Signs ( Five Man Electrical band song ) - Wikipedia Signs ( Five Man Electrical band song ) `` Signs '' Single by Five Man Electrical Band from the album Good - byes and Butterflies B - side `` Hello Melinda Goodbye '' Released May 1971 Genre Hard rock Length 4 : 05 ( album version ) 3 : 20 ( single version ) Label Lionel Records Songwriter ( s ) Les Emmerson Producer ( s ) Dallas Smith Five Man Electrical Band singles chronology `` Signs '' ( 1971 ) `` Absolutely Right '' ( 1971 ) `` Signs '' ( 1971 ) `` Absolutely Right '' ( 1971 ) `` Signs '' is a song by the Canadian rock group Five Man Electrical Band. It was written by the band 's frontman, Les Emmerson and popularized the relatively unknown band, who recorded it for their second album, Good - byes and Butterflies, in 1970. `` Signs '' was originally released that year as the B - side to the relatively unsuccessful single `` Hello Melinda Goodbye '' ( # 55 Canada ). Re-released in 1971 as the A-side, `` Signs '' reached No. 4 in Canada and No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 24 song for 1971. It became a gold record. Contents 1 Chart performance 1.1 Weekly charts 1.2 Year - end charts 2 Tesla version 2.1 Track listings 2.2 Chart performance 3 Other covers and samples 4 References 5 External links Chart performance Weekly charts Chart ( 1971 ) Peak position Canadian RPM Top Singles US Billboard Hot 100 US Cash Box Top 100 7 Year - end charts Chart ( 1971 ) Rank Canada 55 US Billboard Hot 100 24 US Cash Box Top 100 17 Tesla version `` Signs '' Cover for the 7 '' single Single by Tesla from the album Five Man Acoustical Jam Released November 1990 Recorded July 2, 1990 Venue Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia, PA Genre Acoustic rock Length 3 : 15 Label Geffen Songwriter ( s ) Les Emmerson Producer ( s ) Dan McClendon Tesla singles chronology `` Love Song '' ( 1989 ) `` Signs '' ( 1990 ) `` The Way It Is '' ( 1991 ) `` Love Song '' ( 1989 ) `` Signs '' ( 1990 ) `` The Way It Is '' ( 1991 ) `` Signs '' was covered and recorded live by Tesla for their Five Man Acoustical Jam album in 1990, peaking at number 8 on the Pop charts. This cover had some minor changes to the lyrics : the line `` blockin ' out the scenery '' was changed to `` fuckin ' up the scenery, '' and `` made up my own little sign '' was changed to `` made up my own fuckin ' sign ''. A studio version recorded in 2007, which appeared on the EP A Peace of Time, used the original lyrics. Track listings 7 '' single Side A No. Title Length 1. `` Signs '' ( Clean Version ) 3 : 11 Side B No. Title Length 1. `` Down Fo ' Boogie '' ( LP Version ) 3 : 21 12 '' single Side A No. Title Length 1. `` Signs '' ( LP Version ) 3 : 15 Side B No. Title Length 1. `` Little Suzi '' ( Live Acoustic Version ) 3 : 53 2. `` Down Fo ' Boogie '' ( LP Version ) 3 : 21 CD single No. Title Length 1. `` Signs '' ( Clean Version ) 3 : 11 2. `` Down Fo ' Boogie '' ( Single Version ) 3 : 21 3. `` Little Suzi '' ( Live Acoustic Version ) 3 : 53 Chart performance Chart ( 1990 − 1991 ) Peak position US Hot 100 ( Billboard ) 8 US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) UK Singles ( Official Charts Company ) 70 Other covers and samples The opening line of the song, `` And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply '', was sampled by Fatboy Slim for his song `` Do n't Let The Man Get You Down '', from his Palookaville album. ApologetiX recorded a parody of the song titled `` Lions '', telling a Biblical story of a character named Daniel in a lion 's den. It was originally included on the cassette of Radical History Tour, and was later re-issued on the `` Director 's Cut '' edition of Is n't Was n't Ai n't. The Evolution Control Committee used only part of the song 's opening line `` the sign said long haired freaky people '' on the track `` Freaky People '' from their 2011 album All Rights Reserved. References Jump up ^ `` Top Quality Rock Helps Labels Turnaround Their Profit Picture ''. Billboard. 6 November 1971. p. RN - 34. ISSN 0006 - 2510. Jump up ^ `` RMP100 Singles, July 24, 19751 ''. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 30. Jump up ^ Joel Whitburn 's Top Pop Singles 1955 - 1990 - ISBN 0 - 89820 - 089 - X Jump up ^ `` Cash Box Top 100 9 / 04 / 71 ''. tropicalglen.com. 1971 - 09 - 04. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada ''. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 03. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1971 / Top 100 Songs of 1971 ''. Music Outfitters. Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 29. Jump up ^ `` Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1971 ''. tropicalglen.com. 1971 - 12 - 25. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 28. Jump up ^ Joel Whitburn ( 2008 ). Joel Whitburn Presents Rock Tracks 1981 - 2008. Record Research. p. 255. ISBN 978 - 0 - 89820 - 174 - 1. Jump up ^ `` Tesla Chart History - Hot 100 ''. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved August 8, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Tesla Chart History ''. Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved August 8, 2018. Jump up ^ Roberts, David ( 2006 ). British Hit Singles & Albums ( 19th ed. ). London : Guinness World Records Limited. p. 554. ISBN 1 - 904994 - 10 - 5. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Five Man Electrical Band Ted Gerow Les Emmerson Steve Hollingworth Rick Smithers Wes Reed Brian Slim Dean Hagopian Vern Craig Brian Rading Mike Belanger Rick Belanger J. Murray Davison Studio albums Good - byes and Butterflies Coming of Age Singles `` Signs '' Tesla Brian Wheat Frank Hannon Jeff Keith Troy Luccketta Dave Rude Steve Clausman Bobby Contreras Colleen Lloy Brook Bright Jeff Harper Joey Murrieta Curtis Chapman Tommy Skeoch Stefano Pasta Tommy Armstrong - Leavitt Studio albums Mechanical Resonance The Great Radio Controversy Psychotic Supper Bust a Nut Into the Now Forever More Simplicity Acoustic albums Twisted Wires & the Acoustic Sessions Cover albums Real to Reel Real to Reel, Vol. 2 EPs A Peace of Time Live albums Five Man Acoustical Jam Replugged Live Standing Room Only Alive in Europe Compilations Time 's Makin ' Changes -- The Best of Tesla Tesla - Gold 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection : The Best of Tesla Time Machine Singles `` Modern Day Cowboy '' `` Little Suzi '' `` Heaven 's Trail ( No Way Out ) '' `` Hang Tough '' `` Love Song '' `` Signs '' `` Thank You '' Related articles Discography Bar 7 Nikola Tesla Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Signs_(Five_Man_Electrical_Band_song)&oldid=861456826 '' Categories : 1970 songs 1971 singles 1990 singles Environmental songs Five Man Electrical Band songs Protest songs Songs written by Les Emmerson Tesla ( band ) songs Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from June 2016 Use Canadian English from June 2016 All Wikipedia articles written in Canadian English Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Edit links This page was last edited on 27 September 2018, at 15 : 29 ( UTC ). 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Question: who did the original version of the song signs
Answer: Canadian rock group Five Man Electrical Band