All you have to do is hear the opening line of “Joy to the World,” “Jeremiah was a bullfrog” and you know instantly what song is being played. This was Three Dog Night’s second number one, so the early Seventies were very good to the group.

“Joy to the World” was written by the great Hoyt Axton, and he took the song to the group because he knew them, having opened for them at several concerts. At first the group thought it sounded like a children’s song and didn’t want to record it. I don’t think Three Dog Night were very good at picking their songs, since they didn’t want to record “Mama Told Me Not to Come” either and that was their first number one. But when Hoyt heard the spin Three Dog Night put on the song, he didn’t like it and also thought it would never sell. How wrong they all were.

Exactly fifteen years earlier, in 1956, Elvis Presley had a number one song called “Heartbreak Hotel.” It was co-written by Mae Axton who happens to be Hoyt’s mother. This is the only time in the rock era that a mother and her son have both written number one songs. It has never happened again.

Three Dog Night consisted of seven members, a big group for a rock band. The original three, Chuck Negron, Danny Hutton and Cory Wells were all lead singers and did the singing on almost all of their recordings. On this song, however, all seven of the guys are singing. If you listen carefully, toward the end of the song, there’s this deep bass voice who sings “I wanna tell you.” That’s drummer Floyd Sneed.

Football loves “Joy to the World.” According to Wikipedia, the song is played at the conclusion of every Denver Broncos home victory. It was played at Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego, at Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami Gardens, Florida and Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California.

“Joy to the World” wasn’t just a hit, it was a huge hit. It debuted on the pop charts on March 27, 1971. About one month later, during the week of April 11, it hit number one where it stayed for six weeks. Even before it hit number one, on April 6, RIAA certified the record as a million seller. It went on to sell over five million copies, making it one of the best-selling records of all time. It was ranked by Billboard magazine as the top selling record of 1971 and nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. They lost to the Carpenters.