"Chirpy chirpy, cheep cheep" is a song recorded in 1970 by its composer Lally Stott, and made popular in 1971 by Scottish band Middle of the Road for whom it was a UK #1 chart hit. That version is one of the fewer than fifty singles all-time to have sold in excess of 10 million physical copies worldwide.
History
The original recording of the song by its composer, Lally Stott, was a Top 15 hit in France and a minor hit in Italy, Australia and in the United States. Stott's record company, Philips, was reluctant to release the song overseas, and apparently offered it to two other groups: Scottish folk-pop group Middle of the Road, who were working in Italy at the time, and the Trinidadian brother-and-sister duo Mac and Katie Kissoon. While it is unclear which group Stott offered his song to first, Mac and Katie Kissoon produced their cover version first. Middle of the Road's version then initially became a hit in continental Europe only, but later grew in popularity in the United Kingdom. In the UK, it reportedly got a boost from DJTony Blackburn, who favored this version over the one previously produced by Mac and Katie Kissoon. However, Middle of the Road's take never charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, and it nearly flopped in the UK because it so quickly followed the Kissoons. Middle of the Road's recording eventually reached #1 in the UK and stayed there for five weeks in June 1971. In the United States, the Kissoons' recording became a greater success, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the time, the song was dismissed by critics as bubblegum, a view initially held by band leader Ken Andrews: "We were as disgusted with the thought of recording it as most people were at the thought of buying it. But at the end of the day, we liked it." In 2006 "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" topped a list of unintentionally creepy songs in the Observer. Despite its popular appeal and popular chorus, the song has a theme of child abandonment.
It was later referenced in both the Denim song "Middle of the Road" in 1992 and a 1998 episode of the popular Irish sitcom Father Ted which was called Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep.
The song has been covered in many languages, including Catalan, Vietnamese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish and German. A Spanish language version was done by Middle of the Road followed by another version by Dolores Vargas. German versions were by Hajo and Mickie Krause who performed a dance song to the same tune, "Reiss die Hütte ab" . Koivistolaiset sang a Finnish language version with lyrics from Vexi Salmi.
