Speedy Gonzales

This novelty song was originally recorded by an American singer named David Dante, whose real name was David Hess (he also recorded as David Hill). Dante wrote the song with the songwriters Buddy Kaye and Ethel Lee. Pat Boone heard the song on a trip to the Philippines, where he was performing. Upon returning to America, he recorded the song and it became an unlikely hit: backed by "The Locket," it peaked at #6 in US and made #2 UK. The song's original singer, David Hess, later appeared in a number of horror movies, including The Last House on the Left and Swamp Thing.

Speedy Gonzales is a cartoon character - the fastest mouse in Mexico - who first appeared in 1953. The Boone record includes the voice of Speedy, Mel Blanc (1908-89), whose voice appears in the cartoon also, and who was renowned for voicing comic animation characters. In the song as in the cartoon, Speedy is an unusual mouse, whose vices include drinking with "a floozy named Flo."

When Elton John released "Crocodile Rock" in 1972, the similarity of his "la, la, las" prompted a lawsuit by the publisher of "Speedy Gonzales" that was settled out of court. Boone would later cite Elton's appropriation as an example of a rock artist copying him. Boone took a lot of flak for recording songs by R&B acts, and was shunned by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even though he was one of the most successful artists of the early rock era.