Ken Foote's Friday Fun Songs: Gilbert O'Sullivan

OK, I think Fridays are good days for fun songs, don't you? :)

Gilbert O'Sullivan (born Raymond O'Sullivan on December 1, 1946 in Waterford, Ireland) was a successful contemporary pop music singer/songwriter/pianist during the early to mid 1970's. Like most artists, it takes some time to get noticed and be signed to a record label, which happened to O'Sullivan while working at a London department store. His break came when he sent a demo to Gordon Mills, who owned the MAM record label. All five of his songs on the Billboard Top 40 were released under that label.

These songs all charted between 1972-1973. His first song out of the gate, "Alone Again (Naturally)" was #1 in the summer of 1972 for six weeks and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the same length of time. His next song, "Clair", got as high as #2 in December 1972. But it would be another six months before he had another top 10 hit.

Today's song is "Get Down", O'Sullivan's fourth song from his album "I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter." This would be his last successful song on the Top 40 charts, but it is a good one and a fun song to listen to. It was a #1 hit on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart, Ireland, the UK, and in Germany. In the U.S., it hit #7 on Billboard but on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, it got all the way to #3. The song was featured in the 2013 film "The Harry Hill Movie" and according to a member of KC & The Sunshine Band, it inspired their 1975 hit "Get Down Tonight."

Released in March 1973, written by O'Sullivan, produced by Gordon Mills, running 2:39 on the MAM record label, the lyrics go like this:
Told you once before
And I won't tell you no more
Get down, get down, get down

You're a bad dog baby
But I still want you 'round
You give me the creeps

When you jump on your feet
So get down, get down, get down
Keep your hands to yourself
I'm strictly out of bounds

O'Sullivan is still active today, having worked recently with producer Ethan Jones to release a self-titled album of all brand new songs.

You can hear this song today on SIRIUS XM 70's ON & with Magic Matt Alan, Jaybeau Jones, J.J. Walker, Charlie WildE, and, when programmed on 70's On 7, past shows of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem from 1973.