General Hospi-Tale
b/w General Hospi-Tale (Instrumental)
b/w General Hospi-Tale (Instrumental)
| Released: July, 1981 (MCA) Written by: Harry King & Lisa Tedesco Produced by: Harry King Album: General Hospi-Tale |
Note: when I label a song a "Lost AT40 Single," I'm only speaking for myself. Your mileage may vary.
So I'm listening to a rerun of the American Top 40 broadcast from October 3, 1981 and sandwiched between songs from legendary artists John Lennon and Simon & Garfunkel, I heard words I hadn't heard in 33 years:
"I just can't cope without my soap!"
"General Hospi-Tale" was a rap parody of the soap opera General Hospital in which a female voice rapped basic plot lines from the show over a disco beat. In addition to the rapping, re-created soap opera dialogue is interspersed throughout. The chorus was sung by a mostly female backing group, ending with the aforementioned punchline. There's also an occasional yakety sax line that is catchy as hell and sticks in your head for days.
I can't speak to the accuracy of the rap as I didn't watch General Hospital. My sister was a Guiding Light fan, which meant that if I wanted to watch a soap, it had to be that. I tried it for a while in the summer of '81, but quickly realized soap operas weren't my thing. However, General Hospital was earning more than $50 million a year in profits in 1981 and was watched by over 14 million people every day. In other words, this single had a built-in audience. A month after this single peaked, the marriage of popular characters Luke and Laura would net a viewership of 30 million people—the highest rated soap opera episode ever.
On the October 3 AT40 show, "General Hospi-Tale" was "up a notch" at position 33, which would be its peak chart position (it would peak at #23 on the R&B chart around the same time). The song spent a total of 5 weeks in the Top 40. Originally a single-only release, an album was hastily put together in order to cash in on the single's (minor) success, but never saw the album charts.
I can't in good conscience give this a good grade, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth a listen every few years.
Like your sister, I was a Guiding Light fan. My brother and cousin were both into General Hospital. That said, I owned this on a 45 because it was a great novelty song. From what I know, the lyrics were very accurate to the plotline.
ReplyDeleteFYI: the group came from Boston and consisted of Rebecca Hall, Suzanne Boucher, Janet Powell and Robalee Barnes. They took their name from the Starland Band's number 1 hit from 1976.
ReplyDeleteTrack 20, Disc 1 of my mammoth 7-disc Rhino Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box... A 'D+' pretty much tells the whole "tale".
ReplyDelete