About The Song
– “Treat Me Nice” was a song featured in the film Jailhouse Rock. It was the B-side to the film’s title track “Jailhouse Rock”. In the film, construction worker Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) accidentally kills a drunken, belligerent man in a barroom brawl and is sentenced to not less than 1 year in the state penitentiary for manslaughter. He serves 14 months. His cellmate is a washed-up country singer named Hunk Houghton (Mickey Shaughnessy) who was jailed for bank robbery, starts teaching Vince a few extra chords on the six-string acoustic guitar after hearing Vince sing and strum Hunk’s guitar. Hunk then convinces Vince to participate in an upcoming inmate show, which is broadcast on nationwide television. Vince receives numerous fan letters as a result; but, out of apparent jealousy, Hunk ensures they are not delivered to Vince. Hunk then convinces Vince to sign a “contract” to become equal partners in his act once both of them are out of jail. Meanwhile, during an inmate riot in the mess hall, a guard shoves Vince, who retaliates by striking the guard. As a result, the warden orders Vince to be lashed with a whip. Afterwards, it was discovered that Hunk attempted to bribe the guards to drop the punishment but had insufficient currency.
– Upon Vince’s release 14 months later, the warden gives Vince his fan mail, kept from Vince. After several setbacks, he decides to form a record label with local promotor Peggy Van Alden (Judy Tyler). He records “Treat Me Nice”, and after the song is played on a local radio show it becomes an instant hit.
– In “Treat Me Nice” a guy is letting his date know “it’s not fair to tease. So, if you come on cold, I’m really going to freeze.” The way to treat him right is to “scratch my back and run your pretty fingers through my hair.” If she “behaves,” he promises he’ll be her “slave.” But the key to earning his love is to treat him “nice.”
– “Treat Me Nice” peaked at #1 in Ottawa (ON), #2 in Vancouver (BC), Buffalo and St Louis, #3 in Worcester (MA), Victoria (BC), Pittsburgh, Albany (NY), and Dearborn (MI), #4 in Salt Lake City, #5 in Burlington (VT), and #9 in San Francisco, and Dauphin (MB).
Video
Lyric
When I walk through that door
Baby be polite
You’re gonna make me sore
If you don’t greet me right
Don’t you ever kiss me once, kiss me twice
Treat me niceI know that you’ve been told
It’s not fair to tease
So if you come on cold
I’m really gonna freeze
If you don’t want me to be cold as ice
Treat me niceMake me feel at home
If you really care
Scratch my back and run your pretty
Fingers through my hairYou know I’ll be your slave
If you ask me to
But if you don’t behave
I’ll walk right out on you
If you want my love then take my advice
Treat me niceMake me feel at home
If you really care
Scratch my back and run your pretty
Fingers through my hairYou know I’ll be your slave
If you ask me to
But if you don’t behave
I’ll walk right out on you
If you want my love then take my advice
Treat me niceIf you really want my love then treat me nice
Barbara Desetto