LADIES FIRST: "I'm Blue!" -The Ikettes > Shangri-Las > Salt-n-Pepa > KILL BILL

Ladies First = She Did It First

LADIES FIRST hopes you're reading this right.

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The song "I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" was first done by The Ikettes, the back-up singers for Ike & Tina Turner. Fronted by the powerful belting of Dolores Johnson, this single was meant to expand the Turner brand into the market.

THE IKETTES -"I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" (1962)



Here's ingenue Sylvie Vartan blasting it out in French.
SYLVIE VARTAN -"Gong Gong" (1962)



Here's a refreshingly genderless take shortly thereafter...

THE NEWBEATS -"I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" (1964)


It was rewritten by this Garage band who all met serving on a US military base in West Germany.

THE MONKS -"We Do Wie Du" (1966)


True to form, The Shangri-Las bring moody production and their underrated Soul to it.

THE SHANGRI-LAS -"I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" (1966)


Mexico brings new resonance with this hip version.

THE ROCKIN' DEVILS -"La Pequeña Marilú" (1969)


The Shangri-Las version was sampled in this massive HipHop hit.

SALT-n-PEPA -"Shoop" (1993)



The original was featured int John Waters' HAIRSPRAY (1988), but it got its biggest fame blasted out Garage Rock style by The 5.6.7.8.S in their showstopping preformance in the film KILL BILL, Vol. 1.

The 5.6.7.8.'s -"I'm Blue" (2004)



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• LADIES FIRST: "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood!" - Nina Simone > The Animals > KILL BILL

• The Shangri-Las > The Damned > Joe Jackson

• LADIES FIRST: "Out In the Streets" - The Shangri-Las > Blondie

• LADIES FIRST: "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" - The Shangri-Las > The Beatles > Aerosmith > Amy Winehouse

• LADIES FIRST: "What A Man" - Linda Lyndell > Laura Lee> Salt-N-Pepa

• "You Showed Me" - The Byrds > The Turtles > De La Soul > Salt-n-Pepa > U2


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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