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song, because I don’t want to make fun of something that’s tragic. I sadly found out there was a parallel in reality, but only after the fact. It never occurred to me that there could be anything quite like that." Buoys lead singer Bill Kelly backed up this account, stating "Rupert never knew anything about
Sheppton. The correlation between the incident and the song are totally random."
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440:, which at that time were based heavily on radio airplay. Yet "Timothy" had already attracted such a great following that as some radio stations banned the song, competing stations would pick it up to meet the demand. As a result, instead of dropping off as expected, it continued slowly moving up the
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from the perspective of one of the miners. By the time they're rescued, only two of them survive. Although the fate of the missing man, Timothy, is never explicitly revealed, it is strongly implied by the fact that the two survivors, once hungry and with no access to food, and only enough water for
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contract. Since the deal did not call for the label to promote the single, the band would have to find some other way to get themselves and their song known. Holmes suggested a novel solution to this problem: to purposefully record a song likely to be banned, thus generating publicity for the Buoys
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approach to songwriting had worked better than he, the Buoys, or
Scepter Records ever expected. To appease the stations that banned the song, Scepter created two promotional singles with the original version on the A-sides and one of two differently edited versions on the B-sides. One edit revises
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and "Timothy", but Holmes has dismissed these saying he was not even aware of
Sheppton until after the song was released and claimed he probably would not even have written it if he did know. In an interview, Holmes said, "If I had known about at the time, I probably never would have written the
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The success of "Timothy" and its writer's methods may have worked too well for the Buoys' sake. Although
Scepter did re-sign the band to record an album, they were left with the problem of how to follow up on a hit song as unusual as "Timothy". Ultimately the Buoys proved unable to duplicate that
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leaving him unable to recall how they found food or what happened to
Timothy (the lyrics make it clear he suspects he and Joe ate Timothy; "God, why don't I know?!"). To make the song appealing to listeners, Holmes disguised the borderline-gruesome lyrics to a degree by juxtaposing them against a
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out the word "hell" in the second verse. The record labels (in black and white for promotional issues) indicate these versions under the song title as "Revised Lyric" (SDR-12275) and "Edited, Bleeped Out" (SDJ-12275), respectively. There is no known version with both edits in the same mix.
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451:, not a person, in order to get radio stations that had banned the song to reconsider. When asked about this claim, however, Holmes refused to play along with the Scepter executives. Even so, "Timothy" kept climbing the chart, finally peaking at #17. Holmes'
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two people, show no sign of hunger when they're rescued. Indeed, the singer's "stomach was full as it could be"; how they found food, however, is purposely left blank, and the singer has
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Timothy's fate from the lyrics. Only as the song became more frequently requested did radio stations begin to take note of it and its unsettling subject matter. Then, just as
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feat, although they did manage one more minor hit with "Give Up Your Guns" (also co-written by Holmes) before disbanding; two of the members of the Buoys went on to form
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asserts that, as a pop songwriter, Holmes always wrote about contemporary popular trends. The bots retort by citing "Timothy" ("That was about cannibalism. When was
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373:) as inspirations for "Timothy". He decided to combine the themes of these two works into a ballad of three miners — Timothy, Joe, and the singer — trapped by a
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Top 100, it spent two weeks at #13. In Canada, the song reached #9. "Timothy" became the Buoys' best known song and their most successful song to chart on
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the lyric "My stomach was full as it could be" to "Both of us fine as we could be". The second version includes the "stomach" lyric but
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chart. Once they realized they had a hit record on their hands, Scepter
Records executives tried to claim that Timothy was really a
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Despite initial efforts from radio stations to ban the song, "Timothy" proved to be a success for the Buoys. It reached the U.S.
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popular?"), but Joel assures the bots that it is a "well-known fact that
Timothy was a duck". In the episode featuring the film
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Although not an official member of the band, Holmes did play the piano on this song in addition to writing it.
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Top 40 chart on April 17, 1971, where it remained on the chart for eight weeks and peaked at #17. On the U.S.
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Under normal circumstances, a radio ban would be considered the "
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Song written by Rupert Holmes and recorded by the Buoys in 1971
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965:(2nd ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. p. 813.
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The song was used in the first episode of season three of
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accompaniment, arranged and conducted by Howard Reeves.
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and aftermath, with the implication the two survivors
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56:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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752:"The "Golden Hits Of The 70s": Buoys "Tiimothy""
606:"Timothy" is mentioned prominently in humorist
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1142:"MST3K - S09E13 - Quest of the Delta Knights"
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1087:"Top 100 Hits of 1971/Top 100 Songs of 1971"
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784:Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990
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347:Holmes has cited the 1947 country song "
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1067:from the original on 18 September 2016
729:from the original on 15 September 2013
614:as one of the worst songs of all time.
