| Hole in My Shoe | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Traffic |
| B-Side: | "Smiling Phases" (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) |
| Released: | August 1967 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 2:52 |
| Label: | Island WIP 6017 United Artists UA 50218 |
| Producer: | Jimmy Miller |
| Prev Title: | Paper Sun |
| Prev Year: | 1967 |
| Next Title: | Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush |
| Next Year: | 1967 |
"Hole in My Shoe" is a song by English rock band Traffic featuring a spoken-word midsection by Chris Blackwell's stepdaughter, Francine Heimann, in which she tells a little story about a giant albatross. It was released as a single in 1967 and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart,[3] number 22 in the German charts,[4] and number 4 in Canada.[5] Composed by guitarist Dave Mason, 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.[6]
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.[7] It also peaked at number 29 in Australia.[8] His version featured Barbara Gaskin on backing vocals and was produced by Dave Stewart.[9]