ROLF HARRIS - Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport

About "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport"

"Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" is a song written by Australian singer Rolf Harris in 1957 which became a hit around the world in the 1960s in two recordings (1960 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for the original, and 1963 in the United States with a re-recording of the song). Inspired by Harry Belafonte's calypsos, most noticeably "The Jack-Ass Song", it is about an Australian stockman on his deathbed.

Harris originally offered four unknown Australian backing musicians 10% of the royalties for the song in 1960, but they decided to take a recording fee of £28 among them because they thought the song would be a flop. The distinctive sound of Harris's original recording was achieved by the use of an instrument of his own design called the "wobble board"—a two-by-three-foot piece of hardboard.

The recording peaked at No. 1 in the Australian charts and was a top 10 hit in the UK in 1960. In 1963, Harris re-recorded the song in the UK with George Martin as producer, and this remake of the song reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and spent three weeks atop the Easy Listening chart in 1963. "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" was a surprise hit on the US R&B chart where it went to No. 19. The song reached No. 20 on the Canadian CHUM Chart. Harris re-recorded his song a second time along with the Wiggles in 2000 with the introductory verse and the verse mentioning the stockman's death omitted. It is still popular today as a children's song.

The song was used by the WWF in the late 1980s as the theme song of enhancement talent wrestler Outback Jack. Other versions were recorded by Connie Francis (for her 1966 album Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door) and by Pat Boone. A version by the Brothers Four can be found on their CD The Brothers Four, Greatest Hits.