The song consists almost in its entirety of a sampled loop from "Whistle Stop" by Roger Miller which was featured in the Disney movie Robin Hood . The sample was first featured on the Internet as part of

on the website of the same name.
The song's closing lines are of an announcer of a children's radio show (actually a clip recorded in the 60s, based on a long standing urban legend ):
"And this is your Uncle Dan saying good night.
:Good night, little kids, good night.
We're off? Good, well that oughta hold the little bastards."
The song was first aired on John Peel 's BBC Radio 1 show on April 7 1999 and quickly became one of the most requested songs on his show, surpassing even " God Save the Queen " by the Sex Pistols .
After being included on a free sampler CD on the industry magazine The Tip Sheet , the song caught the attention of numerous large record label s including EMI , Parlophone and RCA , thanks mostly to the efforts of Jonathan King . The band eventually signed for EMI. They were given £ 25,000 to record a video for the song which ended up featuring a giant fibreglass melon covered in trifle and a live-action

singing along.
Originally scheduled for release as a single in November 1999 , the release date was threatened to be pushed back to some time in January 2000 until the song was played on Jo Whiley 's afternoon radio show. It received much the same attention as when it had been played on Peel's show. The decision was made to move the release to December 13 to put it in line for the Christmas number 1 slot. It managed to get to number 4, being beaten by Westlife 's "I Have a Dream". The song did however top John Peel's Festive Fifty for that year.
Because of the relative obscurity of

both before and after the single, they are generally considered to be a one-hit wonder .