"Go Away Little Girl" is a popular song written by

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

. It was first recorded by

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-e ...

for Liberty Records on March 28, 1962. The lyrics consist of a young man asking a young attractive woman to stay away from him, so that he will not be tempted to betray his steady girlfriend by kissing her. The song is notable for making the American Top 20 three times: for

Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as " Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and fr ...

in 1963 (US number 1), for

The Happenings The Happenings are a pop music group that originated in the 1960s. Members of the original group, created in the spring of 1961 and initially called "The Four Graduates" because all had just graduated from high school in Paterson, New Jersey, w ...

in 1966 (US number 12), and for

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

in 1971 (US number 1). It is also the first song, and one of only nine, to reach US number 1 by two different artists. Also notable in each of the solo versions is the similar

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

treatment of the singer's voice.

Steve Lawrence version

In late 1962, Steve Lawrence released the second recording of this song (Bobby Vee recorded it first in March 1962). The single reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in January 1963 and remained in the top position for two weeks. This recording also spent six weeks atop the U.S.

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart. "Go Away Little Girl" went to number 14 on the

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart. Outside the US, "Go Away Little Girl" also went to number 1 on the New Zealand Lever chart and number 18 in Canada.

Mark Wynter version

Mark Wynter Mark Wynter (born Terence Sidney Lewis; 29 January 1943) is an English singer and actor, who had four Top 20 singles in the 1960s, including "Venus in Blue Jeans" and " Go Away Little Girl". He enjoyed a lengthy career from 1960 to 1968 as a p ...

's 1962 cover of the song on the

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

label also made 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 ...

, reaching number 6 in Britain.

Donny Osmond version

Donny Osmond's

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Go Away Little Girl" reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on September 11, 1971. It remained in the top position for three weeks. Osmond's version also went to number 36 on the Australian Go-Set chart. It was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on October 13, 1971. Donny was 13 at the time the song was recorded.

Chart performance

Certifications

Marlena Shaw version

Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul music, soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in Hip hop music, hip hop mus ...

does a version called "Yu-Ma/Go Away Little Boy" from her 1977 album ''Sweet Beginnings''. This reached number 21 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 ...

'' R & B chart staying in the Top 100 for eleven weeks.Joel Whitburn, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, 1942-2004, Billboard, 2005 In the 1980s it became a popular UK record on the

Rare Groove Rare groove is music that is very hard to source or relatively obscure. Rare groove is primarily associated with funk, R&B and jazz funk, but is also connected to subgenres including jazz rock, reggae, Latin jazz, soul, rock music, northern soul ...

dance scene. Ms. Shaw also performed a 9:31 live version of her "Go Away Little Boy" recorded for her "It is Love" album.

References

External links

* Steve Lawrence singles at AllMusic.com* Donny Osmond singles at AllMusic.combr>Lyrics to the song
{{authority control 1962 songs 1962 singles 1963 singles 1971 singles Steve Lawrence songs Bobby Vee songs Donny Osmond songs Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs with lyrics by Gerry Goffin Songs written by Carole King Columbia Records singles Santo & Johnny songs