One curious fact about AG PLEEZ DEDDY is that after I had written a verse and a chorus of it I threw it away because I thought it was dumb. It probably was dumb, but three weeks later I read an ar-ticle about a writer, a serious one, who said there was one golden rule about writing and that was to finish whatever you had started, other-wise you would never learn anything. Reluctantly I hauled my verse and chorus out of the dustbin, wrote three more verses, added "Voet-sek" and sang it surreptitiously one night to Manny Wainer, the owner of the Cul de Sac, who gave me encouragement and a pound note and said, "Sing it to the people tonight." I was later persuaded to take it to the Gallo Record Company. A gentleman - Phil Goldblatt - listened patiently while I sang it to him then explained that no one would buy it because it wasn't commercial. He added, however, that he would always be happy to listen to any future efforts.

AG PLEEZ DEDDY was recorded a year later (live - at a Cape Town recording of Wait a Minim) and the single sold more copies in South Africa than any of Elvis Presley's.

The birth of a song is like any other birth; it can be short and sweet or long and arduous and you never know what you are going to get at the end of it. You just have to take each one as it comes.

Ag pleez deddy won't you take us to the drive-in all six seven of us eight nine ten
We wanna see a flick about Tarzan and the ape-men and when the show's over you can bring us back again.

Chorus - Popcorn chewing gum peanuts and bubble gum ice cream candyfloss and Eskimo Pie ag deddy, how we miss nigger balls and liquorice Pepsi-cola ginger beer and Canada Dry.

Ag pleez deddy won't you take us to the fun fair we wanna have a ride on the bumper cars
We'll buy a stick of candyfloss and eat it on the octopus then we'll take the rocket ship that goes to Mars.

Chorus

Ag pleez deddy won't you take us to the wrestling we wanna see that ou called Sky Hi Lee
When he fights Willie Liebenberg there's gonna be a murder cos Willie's gonna donner that blerry Yankee

Chorus

Ag pleez deddy won't you take us off to Durban it's only eight hours in the Chevrolet
There's spans of sea and sand and sun and fish in the aquarium that's a lekker place for a holiday

Popcorn chewing gum Ag pleeeeez deddy - VOETSEK!

Ag sies deddy, if we can't kraak to bioscope or go of to Durban life's a henguva bore
If you won't take us to the zoo then what the heck else can we do but go on out and moer up all the outjies next door.

Chorus

Words & Music - Jeremy Taylor © 1961 MPA

3rd Ear Music Company est. 1969 (Pty)Ltd.

P.O.Box 50633
Musgrave 4062
Durban
KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa
email: [email protected]