine" when this video was still in production (it was Action detergent), and I was more than happy to help you, although I wasn't able to give you more help in accessing images of those ads. And thank you once again for the opportunity to help.
I only came to find the song because Facebook had a post up saying "write on your pillow -2-2+= to the rhythm of the song and you'll hear it" so tada! it actually works!!
I remember this well from my childhood, but when was the animation done? It's a great recreation of all the 60's styles and a little Jason Ward? Rocky & Bullwinkle. But only recall Allen Sherman doing live TV or records, never animated music videos. Or was he ahead of his time !
About the subject of this song, when I was little, I wasn't open to toys that used batteries because if the batteries went dead, it meant no more playing with the toy until my parents had a chance to buy new batteries. But when I saw the Energizer Bunny commercial with Wile E. Coyote, I became open to things that used batteries. Subsequent mail-order promotions from Energizer batteries kept me open to things that used batteries, and I became a fan of the Energizer Bunny, and would only buy Energizer batteries, no other brand.
This is a great production of a great song by Sherman, who started taking down the advertising business as least since his "Headaches" song on My Son, The Nut. You might be interested in my new (the first) biography of Sherman. Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman (Brandeis U. Press). All the info is at allanshermanbiography. Thanks for this excellent video!
Brilliant! Fantastic animation. However, there's more than a hint of truth in the words : we're brainwashed by the things we see - it programmes our behaviour.
