"Wildwood Days" is a song released by

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His ...

in 1963. Rydell's version spent 9 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 17, while reaching No. 14 in

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 ...

,Billboard Hits of the World
, ''

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 ...

'', July 27, 1963. p. 42. Accessed July 25, 2016. and No. 21 on

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's CHUM Hit Parade.

Background

The subject of the song is

Wildwood, New Jersey Wildwood is a city in Cape May County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area and is a popular summer resort destination along the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's year-rou ...

, a city famous for its nightlife, which was a popular location for

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

performances at the time the song was recorded. It eventually became the official anthem of the city, and is played on the boardwalk's stereo system routinely. The song was also featured in commercials for Wildwood. A mural on the Wildwood boardwalk (painted in 2014) honors Rydell whose song put the community into the national spotlight.

Chart performance

Cover versions

*In 1966,

Bobby Curtola Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constab ...

released a version of the song, which reached No. 36 on

's "''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' 100".RPM 100
, ''

RPM Weekly ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...

'', Volume 6, No. 4, September 19, 1966. Accessed July 25, 2016.

References

1963 songs 1963 singles Bobby Rydell songs Cameo-Parkway Records singles Songs with lyrics by Kal Mann Songs written by Dave Appell Wildwood, New Jersey {{1960s-single-stub