Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of Maximum Fun.org and is distributed by NPR.

One, two, one, two, three.

It's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorne.

There are songs that just work for basically everyone.

Songs that give you some feeling, a vibrant, specific feeling.

And pursuant to this, I submit to you the Uggum-Bugam song.

Oogam, Boogum, now, baby, you're casting you still all me.

I say, Ongum, Ongum, Boogum, Boogum, Now, baby, you're casting you're still all me. You got a silly It's a silly title, obviously, and the lyrics, pretty silly too,

and finding things like a clown, just a look at me.

It's a silly title, obviously, and the lyrics, especially the chorus, pretty silly too.

But there's something about that feeling. The falsetto

that's sweet, almost playful, the drums bouncing along, the jangly little guitar hits,

it's hard to be in a bad mood after you hear the Ugum-Bulgum song. In fact, it's probably not

worth the effort. Better to just kick your feet up, have a nice tea, and breathe easy for a minute.

That song was released in 1967. Its singer

was Brenton Wood. Wood also co-wrote it. He's also responsible for the hit songs,

Give Me Little Sign and Me and You. You'll hear those later on. Brenton died a few weeks ago,

and man, what a loss. He had a sound, the sweetness and lightness, the

bounce, the cool. They helped define what these days are called lowrider oldies. In the big

wide world, he was a guy who had a few minor to mid-size hits. In the world of east side story

compilations and dropped Chevy fleet lines, he was basically Bruce Springsteen.

I saw Brenton Wood in concert a few years ago, and it wasn't at some jazz club or performing art center on a college campus.

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