Bobby's Girl (song)
1962 single by Marcie Blane
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"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 version by British singer Susan Maughan was released in the UK less than a month later, coincidentally also reaching No. 3 on the UK charts.[1] 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 45-120 | |||
| Songwriters | Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman | |||
| Producer | Marvin Holtzman | |||
| Marcie Blane singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Marcie Blane version
Blane'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.[2] 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.[3]
Chart history
Susan Maughan version
| "Bobby's Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Susan Maughan | ||||
| B-side | "Come a Little Closer" | |||
| Released | October 1962 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | Philips 326544 BF | |||
| Songwriters | 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. 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.[11][12]
Chart history
| Chart (1962–1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[13] | 3 |
| Ireland IRMA[13] | 3 |
| Israeli Singles Chart[13] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[14] | 6 |
| Norway VG-lista[13] | 6 |
Other versions
Tracey Ullman version
In 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.[15]
The Copstars version
In 2001, members of the West Midlands Police force released a version in aid of the John Taylor Hospice in Birmingham. Lead vocals on the song was by Hayley Evetts and comedian Joe Pasquale.
Foreign-language versions
- 1963 : Swedish artist Lil Malmkvist did a version in German (Ariola AT 10 106). It reached No. 16 at the Musikmarkt Top 50-list.