Gruppo Sportivo -- "Hey Girl" (1979)

She said "Your nose is running, honey"

I said "Sorry, but it's not"

(Think about it.)

Gruppo Sportivo is a Dutch group with an Italian name (which the band saw on a poster and liked – it means "sports team") that sang in French and English (sort of).  They are another one of the great bands that I became acquainted with in 1980 thanks to the "Mystic Eye" radio show.

Gruppo Sportivo's song lyrics sound they are the result of a partnership between a literature professor and a really obnoxious, show-offy 6th-grade boy.  (I'm pretty sure the 6th-grader wrote the lines quoted above.)  

I'm a sucker for pop songs with goofy yet clever lyrics – Sparks, 10cc, etc. – especially if the band includes a Farfisa or Vox Continental organ:

Vox Continental organ

Gruppo Sportivo's first album – which was released in Europe in 1977 – was titled Ten Mistakes.  Their first American album – which was released in 1979 – was titled Mistakes, and most of its content came from Ten Mistakes.  

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The first song on Mistakes is "Mission à Paris," which the band's website describes as "a dime-store spy novel of stolen NATO plans and secret rendezvouses at the Eiffel Tower."  (Whoever wrote that line could use an ESOL class or two.)

Mission a Paris

Shoot down immediately

Oh oh so and so

Du Deuxieme Bureau

Who stole a NATO plan

For flying carpet men

A secret formula

Ca va et cetera

(The Deuxieme Bureau was the French military intelligence agency.)

Click here to listen to "Mission à Paris."

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The most outrageous song on the LP (and there was some very stiff competition for that title) was "P.S. 78," an infectious little ditty about a high-school French class:

We are American kids

Rich daddies and big t*ts

Vive la France, les Wallons

Le camembert, et le bonbons

(If you can't remember the difference between camembert and brie, this article will help.)

Click here to listen to "P. S. 78."

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Click here to listen to today's featured song, "Hey Girl."

And click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon: