kames' music producer first heard "dance little bird" at a german music fair in 1982. the producer sent kames a copy of the song, who recorded his own version, known as "the chicken dance". he released it in 1982. the song hit solid gold when it was released in 1983 in poland, selling 300,000 copies. he received 2 of the 35 cents from each sale. since he could not take the money out of the country, he donated all of it to for a relief fund. the success of the song stunned kames. he commented in a 1995 interview, "this stupid little thing, it's infectious. it has only two chords, it doesn't even change for the bridge. it implants the melody in people's minds—it just sticks in there. that's gotta be the secret...it just keeps on going. people come up to me at jobs and tell me how happy it makes them. you get a song like this once in a lifetime."