Mr Blobby (song)

"Mr Blobby" is a novelty song performed by character Mr Blobby, famous for appearing in the British Saturday night variety show Noel's House Party. It was written by Philip Raxster, produced by Paul Shaw and David Rogers, and was released on 22 November 1993. The song originally peaked at No. 1 on the UK singles chart on 11 December 1993 for one week but reclaimed the top spot to become the Christmas number one single, and spent a total of three weeks at No. 1.^[1] Despite its chart success, it has been panned by critics, some of whom^[who?] have called it one of the worst songs ever recorded. Rodgers and Shaw received an award at the Ivor Novello Awards 1994 for UK best-selling song in 1993 with "Mr Blobby."^[2]

"Mr Blobby"
Single by Mr Blobby
from the album Mr Blobby: The Album
Released	22 November 1993 (1993-11-22)
Recorded	1993
Genre	Pop novelty
Length	3:34
Label	Destiny Music Ltd/BMG
Songwriter(s)	Philip Raxster
Producer(s)	Paul Shaw David Rogers
Mr Blobby singles chronology
"Mr Blobby" (1993) "Christmas in Blobbyland" (1995)

Chart performance

The single reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart on 11 December 1993, replacing Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", which had been in the No. 1 spot for seven weeks. A week later, "Babe" by Take That demoted Mr Blobby from the top spot for one week. Mr Blobby made a surprise return to the No. 1 spot on Christmas Day, and repeated that position the following week.^[1][3]

Critical reception

In January 1994, Raul Cairo from Music & Media wrote, "In retrospect it is actually quite easy to understand why this poppified TV character shot to the top of the charts in no time in Great Britain and went to sell over 700.000 copies in just few weeks—because it's very basic and utterly irresistible."^[4] An MTV critic said that Blobby "tried to kill music... with what might be the worst song of all time";^[5] the track is often named as such.^[6][7] Rupert Hawksley of The Telegraph ranked it as the worst Christmas number one in history, arguing that Blobby "set the bar so low with this bizarre single, it's hard to imagine that it could ever be usurped".^[8] Daily Record writer Euan McColm named it the third-worst Top 10 single of all time.^[9] It placed first in an HMV public poll of the worst-ever festive songs,^[10] and second in a VH1 viewer survey of the worst number one singles of all time.^[11] The track also came sixth in a Channel 4 poll of the 100 worst pop songs in history.^[12]

Music video

A music video was created for the single and was filmed in the Kew Bridge Steam Museum. It spoofed several music videos such as "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer, "Stay" by Shakespears Sister, Snap!'s "Rhythm Is a Dancer", and "I Can't Dance" by Genesis.^[13]

The video featured Noel Edmonds, Carol Vorderman, Wayne Sleep, Garth Crooks and Top Gear and The Grand Tour (2016-2024) presenter Jeremy Clarkson as Mr Blobby's limo driver.^[14]

It premiered on BBC1 during the episode of Noel’s House Party broadcast 2 days before the single's release.

Track listing

1. "Mr Blobby"
2. "Mr Blobby's Theme"
3. "Mr Blobby" (Instrumental Mix)
4. "Mr Blobby "Blobby, Blobby, Blobby""

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1993-1994) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[15] 169 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[16] 6 Ireland (IRMA)[17] 8 UK Singles (OCC)[18] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position UK Singles (OCC)[19] 171

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20]	Platinum	600,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.