In reaction to the Iran hostage crisis which began in November 1979, the first publicly known version of this parody was recorded by a group called "the Baritone Dwarfs" and aired on the radio in Boston in December 1979.

[1][2] A second version, with different lyrics, aired on KIXS-FM (now KGSR) in Killeen, Texas (which broadcasts to the military institution Fort Hood) for a single weekend in January 1980.

[8] It was first aired on KFQD Radio (where Rivers was program director) in Anchorage, Alaska on April 25, 1980,[9] immediately after an attempt to rescue the American hostages in Tehran failed.

[12] The single was popular and frequently requested on the radio, but never charted because it lacked distribution and the rights to the music were not properly acquired.

[19] Foreshadowing this, The Rush Limbaugh Show in 1990 featured a parody of "Barbara Ann" called "Bomb Iraq" following the start of the Gulf War.