Puppet Man (song)
{{Infobox song
| name = Puppet Man
| cover = Puppet_Man_-_The_5th_Dimension.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The 5th Dimension
| album = Portrait
| B-side = A Love Like Ours
| released = March 1970
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soul
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=58}}
| label = Bell Records
| writer = Sedaka-Greenfield
| producer = Bones Howe
| prev_title = The Girls' Song
| prev_year = 1970
| next_title = Save the Country
| next_year = 1970
}}
"Puppet Man" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was originally recorded by Sedaka on his 1969 Workin' on a Groovy Thing LP. The first hit version was by The Fifth Dimension in 1970. The following year it was also a hit for Tom Jones.
The Fifth Dimension's original of "Puppet Man" reached #24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1970.
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1970)
!Peak |
|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)
| style="text-align:center;"|19 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.3787&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.3787.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.3787|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1970-05-31 |access-date=2020-07-16}}
| style="text-align:center;"|31 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|24 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary
| style="text-align:center;"|31 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19700531.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 31, 1970]
|align="center"|22 |
Tom Jones version
{{Infobox song
| name = Puppet Man
| cover = Puppet_Man_-_Tom_Jones.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Tom Jones
| album = Tom Jones Sings She's a Lady
| B-side = "Every Mile"
"Resurrection Shuffle"
| released = May 1971
| recorded = 1970
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop
| length = 2:53
| label = Decca (UK), Parrot (US and Canada)
| writer = Sedaka-Greenfield
| producer = Gordon Mills
| chronology = Tom Jones UK
| prev_title = She's a Lady
| prev_year = 1971
| next_title = Till
| next_year = 1971
}}
Tom Jones' version was released the following spring. It reached No. 26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, spending 10 weeks on the chart. For the first six weeks the single was backed with "Every Mile," then was changed to "Resurrection Shuffle", which also became a U.S. top 40 hit, reaching No. 38 and keeping the record on the charts an additional five weeks.
=Charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1971)
!Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|Flanders|22|artist=Tom Jones|song=Puppet Man}} |
| {{single chart|Wallonia|27|artist=Tom Jones|song=Puppet Man}} |
| Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5365&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5365.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5365|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1971-07-10 |access-date=2020-07-16}}
| style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| {{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|49|artist=Tom Jones}} |
| US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|26 |
| US Cash Box Top 100[http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19710703.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 3, 1971]
|align="center"|14 |
| {{single chart|West Germany|36|artist=Tom Jones|song=Puppet Man|songid=37350}} |
Other versions
A cover of the song was performed on The Muppet Show in 1980 by a Muppet version of Pinocchio playing into the literal lyrics of the song.{{cite book |last=Finch|first=Christopher|date=1981|title=Of Muppets and Men|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.|isbn=0394520858}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|lohkN5f3Yo0|Fifth Dimension - Puppet Man}}
- {{YouTube|IDN7cQ5u56o|Tom Jones - Puppet Man}}
{{The 5th Dimension}}
{{Tom Jones}}
Category:The 5th Dimension songs
Category:Tom Jones (singer) songs
Category:Songs written by Neil Sedaka