"Mashed Potato Time"
Single by Dee Dee Sharp
from the album It's Mashed Potato Time
B-side"Set My Heart at Ease"
Released1962
Recorded1962
GenreR&B, pop
Length2:27
LabelCameo
Songwriter(s)Kal Mann, Bernie Lowe
Producer(s)Kal Mann
Dee Dee Sharp singles chronology
"Mashed Potato Time"
(1962)
"Slow Twistin'"
(1962)

"Mashed Potato Time" is a 1962 single written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe, and performed by Dee Dee Sharp, with backing vocals by The Orlons, on her debut album It's Mashed Potato Time. The song refers to the Mashed Potato dance move, which was a fad. It was one of several songs that at that time that referenced the dance, another being James Brown's "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A."[1] The Marvelettes song "Please Mr. Postman" is mentioned in the lyrics and is copied in the arrangement. Also mentioned in the lyrics are the songs "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens and "Dear Lady Twist" by Gary U.S. Bonds. Sharp recorded a sequel to "Mashed Potato Time" called "Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)".

In 1996 the Campbell Soup Company featured the song in a $30 million advertising campaign, using a new, more upbeat recording by Sharp.[2]

In 2009, the song appeared in the video game Just Dance as a playable track.

In 2022, it appeared in a TV commercial for AirBNB.

Chart performance

The song reached No. 1 on the Cashbox Top 100 and Billboard R&B charts in 1962,[3] as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] It was kept from the No. 1 spot by "Soldier Boy" by The Shirelles.[5] Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1962.[6] It became a gold record.

Cover versions

See also

References

  1. James McBride. "THE POTATO'S GREAT IMPACT ON THE WORLD". Boston Globe, Oct 2, 1981.
  2. "1962 HIT SONG, DANCE GIVE CAMPBELL SOUP NEW TWIST". Associated Press, 1996.
  3. "Biography by Andrew Hamilton". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  4. "Album Search for "its mashed potato time"". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  5. "The Hot 100". Billboard. January 2, 2013.
  6. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1962
  7. Dick and Dee Dee, Tell Me - The Mountain's High Retrieved May 2, 2015
  8. Greenberg, Steve (2012-10-31). "50 Years of 'Monster Mash': The Story Behind the Halloween Hit". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
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