Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag

"Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" is an instrumental performed by British dance-punk band Pigbag. The instrumental was written by Chris Hamlin and James Johnstone before Pigbag was formed and produced by Dave Hunt and Dick O'Dell. In the United States, the instrumental was released as an import on the Rough Trade label, where it made it to number 56 on the US dance chart. A 1982 re-release of "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" went to number three in the United Kingdom. Several covers of the instrumental have been released, including popular versions by Perfecto Allstarz and Thunderpuss.

The piece's title is a play on the James Brown song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag". Whilst the track is well known for its brass riff, the bassline of the track was also ranked by Stylus Magazine at number 40 in their 2005 list of the "Top 50 Basslines of All Time".

Perfecto Allstarz version
On 23 January 1995, Paul Oakenfold released the track "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag)", credited to Perfecto Allstarz. This version went to number six in the United Kingdom, topped the UK Dance Chart, and also charted in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Critical reception
In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton stated, "The track has lost nothing with time, a glorious catchy soul-funk instrumental that looks set to dominate dancefloors just as it did 13 years ago." Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Britain's dance and remix culture started through Adrian Sherwood's productions of the Pop Group, to which family tree Pig Bag belonged. So recycling the 1982 instrumental "Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag" is only fair." James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update described it as a "Pigbag's braying brass from 1982 driven now by bursts of Goodmen-ish percussion like Postflix's 'Rototom', in organ and 'reach up' divas prodded 136.2bpm [track]".

Track listings

 * 12-inch, UK (1995)
 * 1) "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag)" (Perfecto remix)
 * 2) "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag)" (Indian Summer remix)
 * 3) "Zed's Dead"


 * CD single, Europe (1995)
 * 1) "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag)" (radio edit) – 3:40
 * 2) "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag)" (Perfecto remix) – 7:02
 * 3) "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag)" (Indian Summer remix) – 6:47
 * 4) "Zed's Dead" – 6:40

Thunderpuss version
In 2001, Thunderpuss had a number-one dance hit on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart when they covered the track.

In popular culture

 * English darts player Adrian Lewis uses "Reach Up" as his pre-match walk-on song. Former 3-times Lakeside World Champion Glen Durrant used the same song in his BDO years, however he was forced to change it as he switched to the PDC circuit to avoid clash with Lewis.
 * Molly McCann at UFC Fight Night 208 led the crowd in a chant of "fuck the Tories" using this riff.
 * Dutch DJ duo Carte Blanq sampled "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" for their tribute song on Dutch Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen's first World Drivers' Championship victory, "33 Max Verstappen".
 * EFL Championship club Middlesbrough FC uses "Reach Up" as their club anthem as the players walk out onto the pitch for home games at the Riverside Stadium.