Yummy Yummy Yummy – Doyle’s Space: Music Hall of Fame – Gummy Award

“Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” is a bubblegum pop hit recorded by The Ohio Express and released in April 1968 on Buddah Records. Written by Joey Levine and Arthur Resnick and produced by Levine, Resnick, Jerry Kasenetz, and Jeffry Katz, the song became one of the defining records of the late-1960s bubblegum music craze.

Lasting approximately two and a half minutes, it features a bouncy bass line, bright guitar, energetic percussion, and Levine’s distinctive nasal lead vocal. Its deliberately simple lyrics compare romantic attraction to something delicious, with the singer declaring that his love is so sweet that it is “good enough to eat.” Although some listeners interpreted the lyrics as a reference to teenage pregnancy, the song is essentially a playful, exaggerated expression of youthful romantic desire.

An interesting piece of music-industry trivia is that the recording was not actually performed by The Ohio Express musicians who appeared in public as the group. Levine recorded a demonstration with studio musicians, and Buddah Records executives liked it sufficiently to release the

recording without replacing his vocal or having the touring band re-record it. The single became an international smash, reaching No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, No. 5 in the United Kingdom, and No. 1 in Canada. It also sold more than a million copies and helped establish the Kasenetz-Katz production operation as a major force in bubblegum pop.

The original single’s B-side was “Zig Zag,” an instrumental assembled from the backing track associated with the 1910 Fruitgum Company’s “(Poor Old) Mr. Jensen,” played backward. Numerous artists subsequently recorded the song, including Giorgio Moroder, Julie London, Baccara, the Residents,

Sha Na Na, and L7, whose version appeared on the 2016 compilation Fast & Frightening. The song has also appeared in films including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Super Size Me (2004), and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013), as well as television programs such as The Simpsons and Futurama. Its intentionally silly lyrics

have attracted both affection and ridicule; Time included it among songs with silly lyrics in 2011, and humorist Dave Barry ranked it No. 2 in his Book of Bad Songs. Despite its reputation as lightweight pop, “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” remains an instantly recognizable example of the catchy melodies, uncomplicated romantic themes, and studio-crafted productions that defined late-1960s bubblegum music.