| Mississippi | |
| Cover: | Mississippi Pussycat Dutch cover.png |
| Caption: | One of the Dutch artwork variants |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Pussycat |
| Album: | First of All |
| B-Side: | "Do It"[1] |
| Label: |
|
| Producer: | Eddy Hilberts |
| Next Title: | Georgie |
| Next Year: | 1976 |
"Mississippi" is a song by Dutch country pop band Pussycat. Written by Werner Theunissen and produced by Eddy Hilberts, "Mississippi" was the group's first number-one single in their home country, as well as their only number-one single in most countries worldwide. In New Zealand and South Africa, "Mississippi" was their first of two number-one singles; it was the best-selling single of 1977 in the latter nation.
Werner Theunissen wrote "Mississippi" in 1969 after being inspired by the Bee Gees song "Massachusetts". The song grabbed EMI Bovema's attention, and they decided to sign the band. By December 1975, the song had topped the Dutch Singles Chart. Its international success came in 1976, when it reached number one in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as number two in Australia, number four in Austria, and number six in Sweden. In South Africa, "Mississippi" was the highest-selling single of 1977. It is estimated to have sold five million copies worldwide.[2] Outside the Netherlands, Pussycat would later achieve more number-one singles in New Zealand and South Africa,[3] [4] but in most territories, "Mississippi" was their highest-charting effort.
In the UK, the song was promoted by John Saunders Hughes through a Liverpool radio station. The lyrics are about the history of music, and how rock music became more popular than country music.
| Chart (1975–1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 2 |
| Denmark (Denmark Radio)[6] | 9 |
| Israel (Israel Broadcasting Service)[7] | 3 |
| South Africa (Springbok Radio) | 1 |
| Chart (1976) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] | 13 | |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10] | 18 | |
| Belgium (Ultratop)[11] | 3 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] | 56 | |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] | 3 | |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] | 5 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[15] | 3 | |
| West Germany (Official German Charts)[16] | 2 |
Swedish dansband Vikingarna covered the song in Swedish, with lyrics by Margot Borgström, in April 1976, less than six months after the original release. The Swedish song title was also "Mississippi", and it appeared on the band's album Kramgoa Låtar 3 the same year.[18]