Musical Dice -- Animal Tunes

     Welcome to the music section of my Musical Dice website! For you music trivia enthusiasts, and those who love to learn about the stories behind the music, you've come to the right place! I love sharing my knowledge of music trivia, so that's why I created this section.

     This article is mainly about top-10 hit song titles that have animal names in them. If you notice any top ten hit animal song title that is not on this list, feel free to email me at musicaldice323@gmail.com, and let me know.

Animal Tunes

• "Hound Dog" -- Elvis Presley (1956, #1 for 11 weeks)

• "See You Later Alligator" -- Bill Haley & his Comets (1956, #9)

• "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" -- Elvis Presley (1957, #1 for 7 weeks)

• "Bird Dog" -- The Everly Brothers (1958, #1 for 1 week)

• "Running Bear" -- Johnny Preston (1960, #1 for 3 weeks)

• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- The Tokens (1961, #1 for 3 weeks)

• "The Lonely Bull" -- Herb Alpert & his Tijuana Brass Band (1962, #6)

• "Puff The Magic Dragon" -- Peter, Paul & Mary (1963, #2 for 1 week)

• "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" -- Rolf Harris (1963, #3)

• "Mickey's Monkey" -- The Miracles (1963, #8)

• "What's New, Pussycat?" -- Tom Jones (1965, #3)

• "White Rabbit" -- Jefferson Airplane (1967, #8)

• "The Unicord" -- The Irish Rovers (1968, #7)

• "Snowbird" -- Anne Murray (1970, #8)

• "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" -- Lobo (1971, #5)

• "A Horse With No Name" -- America (1972, #1 for 3 weeks)

• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- Robert John (1972, #3)

• "Honky Cat" -- Elton John (1972, #8)

• "Crocodile Rock" -- Elton John (1973, #1 for 3 weeks)

• "Cat's In The Cradle" -- Harry Chapin (1974, #1 for 1 week)

• "Spiders And Snakes" -- Jim Stafford (1974, #3)

• "Disco Duck" -- Disco Duck (1976, #1 for 1 week)

• "Muskrat Love" -- The Captain & Tennille (1976, #4)

• "Fox On The Run" -- The Sweet (1976, #5)

• "Fly Like An Eagle" -- The Steve Miller Band (1977, #2 for 2 weeks)

• "Beast Of Burden" -- The Rolling Stones (1978, #8)

• "Eye Of The Tiger" -- Eye Of The Tiger (1982, #1 for 6 weeks)

• "Stray Cat Strut" -- The Stray Cats (1983, #3)

• "Hungry Like The Wolf" -- Duran Duran (1983, #3)

• "Union Of The Snake" -- Duran Duran (1983, #3)

• "When Doves Cry" -- Prince (1984, #1 for 5 weeks)

• "Karma Chameleon" -- Culture Club (1984, #1 for 3 weeks)

• "Monkey" -- George Michael (1988, #1 for 2 weeks)

• "Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird" -- Will To Power (1988, #1 for 1 week)

• "Batdance" -- Prince (1989, #1 for 1 week)

• "Buffalo Stance" -- Neneh Cherry (1989, #3)

• "Walk The Dinosaur" -- Was (Not Was) (1989, #7)

• "Black Cat" -- Janey Jackson (1990, #1 for 1 week)

• "Cat's In The Cradle" -- Ugly Kid Joe (1993, #6)

• "Pony" -- Ginuwine (1996, #6)

• "Fly Like An Eagle" -- Seal (1997, #10)

• "I'm Like A Bird" -- Nelly Furtado (2001, #9)

     Of course, there are also a number of great songs that fall into this category that didn't hit the top ten. Such songs include "Barracuda" by Heart (#11 in 1977), "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin (#15 in 1972), "Rubber Duckie" by Sesame Street muppet Ernie (#16 in 1970), "Three Little Pigs" by Green Jelly (#17 in 1993), "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd (#19 in 1975), "Werewolves Of London" by Warren Zevon (#21 in 1978), "Sister Mary Elephant" by Cheech & Chong (#24 in 1973), "The Pink Panther Theme" by Henry Mancini (#31 in 1964), "Batman" by Neal Hefti (#35 in 1966), and "Who Let The Dogs Out" by the Baha Men (#40 in 2000).

     There are several top ten hits that are actually about animals. For instance, there's "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen (#2 for 4 weeks in 1967), "Ben" by Michael Jackson (#1 for 1 week in 1972) was about a pet trained rat. "Wildfire" by Michael Murphey (#3 in 1975) is about a horse. Of course, the novelty song "Mr. Jaws" by Dickie Goodman (#4 in 1975) is about a shark. And "Shannon" by Henry Gross (#6 in 1976) is about a dog.

     A couple more songs I have to mention before I conclude this article: "Jet" by Paul McCartney & Wings (#7 in 1974), the title was said to have really come from Paul McCartney's pet black dog. And "Muscles" by Diana Ross (#10 in 1982), written by Michael Jackson, was said by Diana, to be about Michael's pet boa constrictor (most likely, Diana was just being flippant with her interviewer).

     As I said earlier, if you feel like I missed anything, feel free to email me at musicaldice323@gmail.com, and let me know. Enjoy! ☺