Whammies Explained

In case you were wondering about what a whammy is: “Ian Mortenson writes that he still possesses an old record called ‘The Whammy’ on which Screamin’ Jay Hawkins tells the tragic tale of meeting a ‘big woman’ with a ‘mojo bone’ which she uses to “put the whammy” on him. Screaming Jay ends up ‘walking sideways, my mind in neutral’. This makes the whammy sound like some kind of Caribbean voodoo spell. Mr Mortenson concludes: ‘I presume a double whammy is a lot worse.’”