American Australian performer Joe Dolce’s 1980 one-hit wonder Shaddap You Face was recently inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive’s Sounds of Australia collection, which also named it Australia’s best novelty song.

For its fans, the song presciently predated the rise of Australian “wog humour” in the late 1980s – comedy by and about the experiences of migrants and their families in Australia.

For its critics, it was an example of the ethnic buffoon: a racialised stereotype whose difference is a source of humour – to be laughed at rather than laughed with.

How can we best understand this song, nearly 50 years on?

Shaddap You Face was first performed by Dolce at Fitzroy’s Marijuana House in 1979. The song tells the story of a young migrant dreaming of stardom and recalling how his mother would tell him off for his desultory attitude.

Recorded in Mike Brady’s Full Moon Records studio, Shaddap You Face would go on to surpass Brady’s own Up There Cazaly as Australia’s best-selling single ever, selling six million copies worldwide and recorded in 15 different languages, including the Indijibundji language.

Born in Ohio, Dolce migrated to Australia in 1978 following his then-wife Zadie Acton. While the marriage didn’t last, Dolce’s stay in Australia did. He soon met his wife and artistic collaborator of over 40 years, Australian artist and musician Lin Van Hek.

Prior to Shaddap You Face, Dolce........

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