"Bachelor Boy" is a song by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, written by Richard and

Bruce Welch Bruce Welch (born 2 November 1941 as Bruce Cripps) is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows. Biography Welch's parents (Stan Cripps and Grace Welch) moved him to 15 B ...

(from the Shadows). It became a hit when it was released as the B-side of Richard's single " The Next Time". Both sides of the single were regarded as having chart potential so both sides were promoted and in many markets "Bachelor Boy" became the bigger hit. The single spent three weeks at No. 1 in 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 ...

in January 1963 and was a major hit internationally, although it only reached No. 99 in the US. Both sides of the single were included on the accompanying soundtrack album '' Summer Holiday''. On the soundtrack album the Michael Sammes Singers were credited as backing singers, although they were not credited on the single. In the UK, the single was the first of three number 1 hit singles from Richard's

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

, '' Summer Holiday'', the other two being " Summer Holiday" and " Foot Tapper". The film was the most successful

box-office A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fr ...

attraction of the year. The single was followed at

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

by the Shadows' own single " Dance On!" The song is about some advice a father passes to his son, to "remain a bachelor boy until (his) dying day". Richard later commented when he wrote this song he "never expected it to be prophetic". While Richard has himself never married, the song itself does not rule out marriage, with the final verse stating "I'll get married, have a wife and a child... but until then I'll be a bachelor boy...".

Chart performance

The below table only includes countries where "Bachelor Boy" was listed separately on the chart, or where it was listed first when both were listed together on the chart. For a more complete list of countries where the single made the singles chart, refer to the article for " The Next Time". Notes: * In Canada, the week "Bachelor Boy" peaked at number 2, Richard's " Summer Holiday" was at number 1. * In the UK, although the single peaked at number 1 in the ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The titl ...

'' singles chart that was later accepted as the retrospective official chart for the period, the competing '' NME'' singles chart listed the two tracks separately with "The Next Time" peaking at number 1 and "Bachelor Boy" peaking at number 3.

References

External links

In-depth Song Analysis
at the Cliff Richard Song Database (cliffrichardsongs.com) 1962 singles Cliff Richard songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs from musicals Songs written by Bruce Welch 1962 songs Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor {{1960s-single-stub