"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"
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1962
GenrePop Rock
Length2:15
LabelSeville Records 45-120
Songwriter(s)Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman[1]
Producer(s)Marvin Holtzman
Marcie Blane singles chronology
"Bobby's Girl"
(1962)
"What Does a Girl Do"
(1963)

Marcie Blane version

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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.[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

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Susan Maughan version

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"Bobby's Girl"
 
Single by Susan Maughan
B-side"Come a Little Closer"
Released1962
GenrePop Rock
Length2:15
LabelPhilips Records 326544 BF
Songwriter(s)Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman
Susan Maughan singles chronology
"Baby Doll Twist"
(1962)
"Bobby's Girl"
(1962)
"Mama Do The Twist"
(1962)

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

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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

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Tracey Ullman version

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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.[18]

Foreign-language versions

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "discogs.com". discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  2. ^ "Bobby's Girl". www.discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Bobby's Girl". BMI Repertoire. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  4. ^ Yesteryear's Hits. Billboard. 30 December 1967. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  5. ^ "Marcie Blane". www.spectropop.com. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  6. ^ http://chumtribute.com/62-12-17-chart.jpg CHUM Hit Parade, December 17, 1962
  7. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 3 January 1963
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  11. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 29, 1962
  12. ^ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1963
  13. ^ "Bobby's Girl - Susan Maughan". www.discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  14. ^ "UK Official charts - Susan Maughan". www.officialscharts.com. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  15. ^ "Cover details". www.whosampled.com. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  16. ^ a b c d "Billboard Magazine, January, 1963". Billboard. 13 March 1965.
  17. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 13 December 1962
  18. ^ Tracey Ullman - Bobby's Girl, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  19. ^ "Tu M'As Devancée - Arielle". www.discogs.com. March 1963. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  20. ^ "Pardonne-Moi - Mimi Hétu". www.discogs.com. April 1972. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  21. ^ "Douchka - Douchka". www.discogs.com. 1984. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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