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A Little Bit of Soap
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Wikipedia article
"'A Little Bit of Soap'", written by Bert Berns (aka Bert Russell), was a song, first sung in a bluesy soul style by the Jarmels, who reached number 12 with it in September 1961 and number 7 on the R&B charts.Whitburn, Joel, 'The Billboard Book of TOP 40 R&B and Hip Hop Hits', Billboard Books, New York 2006 The song has been covered by many other artists.
Reception
While the song was a moderate hit in the United States all three times it was released, it reached the Top Ten on the Canadian charts, and Top Twenty in Australia in 1970 for Paul Davis.[http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1970/19700822.html Go-Set Australian charts 22 August 1970] It was his first charting single release.
"A Little Bit of Soap" was a huge hit in southeast Asia when the Hong Kong-based group Cliff Foenander and the Fabulous Echoes released it as a single. It spent 25 weeks at number 1 in top ten charts in 1963 in southeast Asia. Foenander and the Fabulous Echoes also sang the hit in Las Vegas, USA, in 1964. It made Cliff Foenander a household name in South Asia: Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia, played the number one hit across the Indian subcontinent.
Remakes
*Garnet Mimms' 1964 remake of "A Little Bit of Soap" - produced by Jerry Ragovoy - reached number 95 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 in January 1965
*The song's composer Bert Berns produced a 1965 remake by the Exciters which reached number 58 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 in February 1966.
*Paul Davis remade the song in 1970: recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio this version - co-produced by Davis with Bert Berns' widow Ilene Berns - reached number 52 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 in the summer of 1970
*The Pioneers released a reggae version of "A Little Bit of Soap" in 1973 on Trojan Records.
*Nigel Olsson's version hit number 34 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 and number 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart in June 1979.[http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Little+Bit+of+Soap+by+Nigel+Olsson&id=30700 Nigel Olsson, "Little Bit of Soap" chart position] Retrieved June 19, 2016. The versions by the Exciters, Paul Davis and Nigel Olsson were all recorded for Bang Records, the label which Bert Berns had founded in 1965.
*Showaddywaddy released a version of "A Little Bit of Soap" in 1978, affording the song its sole appearance on the UK Singles Chart as it reached No. 5 in July 1978.
*Daniel Johnston also covered it.
Samples
*De La Soul sampled it for a different song with the same name.
Popular culture
*The song was featured in the 2019 Netflix film 'El Camino: A Breaking Bad movie'.
References
Category:1961 songs
Category:1961 singles
Category:1963 singles
Category:1970 debut singles
Category:1979 singles
Category:Songs written by Bert Berns
Category:The Jarmels songs
Category:The Exciters songs
Category:Paul Davis (singer) songs
Category:Nigel Olsson songs
Category:Bang Records singles
Category:Laurie Records singles
Category:Arista Records singles
Category:Showaddywaddy songs
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