Tiger Feet
Tiger Feet is a popular song by the English glam rock band Mud, released in January 1974.[2] Written and produced by the songwriting team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, it was the first of three number No. 1 singles for the band, in the UK Singles Chart.[3] followed later that year by "Oh Boy!" and "Lonely This Christmas".
"Tiger Feet" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Mud | ||||
from the album Mud Rock | ||||
B-side | "Mr Bagatelle" | |||
Released | 11 January 1974[1] | |||
Recorded | 1973 | |||
Genre | Glam rock | |||
Length | 3:45 | |||
Label | RAK[1] | |||
Songwriter(s) | Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn[1] | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn[1] | |||
Mud singles chronology | ||||
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The band appeared on Top of the Pops wearing tiger slippers.[4][5]
Co-writer and producer Mike Chapman credited bassist Ray Stiles with a particularly memorable bass lick which helped fuel the success of the record.
Release details
According to his son, Calvin Hayes, Mickie Most added the song to RAK records' lineup on the basis of the title alone.[6]
The single was released on the 7 inch vinyl record format by the RAK music label. The B-side of the single is Mr Bagatelle.[1]
"Tiger Feet" was featured as part of a medley on Mud's album Mud Rock, which reached number No. 8 in the UK Albums Chart.[7]
Chart position and sales
"Tiger Feet" was a huge success, it was number No. 1 in the UK and Ireland charts for four consecutive weeks, from 26 January to 16 February, in 1974[3] and also topped the charts in the Netherlands. It sold over 700,000 copies in the UK alone and over a million copies globally. It was also the best selling single in Britain that year.[2]
Chart (1974) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgium | 1 |
Ireland | 1 |
Netherlands | 1 |
United Kingdom | 1 |
Switzerland | 5 |
Austria | 6 |
Germany | 6 |
Norway | 10 |
Covers
All-female band Girlschool later covered the song on their 1986 album Nightmare at Maple Cross.
In popular culture
- Dutch comic Jack, Jacky and the Juniors subjected the song to a 1974-gag about a sudden blackout.
- The song is featured in the Mr. Bean episode "Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean".
- In 2009, the song appeared in television adverts for Flora Margarine.
- It featured as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London.
- A version of the song by New Hope Club featured in the 2018 film Early Man and was released as a single.
- A version of the song was featured in the 2018 miniseries A Very English Scandal
- Appears in book 5 of My Dad Wrote a Porno, in which a character’s EKG monitor is reported to sound like the song.
See also
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1974
- List of number-one singles of 1974 (Ireland)
- List of number-one singles from the 1970s (UK)
References
- "Mud - Tiger Feet (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- "MUD Discography - the singles". Mudrock.org.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 296–7. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- James McCarraher (2012). 101 Songs To Discover From The Seventies. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4478-6266-6.
- Ian Gittins (2007). Top of the Pops: Mishaps, Miming, and Music - True Adventures of TV's No. 1 Pop Show. BBC Books. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-84607-327-4.
- Barney Hoskyns (1 November 1998). Glam! : Bowie, Bolan and the glitter rock revolution. ISBN 978-0671034405.
- "Mud Rock". Mud Rock. Retrieved 27 March 2014.