The premise of the song came from a joke told by the child of a friend of Wooley's, fellow songwriter Don Robertson.
Alvin and the Chipmunks eventually covered "Purple People Eater" for their 1998 album The A-Files: Alien Songs.
He said eating purple people, and it sure is fine, But that's not the reason that I came to land I wanna get a job in a rock 'n roll band.
The 1958 sheet music portrayed a purple creature playing the single horn on his head like a woodwind instrument, and MGM used the same image on record sleeves in foreign markets such as Australia and Japan.
In response to requests from radio disc jockeys to portray the creature, listeners drew pictures that show a purple-colored people eater.
[13] Wooley recorded another version of the song in 1967, titled "The Purple People Eater #2" and credited to his alter ego Ben Colder, on the MGM label.
[16] A dubstep song under the title "Purple People Eater" by the Dano-Norwegian electronic music group Pegboard Nerds was released in 2018 and samples the original piece.
While preparing to capture camera footage of the alien creature, Holst recites the lyrics from "The Purple People Eater".