Royal Guardsmen RARE 45 W/Hang On Snoopy Lyrics

$

50

  Description:
Ultra-rare 1966 promo release from Charles Fuller Productions in VG+ condition. Only 1000 were pressed including the deleted "Hang On Snoopy" lyric. The record is a promotional release promoting "Omnimedia", one of the companies under the Fuller umbrella. Click scans for more info and complete tracklistings. **NO SALES TO ITALY**

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" is a novelty song written by Phil Gernhard and Dick Holler and recorded in 1966 by the Florida based rock band, The Royal Guardsmen. The song was recorded at the Charles Fuller Productions studio in Tampa, Florida, and was released as a single on Laurie Records. The single made number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of December 31, 1966, number 6 on the UK chart in February 1967[1] and number one in Australia for five weeks from February 1967.

"Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" was inspired by the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz, which featured a recurring storyline of Snoopy imagining himself in the role of a World War I airman fighting the Red Baron. The Royal Guardsmen went on to record several other Snoopy-themed songs, including 2 follow-ups to Snoopy Vs The Red Baron: "The Return of The Red Baron" and "Snoopy's Christmas", together with other tunes such as "Snoopy for President".[2]

"Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" was released only four weeks after the first Sunday Peanuts comic strip featuring Snoopy fighting the Red Baron appeared. Schulz and United Features Syndicate sued the Royal Guardsmen for using the name Snoopy without permission or an advertising license. UFS won the suit; the penalty was that all of the publishing revenues from the song would go to them. Schulz did allow the group to write more Snoopy songs.

The song features the sounds of German gibberish, heard at the beginning of the song, stating that the song will sing of the "pig headed dog and the beloved Red Baron," as well as the German and American sounds of the Sergeant counting off in 4s. The song features the sound effects of a fighter airplane, as well as the sounds of shooting and a tailspin sound of a plane at the end of the last verse. This song also quotes the instrumental chords from The McCoys' version of "Hang On Sloopy." In the original recording, the lyrics "Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on" were sung at this point. This led to some initial speculation that the Guardsmen were the McCoys under a different name. Prior to release, these lyrics were removed to prevent copyright issues. A very rare (1000 were pressed) promotional record for Charles Fuller Productions included the restored lyrics.

There exists a release with the original lyrics called "Omnimedia". It is a promotional record promoting the advertising arm of Charles Fuller Productions. It is a two-sided 7" that plays at 33-1/3 RPM.