Chart Week: April 23, 1983
\nSong: \u201cWhirly Girl\u201d – Oxo
\nChart Position: #28, 10th week on the chart. This was its chart peak.<\/p>\n
We love to celebrate the one hit wonders that made a big impact on the charts and the culture. Toni Basil. Nena. Tommy Tutone. Artists of that nature that you still hear today.<\/p>\n
Then there are the bands that are lost to time because their sole hit barely scratched its way onto the chart and failed to register in our generational memory. <\/p>\n
This song is definitely one of those forgotten tracks.<\/p>\n
I am writing about \u201cWhirly Girl,\u201d which I do not remember at all, because of the story Casey Kasem shared about its background. Casey told his audience that Oxo leader Ish \u201cAngel\u201d Ledesma wrote it about his wife\u2019s adventures in the 1970s. <\/p>\n
Before marrying Ish, Lori Ledesma had partied with some of the biggest bands of the \u201870s. \u201cThat can be fun, but also destructive,\u201d Casey quoted Ledesma as saying. \u201cI\u2019m making fun of her lifestyle, but that\u2019s ok. She made it through, and nothing happened to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure he had his fun in the \u201870s, and he was publicly saying it was fine that she had her fun, too. Props to him for having an enlightened view about his wife\u2019s past. <\/p>\n
But then I checked out his lyrics and reconsidered my opinion.<\/p>\n
\nShe\u2019s been with The Rolling Stones
\nOn their tours
\nAnd in their homes
\nWon\u2019t tell you where she\u2019s bound
\n\u2018Cause she ain\u2019t lost and don\u2019t want to be found <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nOk, fine so far. Dropping a Rolling Stones reference is solid. Let\u2019s continue\u2026<\/p>\n
\nThis girl just combs her hair
\nAnd takes her tea
\nWith millionaires
\nShe\u2019s sitting in the latest styles
\nWith open legs
\nAnd mysterious smiles <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nWAIT, WHAT???? OPEN LEGS?!?!<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s one thing to say \u201cWow, my wife sure liked to party before we got together!\u201d It\u2019s another to write a line about her legs being open. <\/p>\n
Again, maybe my focus should be on Ledesma\u2019s comfort with his wife\u2019s past. No double standards in their house.<\/p>\n
I might have chosen a different way of talking about her history, though. One that didn\u2019t imply she was easy, loose, or whatever the proper term for that era was.<\/p>\n
Casey added that the song was meant to be called \u201cWorldly Girl,\u201d since Lori\u2019s journeys had taken her around the world. But as that was too hard to sing, Ish adjusted it to be \u201cWhirly Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
The song? It\u2019s a super annoying ear worm. I\u2019m shocked I don\u2019t recall it because it is the kind of track that I would hate but not be able to prevent from repeating in my head. It sounds like a cheesy, show tune knock off. Or maybe a poppier version of The Manhattan Transfer. The production sucks, too. Those tinny guitars drive me nuts. It sounds like it was made to be played on a single-speaker transistor radio and not one of the sweet Hi-Fis that Lori was no doubt listening to records on with Mick Jagger. 2\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n
While this was Oxo\u2019s only hit, Ish Ledesma himself was not a one-hit artist. He had reached #9 – and topped the R&B chart – in 1978 with his previous band Foxy on \u201cGet Off.\u201d[1]<\/a> Ledesma\u2019s third band, Company B, hit #21 in 1987 with \u201cFascinated.\u201d<\/p>\n