Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)
| "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Benny Hill | ||||
| from the album Words and Music | ||||
| B-side | "Ting-A-Ling-A-Loo" | |||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Genre | Novelty | |||
| Length | 3:52 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Benny Hill | |||
| Producer | Walter J. Ridley | |||
| Benny Hill singles chronology | ||||
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"Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" is an innuendo-laden comedy or novelty song, written and performed by the English comedian Benny Hill. The song was first performed on television in 1970, and released as a successful recording, topping the UK Singles Chart in 1971,[1] reaching the Christmas number one spot.
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[edit] Story line
The lyric's story line is inspired by Hill's early experience as a milkman for Hann's Dairies in Eastleigh, Hampshire. Market Street mentioned in the lyrics is an actual road in Eastleigh. The song tells the fictional exploits of Ernie Price, a 52-year-old (68 in the original TV version) milkman who drives a horse-drawn milk cart. It relates his war with the bread-delivery man ("Two-Ton Ted from Teddington") and their efforts to win the heart of Sue, a widow who lives on her own at number 22, Linley Lane.
In the end the two men fight with the wares they carry on their carts, and Ernie is killed by a rock cake underneath his heart followed by a stale pork pie in his eye (a fresh meat pie in the original TV version).
Sue and Ted then marry, but Ernie's ghost returns to haunt them on their wedding night.
[edit] History
"Ernie" was originally written in 1955 as the introduction to an unfilmed screenplay about Hill's milkman experiences.
In 1966, Frank Gallop had a U.S. hit with "The Ballad of Irving", which had the same melody and a similar metre.[citation needed]
Hill performed the song on The Benny Hill Show in 1970. The original clip is seldom repeated as it was made in black and white owing to a technicians' strike, but the episode has been released on DVD on both sides of the Atlantic.
The following year, it was included with minor lyrical revisions on Hill's album Words and Music. When it was released as a single on EMI's Columbia label, it became a surprise number-one hit, topping the UK singles chart for four weeks at Christmas 1971.[1] A promotional film was shot starring Hill as Ernie and Henry McGee as Ted
Hill re-recorded the song shortly before his death in 1992 for the album Benny Hill... The Best Of.
On Desert Island Discs in May 2006, Conservative Party leader David Cameron picked it as one of his eight favourite records.[2]
Ernie was referenced in the Superhero segment of one episode of BBC TV's Basil's Swap Shop, with an Ernie lookalike appearing at the superhero's flat, only to be told that speedy delivery of milk was not a super-power.
[edit] See also
- List of number-one singles from the 1970s (UK)
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
[edit] References
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 252. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Cameron: a secret fan of Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West Daily Mail Retrieved 20-12-09
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Coz I Luv You" by Slade |
UK number one single 11 December 1971 for four weeks |
Succeeded by "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" by New Seekers |
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