The Flintstones were seen around the world (as Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera liked to point out in interviews) but the series seems to have made a distinct impression on one person in Australia.
Frankie Davidson, among many talents, recorded novelty songs in the 1960s, such as I Hope Your Chooks Turn Into Emus, which—and I’ll stand corrected—doesn’t appear to have charted in North America. One of his other novelty songs was a tribute to The Flintstones called “Yabba Dabba Doo.”
Here he is performing it back in the days of skinny ties and thin lapels on the TV series Australian Bandstand. The character cutouts in this performance are adapted from some of the original publicity drawings dating to the pre-Flintstones Flagstones period, designed by Ed Benedict.
My great thanks to Mike Kazaleh for letting everyone know about this video snippet.
You can read more about Davidson’s long career at this web page.
I love it! LOVE it! LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteImagine The Flintstones are still known everywhere, and I wonder how many folks remember Alley Oop?
But that, um… “interaction” with the Wilma cut-out and her snouted vacuum cleaner is downright cringe-worthy, in ways it probably wasn’t in “The Days of Skinny Ties and Thin Lapels”!
The date on the video seems to be off by two years; the record came out in 1961, which probably explains the "ancient" artwork as well as the references (both lyrical and arrangement-wise) to 1960's "Alley Oop." Incidentally, it wasn't his only Flintstones-related 45; his 1962 holiday single's B-side was "I Want A Snorkesaurus For Christmas."
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to be "Snorkasaurus."
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