"Daddy Cool" is a song by US

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group The Rays and was released on Cameo Records as the B-side of their 1957 single "

Silhouettes A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

". It became a No. 3 hit on the ''

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 ...

'' Pop singles chart. The song was written by

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Season ...

and

Frank Slay Frank Conley Slay Jr. (July 8, 1930 – September 30, 2017) was an American songwriter, A&R director, record producer, and record label owner. He wrote with Bob Crewe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the partnership's most successful songs includ ...

, who had also written the A-side, "Silhouettes". The song became a No. 1 single on the Australian singles charts when covered by

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

band Drummond in 1971, and remained there for seven weeks. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...

in mid-1988. UK cover band

Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

also had a hit single with the song, which reached No. 6 in 1977.

Cover versions

Fellow 1950s doo-wop band

The Diamonds The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 ''Billboard'' hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (ba ...

, from Canada, covered both sides of The Rays' single "Silhouettes"/"Daddy Cool" in the same year (1957) and saw their version reach No. 10. UK artists

' first ever studio recording was a medley of "Daddy Cool" and "

The Girl Can't Help It ''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay ...

", which they released as a 1977 single. It peaked at No. 6. Guy "Daddy Cool" Darrell released a single on the Warwick label in 1961 entitled "Daddy Cool, Daddy Cool (Daddy Cool, Cool, Cool)". However, it is unrelated to the Rays record except for having been inspired by the title. The Guy Darrell record was written by Gluch-D'Agostino. In 1989, Berkeley pop-punk band Sweet Baby performed a version on their sole album, ''It's a Girl''. Also covered in 1958 by Linden, NJ band the Bonnevilles, with Wayne Tevlin on lead vocals. Tevlin also sang lead on the 1963 release of "One Night" by the Four Kings and on "Sea of Misery", released in 1968 by the Most.

Australian versions

While it is thought 1970s

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Daddy Cool "named themselves after the song", band leader Ross Wilson has stated the band was named before he first heard the song."Daddy Who?" by Craig Horne, published by Melbourne Books 2018 They performed their cover version whilst touring Australia, including the Myponga Festival (60 km south of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

). In January 1971, they recorded a studio version for their debut album ''

Daddy Who? Daddy Cool ''Daddy Who?... Daddy Cool'' is the 1971 debut album by Australian rock band Daddy Cool. Release and promotion Released in July, 1971 it was the first on Robie Porter's Sparmac label. It was also the first Australian-recorded album to make N ...

'', which was released in July 1971. This, in turn, was covered by another Australian band, Drummond (pseudonym for Adelaide band Allison Gros), which recorded the song in a

Chipmunks Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

style and released it as a novelty single in 1971. Already in the National Singles charts at No. 1 for ten weeks was Daddy Cool's record-breaking hit " Eagle Rock", which was displaced by Drummond's tribute single "Daddy Cool". 'Drummond' was a rotating house pseudonym employed by Festival Records to release novelty records by a series of musicians; this particular Drummond single was the work of the band Allison Gros, consisting of

Graeham Goble Graeham George Goble, (born 15 May 1947)Goble, Graeham (2006Graeham Goble: Biography. Retrieved on 14 July 2008. is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Little Riv ...

, Russ Johnson and John Mower. They moved to Melbourne and subsequently recorded their own material as

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and then, with the addition of

Beeb Birtles Beeb Birtles (born Gerard Bertelkamp, 28 November 1948) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975 ...

, evolved into

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...

Charts

Darts

References

{{authority control 1957 songs Number-one singles in Australia The Rays songs Daddy Cool (band) songs Songs written by Bob Crewe Doo-wop songs Cameo Records singles Songs written by Frank Slay