Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills
"Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills" | ||||
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Single by Ray Stevens | ||||
from the album 1,837 Seconds of Humor | ||||
B-side | "Teen Years" | |||
Released | July 1961 | |||
Recorded | 1961 | |||
Genre | Pop, novelty | |||
Length | 2:26 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ray Stevens | |||
Producer(s) | Shelby Singleton | |||
Ray Stevens singles chronology | ||||
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"Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills" is a novelty song that was written and performed by Ray Stevens. It was released as a single in 1961 and became Stevens' first Hot 100 single, peaking at #35 in September.[1] Its lyrics tell of a fictional "wonder drug" that, when taken in a daily dose, can cure myriad ailments, much in the same way unscrupulous patent medicine salesmen marketed their wares in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Note about the title
The song is also notable for having the longest title (104 characters) of any single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time of its release. In 1981, the Dutch remixers Stars on 45 released the medley with an official title 194 characters long - "Medley: Intro Venus/Sugar Sugar/No Reply/I'll Be Back/Drive My Car/Do You Want to Know a Secret/We Can Work It Out/I Should Have Known Better/Nowhere Man/You're Going to Lose That Girl/Stars on 45". Usually known simply as "Stars on 45", the record was legally required to list all of its component songs as part of its official title for copyright reasons, and thus usurped Stevens' record.
Chart run
Billboard Hot 100[2] (6 weeks, entered August 21): Reached #35
Cashbox[3] (8 weeks, entered August 19): 99, 81, 69, 59, 52, 42, 38, 61
References
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1992). Fred Weiler (ed.). The Billboard Book of USA Top 40 Hits (5 ed.). Guinness. p. 438.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1997). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research Inc. p. 584. ISBN 0-89820-122-5.
- ^ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 568.
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- 1,837 Seconds of Humor
- This Is Ray Stevens
- Even Stevens
- Gitarzan
- Have a Little Talk with Myself
- Everything Is Beautiful
- Unreal!!!
- Turn Your Radio On
- Losin' Streak
- Nashville
- Boogity Boogity
- Misty
- Just for the Record
- Feel the Music
- There Is Something on Your Mind
- Be Your Own Best Friend
- Shriner's Convention
- One More Last Chance
- Don't Laugh Now
- Me
- He Thinks He's Ray Stevens
- I Have Returned
- Surely You Joust
- Crackin' Up!
- I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like
- Beside Myself
- Funny Man
- #1 With a Bullet
- Osama—Yo' Mama: The Album
- The Best of Ray Stevens (1967)
- The Best of Ray Stevens (1968)
- Greatest Hits (1983 Ray Stevens album)
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (Ray Stevens album)
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Ray Stevens album)
- His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits
- The Very Best of Ray Stevens
- 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Ray Stevens
- "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills"
- "Ahab the Arab"
- "Gitarzan"
- "Along Came Jones"
- "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"
- "Have a Little Talk with Myself"
- "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
- "Everything Is Beautiful"
- "All My Trials"
- "The Streak"
- "Misty"
- "Indian Love Call"
- "Young Love"
- "You Are So Beautiful"
- "In the Mood"
- "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow"
- "Shriner's Convention"
- "Mississippi Squirrel Revival"
- "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex"
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