"Bobby's Girl" is a song and single written by Gary Klein and Henry Hoffman. The original was performed by American teenage singer Marcie Blane, and became a No. 3 hit on the US charts. A near-simultaneous cover by British singer Susan Maughan was a hit in the UK, coincidentally also reaching No. 3 on the UK charts.[2][3] Both Blane and Maughan are one-hit wonders; for both these artists, "Bobby's Girl" marked their only appearance on a national top 40 chart.
| "Bobby's Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Marcie Blane | ||||
| B-side | "A Time To Dream" | |||
| Released | September 28, 1962 | |||
| Genre | Pop Rock | |||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | Seville Records 45-120 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | Marvin Holtzman | |||
| Marcie Blane singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Marcie Blane version
editBlane's version of the song was released in the United States in August, 1962. It has a spoken introduction and a backing refrain of "You're not a kid anymore" and was popular with the American teenage audience. It entered the charts in October and made the Top 10 within a month, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 by December, where it stayed for four weeks.[4] It reached No. 2 on the Cash Box chart, staying on the charts for nineteen weeks, and made Blane (very briefly) the top-selling female singer in the US.[5]
Chart history
editSusan Maughan version
edit| "Bobby's Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Susan Maughan | ||||
| B-side | "Come a Little Closer" | |||
| Released | 1962 | |||
| Genre | Pop Rock | |||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | Philips Records 326544 BF | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman | |||
| Susan Maughan singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Susan Maughan's cover version was released in the UK, also in 1962. It featured Wally Stott and his orchestra and chorus.[13] Substantially re-arranged from Blane's original, Maughan's version dropped the spoken word intro, and had a more sophisticated, less 'teen-age' sound. It spent nineteen weeks on the UK's Record Retailer chart, peaking at No. 3.[14][15]
Chart history
edit| Chart (1962–63) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[16] | 3 |
| Ireland IRMA[16] | 3 |
| Israeli Singles Chart[16] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[17] | 6 |
| Norway VG-lista[16] | 6 |
Other versions
editTracey Ullman version
editIn 1983 Tracey Ullman released a version of "Bobby's Girl" on the album You Broke My Heart in 17 Places and as a single. Ullman's version reached No. 45 in West Germany.[18]
Foreign-language versions
edit- 1963 : Swedish artist Lil Malmkvist did a version in German (Ariola AT 10 106). It reached No. 16 at the Musikmarkt Top 50-list.
- 1963 : French singer Arielle performed the French-language version Je n'aime que Bobby[19] (I only love Bobby).
- 1972 : Canadian singer Mimi Hétu performed the French-language version Pardonne-moi[20] (Forgive me).
- 1984 : French singer Douchka performed the French-language version Mon p'tit cœur[21] (My little heart).
References
edit- ^ "discogs.com". discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ "Bobby's Girl". www.discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ "Bobby's Girl". BMI Repertoire. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ Yesteryear's Hits. Billboard. 30 December 1967. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ "Marcie Blane". www.spectropop.com. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ http://chumtribute.com/62-12-17-chart.jpg CHUM Hit Parade, December 17, 1962
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 3 January 1963
- ^ Hallberg, Eric (1993). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. p. 243. ISBN 9163021404.
- ^ Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 919727125X.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 29, 1962
- ^ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1963
- ^ "Bobby's Girl - Susan Maughan". www.discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ "UK Official charts - Susan Maughan". www.officialscharts.com. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ "Cover details". www.whosampled.com. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ a b c d "Billboard Magazine, January, 1963". Billboard. 13 March 1965.
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 13 December 1962
- ^ Tracey Ullman - Bobby's Girl, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- ^ "Tu M'As Devancée - Arielle". www.discogs.com. March 1963. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ "Pardonne-Moi - Mimi Hétu". www.discogs.com. April 1972. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ "Douchka - Douchka". www.discogs.com. 1984. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
