If you’re like us, you watched the season 5 premiere of Mad Men last nite. And, if you’re like us, you can’t get the song “Zooby zooby zoo” out of your head today.
The song, sung and danced to in an excruciatingly embarrassing performance by Don Draper’s Canadian wife, Meg, had us wondering two t hings: in what weird alien language does “zooby zooby zoo” mean “I love you?” And, WHAT IS THAT SONG?
Turns out the title is actually “Zou Bisou Bisou,” which in Canadian means, “Oh Kiss Kiss,” and it was originally recorded in 1962 by someone named Gillian Hills. According to her artist profile on Last.fm, “Gillian Hills, a ‘ye ye girl,’ was born in Cairo. She was discovered in France by Roger Vadim in 1958, but made ‘Beat Girl,’ her first film, in England. ‘Beat Girl’ (1960) is about a rebellious girl who goes out to nightclubs where rock & roll music plays.” In other words, a girl after our own heart.
Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, we can enjoy Gillian’s somewhat-but-not-nearly-as-embarrassing rendition:
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vFOzG3GYqo 425×344]A few years later, the song was recorded by none other than Sophia Loren:
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXVNai5ASiw 425×344]But here is my favorite version, a remix of the Sophia Loren song made by someone called Shellacsoul:
Sophia Loren – Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo (Shellacsoul Remix by AP) by Shellacsoul
Unfortunately I can’t find the Mad Men clip, but if you watch this you’ll get a sense of the performance:
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg-tQp_ReEc 425×344]You’d think that maybe all this zooby-zooby-zooness would result in a windfall for Miss Hills, but AMC is no fool and has released Meg’s version on iTunes:
Which one do you like best?
