"Bop Bop Baby" is a song by Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

and it was released on 20 May 2002 as the third and final single from their third studio album, ''

World of Our Own ''World of Our Own'' is the third studio album recorded by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released through RCA Records on 12 November 2001. This is their third album release under RCA and Sony Music. It was also the band's third album to be re ...

'' (2001). The single peaked at number five on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

; during an interview, the band claimed this was due to the obscure choice of single, as they would have much preferred to release "Why Do I Love You", for which they had recorded a video. It is the band's 18th-best-selling single in paid-for sales and in combined sales in the United Kingdom as of January 2019. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' named the single one of the "Top 15 Underrated Boy Band Jams" in 2015.

Background

The song was written by band members

Brian McFadden Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer and television presenter who rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo ...

and

Shane Filan Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is an Irish Pop music, pop singer. He is one of the two lead singers of pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife have released thirteen albums, ...

alongside Graham Murphy and Chris O'Brien. This is their first song co-written by the band members that was released as a single. McFadden said that he got inspired to wrote the lyrics after watching a

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

documentary. It was composed in the traditional

verse–chorus form Verse–chorus form is a musical form going back to the 1840s, in such songs as "Oh! Susanna", "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", and many others. It became passé in the early 1900s, with advent of the AABA (with verse) form in the Tin ...

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

, with McFadden, Filan and

Mark Feehily Markus "Mark" Michael Patrick Feehily (born 28 May 1980) is an Irish singer and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop vocal group Westlife. Westlife has released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours and won several awards, becomin ...

's vocal ranging from the chords of G₃ to A₅.

Music video

The video for "Bop Bop Baby" was initially to be directed by Vaughn Arnell and was to feature the band in front of the Irish skyline. Instead, the video was directed by Max & Dania. The video was supposed to have

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

as the leading lady, but she cancelled her participation at the last minute, and Leah Wood took over. The video was filmed at the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

and took 32 hours to film. There were 25 extras on set, seven stuntmen, two horses, and

Janty Yates Janty Yates (born 1950) is a British costume designer for film and television. In 2001, she won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the 2000 film '' Gladiator''. She has also received nominations for BAFTA awards, Saturn Awards, and S ...

(the costume designer for

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

's box office smash ''

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

''). The video is set during the Medieval times. At the start of the video it is said that a beautiful maiden wished to marry for love, but her father wants her to marry Duke Vincent (

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelse ...

), the vilest man in the kingdom for money. The band members serve as Musketeers who are imprisoned in a dungeon by the Duke. McFadden attempts to approach a nearby prisoner but is scared off. The five members then break free, riding on horses, they arrive at the wedding and battle the Duke's men. At one point,

Kian Egan Kian John Francis Egan (born 29 April 1980) is an Irish Pop music, pop singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a member of pop group Westlife. Westlife has released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours, and won numerous awards ...

and Feehily nearly slash each other, screaming in the process before they got attacked by the Duke. The band members then attack the Duke before fleeing the church with the maiden with the Duke in pursuit. ''Billboard'' called the video "unintentionally hilarious" as well as a "riotous masterpiece".

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Bop Bop Baby" (single remix) # "You Don't Know" # "Imaginary Diva" (Orphans remix) # "Bop Bop Baby" (CD ROM video) UK CD2 # "Bop Bop Baby" (single remix) # "Bop Bop Baby" (Almighty radio edit) # Band interviews (CD ROM) UK cassette single # "Bop Bop Baby" (single remix) # "You Don't Know" # "Imaginary Diva" (Orphans remix) European CD single # "Bop Bop Baby" # "You Don't Know" Australian CD single # "Bop Bop Baby" (single remix) # "Bop Bop Baby" (Almighty radio edit) # "Bad Girls" # Video excerpts and band interviews

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the ''

Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Volume 1 ''Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Volume 1'' is the first greatest hits album by Irish boy band Westlife. The album was released on 11 November 2002. It was also the band's fourth album to be released as a five-piece and with RCA Records and S ...

'' album booklet. Studios * Engineered at Rokstone Studios (London, England),

Windmill Lane Windmill Lane Recording Studios (earlier Windmill Lane Studios) is a recording studio in Dublin, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1978 by Brian Masterson and James Morris in premises at 22 Windmill Lane, and it subsequently relocated to its c ...

(Dublin, Ireland), and

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

(London, England) * Mastered at Transfermation (London, England) Personnel * Brian McFadden – writing * Shane Filan – writing * Graham Murphy – writing * Chris O'Brien – writing * Paul Gendler – guitars * Steve Pearce – bass * Dave Arch –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

– keyboards, production, arrangement, mixing * Chris Laws – drums, engineering,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

engineering * Matt Howe – mix engineering * Daniel Pursey – assistant engineering * Quentin Guiné – assistant engineering * Lee McCutcheon – Pro Tools engineering * Richard Dowling – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000s ballads 2002 singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Music videos directed by Max & Dania RCA Records singles Shane Filan songs Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Brian McFadden Songs written by Shane Filan Syco Music singles Westlife songs