| "Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byTeletubbies | |
| from the albumTeletubbies – The Album | |
| Released | 1 December 1997 (1997-12-01)[1] |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 3:34 |
| Label | BBC Worldwide Music[2] |
| Songwriters | Andrew McCrorie-Shand,[3]Andrew Davenport[4] |
| Producers | Andrew McCrorie-Shand[3] and Steve James[5] |
"Teletubbies say 'Eh-oh!'" is asingle recorded by theTeletubbies. It is a remix of the theme song from theBBC children's television seriesTeletubbies.[6] The song contains twonursery rhymes: the Teletubbies hum along to "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and the flowers from Teletubbyland sing "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary".
The single reached number one on theUK singles chart for two weeks in December 1997. It remained in the top 100 for a total of 41 weeks and sold well enough to be certifieddouble platinum.[7] It was also a hit in Ireland, peaking at number two. In 1998, a Dutch version titled "Teletubbies zeggen 'A-Oh!'" was released in the Netherlands, where it reached number 12. The Teletubbies have not had another such hit, making them aone-hit wonder.
There was considerable anticipation that it would be theChristmas number one in 1997 and it was thebetting favorite atWilliam Hill atodds of 6–4.[8] This race was said to have been decided by the under-10 age group as the rivalSpice Girls were popular with seven-year-old girls while the Teletubbies were more popular with younger children.[9] Siobhan Ennis, the singles manager atTower Records' flagship store inPiccadilly Circus said, "The race for the Christmas No 1 is really exciting. At this time of year, people aren't being so serious about their purchasing. We've taken a hell of a lot of the Teletubbies record. The singles market is driven by children, and not just at Christmas."[10]
The Teletubbies were beaten by the Spice Girls' "Too Much" and so were just theChristmas number two.[11] But a year later, the BBC was embarrassed when its answer to a pop quiz had the Teletubbies as the Christmas number one.[12]
BMG marketed the single in the UK whileEMI managed it for the rest of Europe.[13]A&R executiveSimon Cowell made this deal with the BBC saying, "I heard another record label were about to sign the Teletubbies, so I got the BBC in my office and told them I would give them £500,000 in advance. We knew a record like that would make over £2 million."[14] It then sold 317,000 copies in its first week to debut at number one; 1,103,000 copies by the end of the year and total UK sales were 1.3 million.[15][16]
A rival single, "Tubby Anthem", was made byYorkshire musician Vince Brown for the charityChildLine. The BBC threatened legal action and so it was withdrawn.[17]
"Teletubbies say 'Eh-oh!'" was number one on theUK singles chart for two weeks in December 1997.[18] It remained in the Top 75 for 29 weeks after its first release and 3 weeks more after two re-releases.[2] The single was shortlisted for theNovello songwriting award[19] but others consider it to be anannoying tune—sickly and irritating.[20] It has repeatedly placed high in polls of awful songs, such as that run byVH1 in which it placed third to "The Millennium Prayer" and "Mr Blobby".[21] As of February 2020, the song is the 127th biggest-selling-single in UK chart history.[22]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
All-time charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[7] | 2× Platinum | 1,300,000[15][16] |
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