762:from the original on November 8, 2020
7:
1266:Lake Freeze – The Raccoons Songtrack
1117:MST3K: Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
54:adding citations to reliable sources
962:The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars
275:in 1970. The song describes a mine
433:" for a single's prospects on the
369:(which also contains allusions to
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1399:Obscenity controversies in music
1130:from the original on 2021-12-11.
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1181:"Timothy" page on Songfacts.com
1154:from the original on 2021-12-18
1097:from the original on 2016-10-11
1036:from the original on 2021-12-18
1011:from the original on 2018-07-06
979:from the original on 2021-12-18
907:from the original on 2021-06-04
877:from the original on 2016-10-06
848:from the original on 2016-09-18
819:from the original on 2012-09-20
637:are discussing Rupert Holmes' "
322:and a colleague had discovered
41:needs additional citations for
1419:Songs written by Rupert Holmes
703:Cannibalism in popular culture
337:no such thing as bad publicity
318:According to his own account,
1:
1316:Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
601:References in popular culture
471:Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
867:"Timothy by Buoys Songfacts"
756:www.onehitwondersthebook.com
723:"Record Details (SCE-12275)"
620:Mystery Science Theater 3000
351:" (about the hard life of a
1060:Library and Archives Canada
684:"Timothy" can be heard in "
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1284:The Mystery of Edwin Drood
895:Wiser, Carl (2017-01-13).
652:Quest of the Delta Knights
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391:with a heavy emphasis on
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1176:Full lyrics of this song
482:Sheppton mining disaster
21:Timothy (disambiguation)
1409:Songs about cannibalism
1404:Scepter Records singles
1394:American pop rock songs
686:The Road to Cincinnati
330:to sign them to a one-
1186:Rupert Holmes website
499:Weekly singles charts
1362:Say Goodnight Gracie
807:"Top 100 1971-05-15"
473:" in late 1979 and "
366:Suddenly Last Summer
357:1959 film adaptation
50:improve this article
19:For other uses, see
1192:Listen to "Timothy"
1091:Musicoutfitters.com
1032:. 30 January 2016.
1004:The Citizens' Voice
65:"Timothy" song
1414:Songs about mining
1389:1971 debut singles
406:Unexpected success
361:Tennessee Williams
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1248:Partners in Crime
932:(February 1970).
901:www.songfacts.com
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1156:. Retrieved
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690:The Simpsons
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665:Channel Zero
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522:Top Singles
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379:first person
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349:Sixteen Tons
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281:cannibalized
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48:Please help
43:verification
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371:cannibalism
343:Inspiration
248:Producer(s)
1384:1970 songs
1378:Categories
1158:2020-02-08
1101:2016-10-05
1040:2020-11-26
1015:2018-07-06
983:2021-04-23
945:2021-12-18
911:2021-12-18
881:2016-10-05
852:2016-10-05
823:2015-09-15
709:References
608:Dave Barry
355:) and the
353:coal miner
158:The Buoys
76:newspapers
930:The Buoys
581:Billboard
533:Billboard
511:position
443:Billboard
436:Billboard
424:the Buoys
324:the Buoys
308:Billboard
297:Billboard
269:The Buoys
150:The Buoys
131:"Timothy"
1309:Terminal
1291:Curtains
1276:Musicals
1152:Archived
1128:Archived
1095:Archived
1065:Archived
1034:Archived
1009:Archived
977:Archived
938:(Song).
905:Archived
875:Archived
846:Archived
817:Archived
760:Archived
758:. 1997.
727:Archived
697:See also
629:(1965),
583:Hot 100
552:Top 100
549:Cash Box
303:Cash Box
265:pop rock
198:Pop rock
184:Recorded
176:Released
1348:Timothy
1301:Singles
1197:YouTube
1147:YouTube
1123:YouTube
935:Timothy
733:17 June
681:(2019).
641:", and
617:In the
537:Hot 100
516:Canada
445:Hot 100
375:cave-in
359:of the
277:cave-in
263:" is a
261:Timothy
226:Scepter
90:scholar
969:
790:
592:
467:Dakota
458:bleeps
420:Holmes
416:deduce
397:string
389:melody
332:single
314:Origin
273:single
204:Length
166:B-side
146:Single
92:
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635:Servo
579:U.S.
574:Rank
546:U.S.
530:U.S.
393:brass
363:play
271:as a
221:Label
193:Genre
97:JSTOR
83:books
1073:2015
967:ISBN
928:and
788:ISBN
768:2020
735:2018
670:SYFY
657:Mike
647:that
633:and
631:Crow
509:Peak
449:mule
422:and
395:and
187:1970
69:news
1323:Him
1195:on
610:'s
586:87
555:13
541:17
519:RPM
475:Him
339:".
148:by
52:by
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