1973 John & Ernest – Superfly Meets Shaft

1973 John & Ernest – Superfly Meets Shaft

Before sampling began enhancing new recordings, Dickie Goodman invented a technique known as “break-ins.” He and Bill Buchanan scripted the single The Flying Saucer Parts 1 & 2.

Their record comprised fake news reports with short pieces of current records that acted as comments or responses to the reporters. The single became a sensation and peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in 1956, eventually selling over a million copies. Disgruntled owners of recordings he sampled filed a lawsuit that claimed his records violated their copyrights. The court declared the record to be a parody and opened the door to more break-ins.

Dickie made a career out of break-ins. Besides a sequel to The Flying Saucers, additional records included Santa And The Satellite in 1957, The Touchables in 1961, and Batman and His Grandmother in 1966.

In 1973, he produced a single by Jéan Free and Ernest Smith. The single, Superfly Meets Shaft by John & Ernest, only used R&B singers and songs. The record peaked at #31 on the Hot 100.

Perhaps inspired by their success, later that year Dickie returned to the recording studio and created his own single called Watergrate that parodied the Watergate scandal. The single did not quite reach the top forty, topping out at #42 on the Hot 100.

John & Ernest created three more singles, but none of them charted.

Dickie had two more top forty singles after that. His bestselling single was Mr. Jaws, a 1975 record inspired by the film Jaws that got as high as #4.