Get Down (Gilbert O'Sullivan song)

"Get Down"
Single by Gilbert O'Sullivan
from the album I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter
B-side"A Very Extraordinary Sort of Girl"
Released9 March 1973[1]
Recorded1973
Length2:39
LabelMAM
Songwriter(s)Gilbert O'Sullivan
Producer(s)Gordon Mills
Gilbert O'Sullivan singles chronology
"Out of the Question"
(1973) 		"Get Down"
(1973) 		"Ooh, Baby"
(1973)
Audio
"Get Down" on YouTube

"Get Down" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, from his 1973 album I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter. Released as a single, it spent two weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in April 1973,[2] was also a number-one hit in Ireland for three weeks and was a top-ten hit in the United States and Canada. The song was originally used by O'Sullivan as a piano warm-up tune,[3] but was eventually extended into a full song and released as a single; O'Sullivan recorded and released the song as a change from his more melancholy pieces.

Believed to be an order from O'Sullivan to his dog ("Get Down!"), the singer is actually referring to a girl in the song behaving as a dog jumping on him, hence the request to "get down".[4]

The distinctive electric piano riff was performed by Laurie Holloway.

In 2006 British dance group Malibu Sneakers recorded a dance version of the song entitled "Get Down Again".[5] In 2008 it was released as a vinyl 12", including a vocal remix by Raul Rincon.[6]

The song was used in the 2013 film The Harry Hill Movie.[7]

According to Rick Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, the song was the inspiration for the 1975 disco hit "Get Down Tonight".[8]

  1. ^ "Gilbert O'Sullivan - Get Down". 45cat.com.
  2. ^ "GILBERT O'SULLIVAN | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Gilbert O'Sullivan | In Print". Gilbertosullivan.net. 2 August 1973. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Gilbert O: He Knows He's A Mechanical Man". Gilbertosullivan.net. 2 August 1973. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Malibu Sneakers - Get Down Again". Discogs. 2008.
  6. ^ "Malibu Sneakers – Get Down Again". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  7. ^ "The Harry Hill Movie (2013)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Rick Finch : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.