"Duke of Earl" is a 1962 number-one song, originally by Gene
Chandler. It is the best known of Chandler's songs, and he
subsequently dubbed himself 'The Duke of Earl'.
"Duke of Earl" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on
January 13, 1962, and held the number-one spot for three weeks.
It was on the Hot 100 for a total of 15 weeks.
In 1983, Youth Brigade also covered "Duke of Earl" on their
critically acclaimed debut album
Sound & Fury"
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders released a cover version
in 1964. Another cover was recorded by the UK based doo-wop
outfit Darts in 1979. It reached #6 in the UK Singles
Chart.
Cornell Campbell did a reggae version on the Trojan Records
label.
Sha Na Na, a rock and roll revival band, performed
Duke of Earllive at the Woodstock Festival of 1969.
The Beach Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers have also played
their version of the song whilst on tour. Cypress Hill sampled
"Duke of Earl" into one of their own hit songs, "Hand on the
Pump", on their 1991 self-titled album.
The song has also been sung by The Nylons, The Four Tops,
New Edition, and the Van-Dells.
In his song "Keeping The Faith", Billy Joel sings
"I thought I was the Duke of Earl / When I made it with a
red-haired girl in a Chevrolet".
Reference is made to the Duke of Earl as being a friend of
Wolfman Jack in The Guess Who's song, "Clap for the
Wolfman".
In the Hall & Oates' song "Diddy Doo Wopp (I Hear the
Voices)" from the album
Voices,Daryl Hall sings,
"Charlie liked the Beatles/
Sam, he liked "Rich Girl"/
I'm still hung up on the Duke of Earl".
In the film,
Carry on Behind, Ernie (played by Jack Douglas) can be
seen wearing a Duke of Earl T-shirt.
In the film
The Man with Two Brains, a prostitute (Randi Brooks)
sings the song (described it as her "favorite") revealing her
unexpectedly unpleasant and squeaky voice (she pronounces it
"Dook, Dook, Dook, Dook of Oil..."). This is also possibly
contributed to the name of the modern-age Green Arrow villain,
the Duke of Oil.
In the film
King Ralphthe titular character played by John Goodman
sings the song as the end credits roll.
In the film
The Wrong Guys, John Goodman plays the character Duke,
leader of the Earl Gang, who are wanted by the FBI.
The song was performed by the rock and roll comedy group Sha
Na Na as part of their set at Woodstock Festival in 1969.
In the
Magnum P.I.episode "Going Home", Magnum and a friend are
seen singing a drunken a cappella of the song.
The 'Duke of Earl' is mentioned in the Men Without Hats song
"Pop Goes The World".
Datamation humor columnist Chris Miksanek titled his "Over
the Edge" online weblinks companion "The Duke of URL" which ran
from 1998 until 2001.
In the Don Henley song "They're Not Here, They're Not
Coming", he sings
"No place for sentiment, no room for romance"/
"Bring back the Duke of Earl".
In the episode "Kelly Does Hollywood" of the show
Married... With Children, Al Bundy attempts to get on
Kelly's show by performing a dramatic reading of the song.
A reference to this song is mentioned in an episode of
My Name is Earlentitled "Burn Victim".
In his song "Window On The World", John Hiatt sings
"The Queen of Sheba meets the Duke of Earl".
In The Dead Milkmen song "Punk Rock Girl", her father is
referred to as the Duke of Earl (as well as the Vice
President).
The song is parodied in the show The Critic referring to
Duke Phillips and sung by parodies of U.S. Presidents Ronald
Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill
Clinton.
The song was parodied in a 1990s commercial for Hellmann's
Dijonnaise ("Di-di-di-Dijonnaise").
At New York Ranger hockey games at Madison Square Garden,
the song is usually played on the arena organ after the
opposing team scores a goal.
The song was also parodied from the late 1980s through to
the early 2000s for a commercial in Australia for a hair care
company called Decore.
Steely Dan use the lyric "If you grew up in Amsterdam, then
I'm the Duke of Earl" in the song "Slang of Ages" on their 2003
album "Everything Must Go"
In
DoonesburyDuke's Son is named Earl.
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