Hole in My Shoe
1967 single by Traffic
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"Hole in My Shoe" is a song by English rock band Traffic, released as a single in 1967, which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart,[4] number 22 in the German charts,[5] number 2 in New Zealand,[6] and number 4 in Canada.[7] Composed by guitarist Dave Mason (the first song he ever wrote),[8] it was disliked by the other three members of the group who felt that it did not represent the band's musical or lyrical style.[9]
| "Hole in My Shoe" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Single by Traffic | ||||
| B-side | "Smiling Phases" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) | |||
| Released | August 1967 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:52 | |||
| Label | Island WIP 6017 United Artists UA 50218 | |||
| Songwriter | Dave Mason | |||
| Producer | Jimmy Miller | |||
| Traffic singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "Hole in My Shoe" on YouTube | ||||
The song features a spoken-word midsection by Chris Blackwell's stepdaughter, Francine Heimann, in which she tells a little story about a giant albatross.[10] In February 2026, the song was adapted into a children's book by Mason (accomponied by a re-recording featuring John McFee of American rock band The Doobie Brothers and his wife Winifred taking Heimann's place on the spoken-word parts), shortly before his death.[11][8]
Personnel
Musicians
- Jim Capaldi – drums, backing vocals
- Dave Mason – lead vocals, guitar, Mellotron, sitar
- Steve Winwood – Hammond organ, bass guitar, piano, backing vocals
- Chris Wood – flute, backing vocals
- Francine Heimann – spoken word (uncredited)
Technical
- Eddie Kramer – engineer
- Jimmy Miller – producer
Cover version
In July 1984, Nigel Planer, who played Neil in the BBC sitcom The Young Ones, recorded a cover version of the song, which reached the same number 2 peak as the original.[12] It also peaked at number 1 in Ireland[13] and number 29 in Australia.[14] His version featured Barbara Gaskin on backing vocals and was produced by Dave Stewart.
