[NOTE: Since I started digging into this topic in the fall of 2014, this post has become the number one most-read story in the history of this website. I update it periodically when warranted. And dammit, some day we’ll get to the bottom of this. – AC]

It was probably in the spring of 1987 when I first heard the special audience lyrics in the Billy Idol version of the Tommy James classic, “Mony Mony.” I was hosting one of the old CFNY Video Roadshows at a high school somewhere in Southern Ontario. When Martin Streek, the guy in charge of playing the videos, flipped to this clip, the dancers erupted.

At first, I couldn’t make how what they were yelling. “What are they shouting?” I asked Martin. He helpfully translated with the appropriate arm gestures.

Billy: Here she come now singing Mony Mony

Dancers: HEY MOTHERF*CKER GET LAID GET F*CKED!

Billy: Well, shoot ’em down, turn around, come on Mony

Dancers: HEY MOTHERF*CKER GET LAID GET F*CKED!

Billy: Hey she give me love and I feel alright now

Dancers: HEY MOTHERF*CKER GET LAID GET F*CKED!

I looked at him weird. “How do they know what to say?”

A puzzled look came across Martin’s face for a moment; it was apparent that he’d never considered the question before. Then he just shrugged and turned to deal with a very angry principal who was appalled that such obscenities would be chanted by his students in his gym at his school.

The question of the origins of the special audience participation lyrics has been in the back of my mind ever since. Perhaps it’s time to address it once and for all–if that’s even possible.

* * *

Wikipedia defines a meme in the following way:

An idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.

Over the last decade, we’ve all become familiar with dozens of Internet memes: Star Wars Kid, LOL cats, the Rickroll and so on. But this concept of ideas and behaviours spreading within a culture goes far, far back into the depths of time. At their core, language, religion and all manner of social conventions are memes. Someone comes up with an idea. Another person likes it and spreads to another person–and so on and so on and so on until it’s a generally accepted practice and everyone is doing it.

How memes take root and travel is a serious area of study for cultural anthropologists and sociologists. Such study can tell us a lot about a culture, its language, its mores and folkways and various forms of communication.

Yes, what you’re about to read is obscene and vulgar, but try to set that aside for a moment. Instead try to focus on the mystery of where the “Mony Mony” audience chant began, how it spread and how it mutated.

First, a little history. “Mony Mony” was written in 1968 by Tommy James, an American singer who had a string of hit singles through the 60s. The title comes from a sign on a building that James could see from his apartment in Manhattan: the MONY Building, short for Mutual of New York. The song reached #3 in both Canada and the US and was a #1 hit in the UK.

Over the next decade, the song was covered several times with varying degrees of success. But then came Billy Idol.

In 1981, fresh from leaving Generation X, Billy released a four-track EP entitled Don’t Stop. The first song on the disc was his take on “Mony Mony.” Although it was released as a single, it was a stiff, managing no better than #107 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But by the time Idol re-released the song in a live version on October 2, 1987 (and coinciding with the North American release of his Vital Idol collection), an interesting and inexplicable phenomenon had taken root whenever the song was performed live or played in a club, at a dance or even a wedding reception: the obscene call-and-response audience chant between the lines of the verses.

How did this occur? It certainly wasn’t via the Internet because in 1987, no one except a few hardcore geeks knew what that was. It couldn’t have been through radio airplay because no radio version with the chanting bit was ever released. And it certainly wouldn’t have been through video play because neither MTV or MuchMusic would have dared play something with such vulgarities.

Furthermore, this seems to have largely been a North American phenomenon–or at least I haven’t been able to uncover any evidence of the chant originating (or even being used) in Britain, Europe or anywhere else in the world. The chants were essentially the same but with slight regional differences. The earliest discussion board post I can find on the subject is from May 20, 1989.

(There’s little documentation I can cite for the following, but this is what I’ve managed to glean from various message boards dating back to the late 80s. This is far from a comprehensive list, so corrections/additions/elaborations are welcome in the comments section.)

Southern Ontario/New York state/Ohio/Pennsylvania: “Hey, motherfucker! Get laid, get fucked!”

“Hey, motherfucker! Get laid, get fucked!” Wisconsin/Colorado/British Columbia: “Hey, what’s that? Get laid, get fucked!”

“Hey, what’s that? Get laid, get fucked!” Texas: “Come on, everybody! Get laid, get fucked!”

“Come on, everybody! Get laid, get fucked!” Some university campuses: “Hey, hey, slut! Get laid, get fucked!”

“Hey, hey, slut! Get laid, get fucked!” Elsewhere: “Hey, hey what? Get laid, get fucked!”and “Hey, get drunk, get laid, get fucked!”

There were probably others, but you get the drift.

These chants seemed to emerge spontaneously and at more-or-less the same time. Why? It’s unclear, but here are some theories:

1. Some maintain that the tradition extends back to 1969 when the original Tommy James version was played in New York City clubs like The Guest House and the 44th Street Armory. (Link to discussion board post.)

2. One rumour involves lip-reading. There’s allegedly a video where we can clearly see Idol mouthing those words. Delving further, it appears that Idol himself endorses the “Hey, motherfucker! Get laid, get fucked!” version of the chant. Witnesses say that endorsement goes back to an Idol show at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas sometime in the late 80s. Here’s an example of Idols performing the song in the now-accepted fashion.

3. When the Don’t Stop EP was released, Idol appeared on MTV with Martha Quinn. During the interview, it’s alleged that he admitted to losing his virginity to the Tommy James version. Skip ahead to 7:50 of the interview to hear what he says.

Billy also chronicled the story in his autobiography, Dancing with Myself.

In 1970, the back of the charity shop bear Bromley South held many wonders.

“Do you want to fuck?” I asked. And she said yes! I’d never had sex, so I was a bit nervous as she took me by the hand.

She must have sensed the situation. “You’re a virgin, aren’t you? she half asked, half declared. “No, I’ve done it before,” I lied as we walked up the hill for a tumble in Church House Gardens. We went behind some bushes and she lay down. I got on top aand got hard but was having a bit of trouble getting it in her, it being my first time. She rolled me over and said, “Oh, let me do it,” and she stuck my dick insider her and really shagged me.

As we were at it, “Mony Mony” by Tommy James and the Shondells was playing on someone’s transistor radio nearby…

* *

About three years after this original post, I picked up the phone on a Sunday evening to find Billy on the line. Here’s what he had to say about all this.

Well, that adds a fair amount to the story. But who were those frat dudes in England back in the middle 80s? Could they be tracked down to get their take on the matter? England: I’m counting on you. Dig around.

So where does this leave us? Sadly, no closer to the truth than when we started. The origins of the “Mony Mony” meme remains a mystery. Perhaps this might work as a PhD thesis for some budding cultural anthropologist. Or maybe someone will read this and offer more evidence.