Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive
Encyclopedia
"Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive" is a single
released in 1983 by the Australia
n group
Men at Work
. The song was written by Men at Work singer/guitarist Colin Hay
, and the recording was produced by Peter McIan. The song is taken from their 1983 album Cargo
, was the band's last hit single in the US
Top 40, peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100
in November 1983. The song is about a mad scientist
named Dr. Heckyll who creates a potion that turns him into a handsome, talkative man. The lyric is a parody of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
.
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
released in 1983 by the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
. The song was written by Men at Work singer/guitarist Colin Hay
Colin Hay
Colin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist.- Early life and Men at Work :...
, and the recording was produced by Peter McIan. The song is taken from their 1983 album Cargo
Cargo (album)
Cargo is the second album by Australian band Men at Work, released in 1983. . Rolling Stone magazine noted that while it lacked a blockbuster hit, "song for song, it is a stronger overall effort than Business as Usual."...
, was the band's last hit single in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Top 40, peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in November 1983. The song is about a mad scientist
Mad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
named Dr. Heckyll who creates a potion that turns him into a handsome, talkative man. The lyric is a parody of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The original pronunciation of Jekyll was "Jeekul" which was the pronunciation used in Stevenson's native Scotland...
.
7": Columbia / TA 6276 USA
- "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" – 4:12
- "I Like To (Live)" – 4:23