Irwin the Disco Duck got a new job!

I’m pretty sure “shaddup you face” is this song; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFacWGBJ_cs

The song was hilariously reinterpretated by Samuel L. Jackson on fthe Jonathan Ross show; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsDQ93iguP8&feature=related

“Shaddup You Face” would be the Joe Dolce song from around 1980 that went to number one on both the Australian and UK music charts.

What’s-a matter you
Gotta no respect
What-a you think you do?
Why you look-a so sad
It’s-a not so bad,
It’s-a nice-a place
Ah, shaddap-a you face

Hmm . . . we’ve got “Peppino” the Chipmunk featured on the front cover, but also a song about “Pepino” (hold the extra P) the Italian Mouse.

“Irwin the Dynamic Duck” = Donald with a cheap toupee and Central Casting Italian paisano clothes. Recorded in stereotype. Eeeeesh!

“Shaddupa Your Face” was sung by Joe Dolce, an American, but was recorded in Australia where it was a massive success.
I believe it charted in the UK also (where they still love a novelty song).
Dolce had a kind of Chico Marx routine going.
He came to my school 20 years after it was a hit and spoke to us about something or other I don’t recall.

I’ve heard “Pepino The Italian Mouse” before but it was a looooong time ago (”Pepino, oh you little mouse / Oh won’t you go away? / You eat my cheese, you drink my wine / You scare my girl away”). Lou Monte was responsible for that.

“Shaddup You Face” WAS a novelty song, a minor AM radio hit. Things like Irwin and Disco Duck and even the “Bad Boy” windshield decal character aroused cultural interest in their day because the mainstream animation media was not then firing on all cylinders. Today it’s firing too much, with the coverage of a machine gun.

I was wondering what Dondi was up to these days.

Apparently he’s a Peppino groupie.

When did Donald get the new rug?

“shaddup you face” was a lou monte song…and pepino the italian mouse was another old italian song…actually looking back at all the songs, they are all old louie prima/ lou monte/ old italian songs…it would be hilarious to hear them in duck form…maybe i’ll bid

“Yes we have no bananas”, is a funny classic song, but I’m assumeing that because it’s a duck it’ll be singing it like a duck.

I worked at a discount department store in the 80s and we had a bunch of records, “Irwin Sings Sesame Street Hits” and things like that. And oh, there was also “The Happy Hamsters Go Ghostbustin’” etc

Hrm… No one’s mentioned the completely baffling perspective of the cover. Try matching up the lines on the sidewalk with the steps to the apartment. The back wall appears to be perpendicular to the viewer, which also doesn’t match the sidewalk.

The artist uses blocking to to hide dodgy poses and transitions. Irwin’s body blocks the transition from the wall to the background skyline. The girl blocks awkward posing on the boy, and the doll covers up the girl’s left arm. There are other odd choices, like having the Irwin (a duck) have four fingers, but only giving the children three. The dog looks like it was lifted out of Harvey comics.

Irwin and the Peppino are actually drawn well, with a strong sense style and perspective. I’d bet money the were illustrated by one artist, and another drew the background and assorted characters.

Joe Dolce’s “Shaddap You Face” was a hit in the US as well - maybe not top ten, but it was certainly pervasive. I remember it being on the radio all the time, my sister had the 45, and I also remember him singing the song on “Solid Gold.”

Peppino is Theodore’s New Jersey cousin. He tried singing covers also during the 80’s but got nowhere because his career went belly up once everyone found out he wrote most of John Travolta’s songs… Now he owns a used car lot next to the docks right by Highway 27…

I wonder if Peppino’s friend, Pasquale, has a song on the album? I always thought that they could be an Italian Tom and Jerry.
And, of course, Volare and That’s Amore are Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti) hits. And who knew that Dondi was Italian.
Madonna, I just got a flashback of my childhood.

Just a bit of info that I have.

Irwin was a character created by George Peed (he was Peter Pan Records resident artist throughout the 70’s) (whi I believe was related to Disney storyman Bill Peet.

Looking at the cover art, I cannot make out the name of the artist for this LP

Anyone know why Disney never sued Peter Pan into the stone age for this?

Oh cripes.

Do you?

Do you eally want to know what this album sounds like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGcsbFmDxs0

Be prepared to toss your cookies. :)

Remember having a ton of these records in my childhood and don’t know why my mom had to buy ‘em! Peter Pan sure had some real ‘winners’ there!

Definitely not a George Peed cover. He was Bill Peet’s brother, and prior to his work at Peter Pan he was an artist in Disney Consumer Products, providing the cover art for many a Disneyland LP, including that psychedelic purple swirlies cover for the Snow White soundtrack.

Peter Pan albums never cease to amaze me. Usually no matter how bad you try to imagine they are, they always end up being worse. There are exceptions, but Irwin the Duck is never involved in them.

However, I should point out that the youtube video referenced above seems to be playing the LP at 45 RPM.

Joe Dolce wrote Shaddap You Face in 1980. No Lou Monte involved.

Pepino *was* originally by Lou Monte, That’s Amore was a huge hit for Dean Martin, Volare was an early Eurovision entry by Domenico Modugno (covered in English by Dean Martin), Oh Ma Ma (The Butcher Boy) was a novelty hit from the 40s based on a famous Italian folk song whose name sadly escapes me at the moment, and Yes We Have No Bananas was THE big hit of 1923. It’s quite a song lineup, but I’m sure they - sorry about this - butchered it.

this needs to be ripped and shared with the world. I’m listening to the sample on that second youtube link (with the girl dancing…meh) and it’s decently interesting

More Irwin and George Peed art available here:

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/monocle/the_album_art_of_george_peed