Great googily moogily

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 13:47:27 -0500, Paul Johnston
<paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU> wrote:

>And Lloyd Price's (1962?) version of Misty--which the Temps copped their
>"Great googa mooga, dontcha hear me talkin to ya" from.

Also c. 1962, Lee Dorsey had a song called "Great Googa Mooga" on his
album _Ya Ya_.


--Ben Zimmer


>On Thursday, March 24, 2005, at 01:00  PM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>
>>
>> Michael Quinion:
>>> A WWWords subscriber from Poland asks me about "great googily
>>> moogily". Can somebody put both him and me out of our respective
>>> miseries and tell us where it comes from?
>>
>> John Baker:
>>> I would say it goes back to the song "Good Googa Mooga," which I
>>> believe
>>> was by the Magic Tones in 1953.  It seems to be best-known for Frank
>>> Zappa's use in "Nanook Rubs It," There's a discussion of the term at
>>> http://www.1960sailors.net/05c1_googamooga.htm.
>>
>> As that website notes, "great googly moogly" appeared in Howlin' Wolf's
>> "Goin' Down Slow" (1961).  It's in a spoken part by Willie Dixon:
>>
>> -----
>> http://www.furious.com/perfect/wolf/lyrics1.html
>>
>> Now looky here.
>> I did not say I was a millionare.
>> But I said I have spent more money than a millionare.
>> Cause if I had kept all of the money I had already spent,
>> I'd woulda been a millionare a long time ago.
>> And women? Well, great googly moogly.
>> -----
>>
>> The "great googa mooga" variant also appeared in the Cadets' version of
>> the Jayhawks' "Stranded in the Jungle" (1956) and in the Temptations'
>> "Ball of Confusion" (1970).
>>
>>
>> --Ben Zimmer
>>