"Shaddap You Face" is a song written and performed by Joe Dolce about a fictitious rebellious Italian boy. Released in late 1980, it set a number of sales and longevity records. The song was financed by Mike Brady.
Sales and chart positions
"Shaddap You Face" went to number one for eight weeks on the Australia Kent Music Report in 1980. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 February 1981 and stayed there for three weeks until 8th March 1981, keeping Ultravox's single "Vienna" out of the top spot for all the three weeks it was there. The song became the 8th biggest hit of 1981 in the UK. "Shaddap You Face" was also number one in 11 other countries. There have been over 50 different foreign languagecover versions, and hundreds more published informally on YouTube with new versions being recorded and uploaded every year. The original release sold over 6 million copies and was the most successful Australian-produced single in Australian music history for many years, with sales of over 450,000 copies. It was Australia's first triple platinum recording by the old count of 100,000 units equalling platinum status, which has since changed to 75,000 units, then 50,000, and finally 70,000 units. In the US, the song peaked at number 53 in the summer of 1981 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 43 on the Cash Box Top 100, and number 24 on Record World. However, it was regularly played on the Dr. Demento show to the point of being number six on the year-end Funny 25 that year. In Quebec, "Shaddap You Face" reached number one for twelve weeks.
Other versions
released a cover of the song in 1981. Other notable cover versions have been done by KRS-One, EMF, Andrew Sachs, Werner Böhm, alias: Gottlieb Wendehals, Sheila, Dingetje, De Strangers, Volker Rosin und die Lollypops, Franco Franchi with the duo, Franco e Ciccio, an Aboriginal language version by Gnarnyarrhe Waitairie, a Papua New Guinean version by The Breeze Band, and a spoken word interpretation by Samuel L. Jackson. A Czech interpretation written by Zdeněk Borovec, "Já na bráchu blues", performed by Helena Vondráčková and Jiří Korn, was a hit in Czechoslovakia in 1981. The National Folk Festival in Canberra featured 'The Inspired Shaddap You Face Contest' in April 2006. Festival artists were invited to perform their interpretations of the classic song. The Cygnet Folk Festival in Tasmania featured the second 'Inspired Shaddap You Face Contest' in the following year. Joe Dolce was invited to be the MC at both events.
