Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman

Album: The Completion Backward Principle (1981)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Tubes were fascinated by campy pop culture, and it doesn't get much more campy than Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman, a 1958 movie about a woman who grows to 10 times her normal size after she is touched by a giant hand belonging to an alien of some kind. She goes on a rampage, ripping the roof off of a building and killing those who crossed her.

    The film is a classic B-movie, combining sci-fi, horror and comedy into an entertaining mess. And of course, the 50-foot woman is really hot and lightly clothed. This song is an homage to the film, telling a similar story about a guy whose girlfriend grows to that size after being exposed to nuclear radiation. She also goes out of control, stomping on men to get her kicks.
  • Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill wrote the lyric to this song, which is one of his favorites. "It's a funny song," he told Songfacts. "I get to play the boyfriend - the young kid who was stunned by the transformation. It's a really fun song to sing."
  • This was included on The Completion Backward Principle, the group's first album with Capitol Records, and their commercial breakthrough. A fun, quirky song with a strong visual element, "Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman" is in line with what the group was doing in the '70s when they were signed to A&M Records. Other songs on The Completion Backward Principle, which was produced by hit man David Foster, had more pop appeal, notably "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" and "Talk To Ya Later."

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