"The Purple People Eater" is a novelty song written and performed by Sheb Wooley, which reached no. 1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958 from June 9 to July 14.
The voice of the purple people eater is a sped-up recording. The sound of a toy saxophone was produced in a similar fashion as the saxophone was originally recorded at a reduced speed.
The song invokes phrases from several other hit songs from that era: "Short Shorts", by The Royal Teens, and "Tequila", by The Champs, both from earlier in 1958; and "Tutti Frutti" from 1955.
*****REVISED/REFORMATTED AUGUST 28, 2018 - SR ****
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