Ringo Starr - Live in Rancho Mirage - 4. Hang On Sloopy (Rick Derringer)

Agua Caliente Casino, California, August 5th 2010.

"Hang On Sloopy" is a song by the pop group The McCoys which was #1 in America in October 1965 and is the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University. It was written by Wes Farrell and Bert Russell and is named for singer Dorothy Sloop (1913-1998), who used the name "Sloopy" on stage.

The song was originally titled "My Girl Sloopy" and was first recorded by The Vibrations in 1964 on Atlantic Records (45-2222), becoming a top thirty hit. It was the title track of a live 1965 recording (released on Rhapsody in 1966) by the Ramsey Lewis Trio which earned a gold record. It has also been recorded by The Ventures (Liberty 1965) as well as by Arseno Rodriguez (Bang 1966), The Supremes (Motown 1966), The Kingsmen (WAND 1966), Little Caesar and the Consuls, The Yardbirds, Saving Jane, Jan & Dean (Liberty-LP "Folk'n'Roll" 1965), David Porter (Enterprise "Into A Real Thing" 1971) and Die Toten Hosen (2002). It has also been performed by Johnny Thunders and the Oddballs in a medley with "Louie Louie" and can be heard on the "Add Water and Stir" live Japan bootleg.

In April 1985, a columnist for the Columbus Citizen-Journal, Joe Dirck, saw a wire service story about a proposal to designate "Louie, Louie" the state rock song of Washington and wrote a column about it. This goaded the 116th Ohio General Assembly into action and it designated "Hang on Sloopy" the state rock song by House Concurrent Resolution 16 on November 20, 1985, with clauses including:

"WHEREAS, "Hang On Sloopy" is of particular relevance to members of the Baby Boom Generation, who were once dismissed as a bunch of long-haired, crazy kids, but who now are old enough and vote in sufficient numbers to be taken quite seriously"
and

"WHEREAS, Adoption of this resolution will not take too long, cost the state anything, or affect the quality of life in this state to any appreciable degree, and if we in the legislature just go ahead and pass the darn thing, we can get on with more important stuff."