"Little Children" is a song written by J. Leslie McFarland and

Mort Shuman Mortimer Shuman (12 November 1938 – 2 November 1991) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas". He also wrote and sang many songs in French, such as ...

, and was recorded by

Billy J. Kramer William Howard Ashton (born 19 August 1943), known professionally as Billy J. Kramer, is an English pop singer. With The Dakotas, Kramer was managed by Brian Epstein during the 1960s and scored hits with several Lennon–McCartney composition ...

the Dakotas The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econom ...

Background

The lyric concerns a man's entreaties to his girlfriend's young siblings not to reveal his courtship of their elder sister and to leave them alone, at some points, even bribing them with things like "candy and a quarter" and "a movie", on the condition that they "keep a secret". As such, it was a departure from the traditional love songs previously recorded by Kramer (sometimes supplied by Lennon & McCartney). When offered another Lennon and McCartney song, "

One and One Is Two "One and One Is Two" is a song by the musical group ''The Strangers with Mike Shannon'', released as their debut single in 1964. It was composed by Paul McCartney and published under the author's credit Lennon/McCartney. Background The demo of " ...

", for his next single by the manager of both groups,

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

, Kramer turned it down and chose "Little Children" instead, after a search for suitable material from music publishers.

Chart performance

"Little Children" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in March 1964, and No. 7 in the US Hot 100 singles chart later the same year. The B-side of "Little Children" in the U.S., " Bad to Me" (which had previously been an A-side in the UK which made No. 1 there in August 1963) peaked at No. 9 on the US charts simultaneously to the success of "Little Children" there.

References

Billy J. Kramer songs 1964 singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs with music by Mort Shuman 1964 songs Parlophone singles Songs written by John Leslie McFarland {{1960s-pop-song-stub