The Nicest Kids In Town Lyrics – Hairspray

Song Overview

The opener snaps like a jingle and sells like a slogan. Corny Collins turns the camera on Baltimore’s after-school dance ritual while a backbeat, sax jabs, and doo-wop pads keep the floor moving. In the 2007 film, James Marsden plays the emcee with a wink; the track doubles as a theme song and a thesis about who gets to be seen on TV in 1962. An official upload from WaterTower Music gives the cut a tidy, radio-bright gloss.

Review and Highlights

Review. The number is a candy-coated exposé. On the surface: buoyant handclaps, teen-idol harmonies, and a chorus you can chant with your mouth full of gum. Underneath: a razor line about “nice white kids” and a once-a-month carve-out for integration. Marc Shaiman writes a period-perfect chart - reed riffs, tambourine sparkle, guitar chank - and lets Corny sell a product while the lyric quietly names the price.

Highlights.

1. The chanted hook and roll-call give the show-within-a-show its TV snap.
2. That “once a month” aside frames the conflict in a single bar.
3. Education gags (“Algebra and Calculus”) play like bubblegum, but they’re telling on the adults more than the kids.

Creation History

Music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. The song originated in the 2002 Broadway score (Clarke Thorell on the cast album), then returned in the 2007 movie soundtrack (New Line Records, later issued under WaterTower Music). The film album arrived July 10, 2007, produced by Shaiman and team, and the track appears as cut 2 on the disc. The Broadway album (Sony Classical) placed it second as well.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

This is the curtain-up for the in-story TV show. Corny introduces the Council, the kids shake off their coats, and the viewers at home (Tracy and Penny) lean closer to the screen. A friendly MC voice normalizes a segregated schedule while inviting teens to perform aspiration on cue. By song’s end we know both the lure and the limits of the program.

Song Meaning

It’s satire with a smile. The lyric advertises youthful joy and, in the same breath, codifies exclusion. “Nice white kids” is not a throwaway - it’s the whole network note. Musically, the track borrows from early-60s dance-craze grammar: bop-syllable backing, brisk two-and-four, tight horn punches. The tension is the point - music built to unite a town is used to separate it.

Annotations

Hey there, teenage Baltimore… Corny Collins Show

Waters and the stage team modeled Corny’s program on Baltimore’s Buddy Deane Show, a real teen-dance staple that struggled - and ultimately folded - around the issue of integration. The reference grounds the number in local TV history, not fantasy.

Nice white kids who like to lead the way / And once a month, we have our Negro Day

Watch what the movie later does with Corny: he pushes for integration and backs Tracy, which complicates the emcee’s role as a grinning gatekeeper. The lyric plants that arc early.

(Na, na-na-na-na…)

The chant nods toward the era’s dance anthems - listeners often hear a kinship with the “na na na” hook that became famous via Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett’s “Land of 1000 Dances.” It’s not a direct lift; it’s the period’s shared vocabulary.

Then you twist and shout for your favorite star

A wink at the Isley Brothers’ 1962 hit, part of the same whirl of radio-friendly moves and call-outs that TV leveraged.

So every afternoon, drop everything… Who needs to read and write when you can dance and sing?

Camp, sure - but it also skewers a system that sells entertainment as a civic virtue while dodging harder lessons.

Pony, pony, shake it, baby

A direct shout to the Pony, a dance popularized by Chubby Checker at the dawn of the decade - one more era-true flourish in the chart.

R-r-r-roll call… And I’m… Link

The roll-call varies by version. The film expands the list beyond the Broadway album, then pauses to spotlight Link like a teen-idol reveal.

Style and production

Arranged in brisk, radio-length segments: intro tag, two compact verses, bridge-as-brand message, and a reprise-ready coda. The film mix keeps Marsden’s patter crisp over stacked ensemble vocals; horns and tambourine keep the needle in the dance-craze red.

Key Facts

• Artist: James Marsden & Motion Picture Cast of Hairspray (film version); Clarke Thorell & Original Broadway Cast (stage album)
• Composer: Marc Shaiman
• Lyricists: Scott Wittman, Marc Shaiman
• Producer (film album): Marc Shaiman, with additional producers credited on the 2007 release
• Release Date (film album): July 10, 2007
• Labels: New Line Records; later issued under WaterTower Music
• Track # (film album): 2
• Length (film album track): about 2:37
• Genre: showtune with 1962 pop, rock-and-roll and soul inflection
• Language: English

Questions and Answers

Who produced the track on the 2007 soundtrack?

Marc Shaiman, who oversaw the film’s songs after producing the Broadway cast album.

When was the film soundtrack released?

July 10, 2007.

Who wrote it?

Music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.

Is there an official video or audio upload?

Yes - WaterTower Music hosts an official YouTube upload, and major services list the cut.

Who sang it in other high-profile versions?

Clarke Thorell on the 2002 Broadway album; Derek Hough in NBC’s 2016 Hairspray Live!.

Awards and Chart Positions

The individual song wasn’t worked as a single, but the 2007 soundtrack performed like a blockbuster: it debuted strong and peaked at no. 2 on the Billboard 200, spent weeks in the top 10, and earned RIAA Platinum certification. Trade coverage clocked its week-to-week momentum during the film’s run.

Additional Info

Stage vs. screen. The Broadway album (2002) sets the template with Clarke Thorell; the movie keeps the bones but scales up the Council roll-call and camera-aware asides. Both place the number second in the running order. NBC’s Hairspray Live! (2016) puts Derek Hough in Corny’s tux and treats the song as a moving one-take TV tour.

Where the idea came from. Corny’s show borrows its DNA from Baltimore’s Buddy Deane Show, the real dance program whose integration battles echo in the lyric and plot.