"Mr. Jaws" is a novelty song by Dickie Goodman released on Cash Records in 1975.

This record is a parody of the 1975 summer blockbuster film Jaws, with Goodman interviewing the shark (whom he calls "Mr. Jaws"), as well as the film's main characters, Brody, Hooper, and Quint. Goodman makes full use of his practice of "break-in" music sampling, in which all of the interview answers are lyrics from popular songs from that year.

The single peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1975. On the Cash Box Top 100, it fared even better, reaching #1.

Goodman would later make more parodies of Hollywood films, along with his political satire records. The B-side of this single was "Irv's Theme".

The name of the song's label, Cash Records, was another idea from Goodman after he was asked whom the record company should make the check out to.

The recording took place at Sear Sound in New York engineered by Russ Hamm. Originally, the songs were sampled; however, when the record became a hit, the songs were replaced on later pressings by sound-alike recordings.

Songs

The songs that were sampled are:

On the album version of "Mr. Jaws", both "Please Mr. Please" and "Rhinestone Cowboy" were replaced by re-recorded budget sound-alike renditions.

Chart performance

Chart (1975)Peak position
Weekly charts Chart (1975) Peak position Canadian RPM Top Singles 13 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 4 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 1Year-end charts Chart (1975) Rank Canada 96
Canadian RPM Top Singles13
U.S. Billboard Hot 1004
U.S. Cash Box Top 1001
Chart (1975)Rank
Canada96

Certifications

RegionCertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)Gold75,000^
United States (RIAA)Gold1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Later uses

  • Goodman did a sequel entitled "Mrs. Jaws" in response to the film Jaws 2 (1978).
  • A sequel by Edward McCormack, "The Return of Mr. Jaws", was issued in 2005.

See also

External links