Hang On Sloopy " Hang on Sloopy " is a 1964 song by Wes Farrell and Bert Russell , originally titled " My Girl Sloopy " . It was named for singer Dorothy Sloop , who used the name " Sloopy " on stage . It was first recorded by The Vibrations in 1964 , for Atlantic Records ( 45 - 2222 ) , becoming a top - 30 hit . As recorded by the pop group The McCoys , " Hang on Sloopy " went to # 1 in America in October 1965 . It served as the title track of a live 1965 recording ( released on Rhapsody in 1966 ) by the Ramsey Lewis Trio ; the disc became a gold record . Later it became the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University . It has also been recorded by The Ventures ( Liberty 1965 ) as well as by Arseno Rodriguez ( Bang 1966 ) , The Supremes ( Motown 1966 ) , The Kingsmen ( WAND 1966 ) , Little Caesar and the Consuls , The Yardbirds , Saving Jane , Jan & Dean ( Liberty - LP " Folk ' n ' Roll " 1965 ) , David Porter ( Enterprise " Into A Real Thing " 1971 ) , Lieutenant Pigeon and Die Toten Hosen ( 2002 ) . It was also recorded by Ric Mango of Jay and The Americans and Johnny Maestro as a duet for an uncompleted album project . It was released on a 2011 CD titled " The Ric Mango Story " . It has also been performed by Johnny Thunders and the Oddballs in a medley with " Louie Louie " and can be heard on the " Add Water and Stir " live Japan bootleg . History . In 1965 , The Strangeloves , a rock band who purported to be from Australia , decided to make the song the follow - up to their hit single " I Want Candy " , and began performing the song in concert . However , the Dave Clark Five , with whom they were touring , told the Strangeloves that they were going to record their own version of the song , copying the Strangeloves ' arrangement . The Strangeloves realized that the Dave Clark Five ' s version would probably outsell their own , but they were still enjoying success with " I Want Candy " and did not want to release a new single yet . So the trio — who were , in reality , three successful writer / producers from Brooklyn , New York — recruited a group from Union City , Indiana , Rick and the Raiders , to record the song instead . The group ' s name was changed to The McCoys ( to avoid confusion with another popular band of the era , Paul Revere and the Raiders ) , and their 16 - year - old leader , Rick Zehringer , became known as Rick Derringer . The group added vocals and a guitar solo to the already - completed Strangeloves backing track , and the single was released on Bang Records . It entered the chart on August 14 , 1965 , effectively beating the Dave Clark Five to the charts . The single went on to hit number one on October 2 . Originally written and recorded with three verses , " Hang on Sloopy " was edited down to two verses for the single and original " Hang on Sloopy " album . The unedited three - verse version first appeared on the 1970 Bang various artists compilation " Bang & Shout Super Hits " ( BLPS - 220 ) , then again in 1995 on the Sony Legacy compilation " Hang on Sloopy : The Best Of The McCoys " The song gained an association with The Ohio State University after its marching band began playing it at football games ; it first played it October 9 , 1965 after a band member , John Tatgenhorst , begged the director to try playing it . After finally convincing the director , Tatgenhorst arranged the song and the band played . After the crowd reaction , the band began to play it at every game and now it is a Saturday tradition to play the song before the start of the fourth quarter of every Buckeye game . Since then , " Sloopy " has been appearing on the band ' s CDs and is available as a free download on its website . A possible reason that John Tatgenhorst brought the song to the band was that he heard it played , over and over and over again at the CharBar , one of the most popular bars at OSU , just across the street from the main entrance to the campus at 17th and High St . A group of bar regulars led by Paul Svec ( who lived behind the CharBar at the time ) took advantage of the house rule that gave whoever placed a coin next to the juke box the right to play the next song . Paul organized hundreds of coins placed in a line on table tops all around the main floor of the bar so that " Hang on Sloopy " was played all day long . The song quickly became the most popular song on the CharBar juke box and at OSU . The song has also become a feature at the home games of professional sports teams throughout Ohio where , as is the case at Ohio State , fans usually chant the letters " O , H , I , O " during the pauses in the chorus while mimicking the shape of the letters with their arms . At least one source includes a possible connection between the song and Charles J . Givens . Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band also covered this song live in concert on May 2 , 2009 in Greensboro , North Carolina . Rick Derringer was still playing the song live with Ringo Starr & His All - Starr Band in November , 2011 . Legacy . The basic riff of the song became a staple of garage band s during the 1960s , being used on such songs as The Weeds ' " It ' s Your Time " and Kit and the Outlaws ' " Dude and the Sundowners " and " Don ' t Tread on Me . " The song was covered by The Beau Brummels on the band ' s 1966 album " Beau Brummels ' 66 " . A 1973 cover version by Ramsey Lewis won the Grammy Award for Best R & B Instrumental Performance in 1974 . Punk rock band , Youth in Asia ( New Jersey ) recorded the song on their 1984 album " Pulling Out the Plug " . A parody named " Hang on Snoopy " was included on Swiss rock group Patent Ochsner ' s 1994 album " Gmües " . Prior to this , a " Hang on Snoopy " parody was used in The Royal Guardsmen ' s hit single " Snoopy vs . the Red Baron , " but was removed after copyright threats . All - girl Japanese punk band Lolita No . 18 covered the song , which is a testament to its far - reaching influences . The song was also covered by the German punk - rock band Die Toten Hosen as b - side for their 2000 single " Bayern . " Also in 2000 , Aaron Carter recorded his version , included as a bonus track on his second album , " Aaron ' s Party ( Come Get It ) " . In 2006 , the rock group Saving Jane recorded the song also . There is a character in the novel " The Wanderers " by Richard Price named " Hang on Sloopy . " The song also appears in several " Peanuts " cartoons but the words are altered slightly to " Hang on Snoopy " . The family of the late Bert Russell Berns call their music publishing company Sloopy II Music . In Mexico was covered by the Rock & Roll group Los Teen Tops " ( The Teen Tops ) " and known as " Lupita mi Amor " " ( Lupita , My Love ) " . The Smashing Pumpkins also released a cover of the song in their Live Smashing Pumpkins album series . The band Islands uses the chorus in a b - side named " Two Dogs . " " Sloopy " is commonly misheard as " Snoopy " in the song ( Snoopy is a dog from the comic strip " Peanuts " by Charles Schulz ) . Official rock song of the state of Ohio . In April 1985 , a columnist for the " Columbus Citizen - Journal " , saw a wire service story about a proposal to designate " Louie , Louie " as the official State song of Washington and wrote a story about it . Both the public and its elected officials - - most importantly , the 116th Ohio General Assembly became aware their State lacked an official song as a result of the exposure from his commentary . They designated " Hang on Sloopy " as the State rock song by House Concurrent Resolution 16 on November 20 , 1985 , with clauses including : and Professional sports . " Hang on Sloopy " is now also the official song of Major League Baseball ' s Cleveland Indians , who play at Progressive Field in Cleveland , Ohio . Many American ballparks have a tradition of choosing an 8th inning song for the fans and team , and " Hang on Sloopy " fills that role , and is played during the middle of every 8th inning . The song also plays at the end of the 3rd quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium during every Cleveland Browns game , and is also played at Cleveland Cavaliers games at Quicken Loans Arena . .