Angry Johnny
{{Infobox song
| name = Angry Johnny
| cover = AngryJohnny.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Poe
| album = Hello
| released = 1996https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1996/R&R-1996-08-16.pdfhttps://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1996/R&R-1996-10-11.pdfhttp://www.uk-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Poe&titel=Angry+Johnny&cat=s
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{flat list|
| length = 4:18
| label = Modern
| writer = Poe, Ralph James Rice, Felix Cavaliere
| producer = RJ Rice
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Hello
| next_year = 1996
}}
"Angry Johnny" is the debut single by Poe, released in 1996 from her debut album Hello. The song received heavy radio airplay, and an accompanying music video was shown frequently on MTV.
Background
Despite its success and positive critical reviews, "Angry Johnny" was the only commercial single released in Australia; however, a variety of promotional singles were released across the world. "Angry Johnny" was also included on the 1996 album Big Shiny Tunes.
Poe mentions Johnny again in her second album, Haunted, on the song "Dear Johnny".
Composition
"Angry Johnny" has a slow rhythm and, like much of Hello, incorporates layered vocal tracks.{{cite book |last1=Lankford |first1=Ronald D. |title=Women Singer-Songwriters in Rock: A Populist Rebellion in the 1990s |date=2000 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0810872692 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9tfTBa5ZQoAC |access-date=26 September 2022}} The single was produced by Matt Sorum.
A "Full Band Version" of the song was also released, which was more acoustic than the album version and heavily featured cello.
Critical reception
Billboard praised the single, particularly the "fun and clever sexual euphemisms" of the lyrics.{{cite news |last1=Flick |first1=Larry |title=Singles |publisher=Billboard |date=23 March 1996}}
Chart performance
"Angry Johnny" peaked at #7 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.{{cite book |last1=St. Clair |first1=Justin |title=Soundtracked Books from the Acoustic Era to the Digital Age: A Century of Books That Sing |date=15 June 2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zx1tEAAAQBAJ |access-date=26 September 2022}}
In popular culture
A two-second clip of "Angry Johnny" was included in the endpapers of the US hardcover version of Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves, in the form of hexadecimal numbers that, when compiled in a hex editor, could be turned into an AIFF audio file.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Marc C. |title=Rewiring the Real: In Conversation with William Gaddis, Richard Powers, Mark Danielewski, and Don DeLillo |date=29 January 2013 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231531641 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ6LSbB3p28C |access-date=26 September 2022}}
Australian CD single track listing
=Personnel=
- Lyrics: Poe. Production: RJ Rice.
- Lyrics: Poe. Production: RJ Rice & Poe (co-producer).
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!Chart (1995-1996) !Peak |
| scope="row"|US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA99&dq=Angry+Johnny+Poe&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE38Ojt66LAxV26skDHRuOB_AQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=Angry%20Johnny%20Poe&f= |title=Modern Rock Tracks |date=October 5, 1996|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=February 5, 2025}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 7 |
|---|
References
{{reflist}}
{{Poe}}
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