"Bobby's Girl" is a song and

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

written by Gary Klein and Henry Hoffman. The original was performed by American teenage singer

Marcie Blane Marcia Blank (born May 21, 1944) known as Marcie Blane, is a former American pop singer from 1962 to 1965. Life and career Blane was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a favor to a friend, Blane recorded a demo for Seville Records. The song was ...

, and became a No. 3 hit on the US charts. A near-simultaneous cover by British singer

Susan Maughan Susan Maughan (born Marian Maughan, 1 July 1938) is an English singer who released successful singles in the 1960s. Her most famous and successful song, " Bobby's Girl" (a cover of the Marcie Blane single), reached number three in the UK Si ...

was a hit in the UK, coincidentally also reaching No. 3 on the UK charts. Both Blane and Maughan are

one-hit wonders A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

; for both these artists, "Bobby's Girl" marked their only appearance on a national top 40 chart.

Marcie Blane version

Blane's version of the song was released in the United States in August, 1962. It has a spoken introduction and a backing refrain of "''Y''ou're not a kid anymore" and was popular with the American teenage audience. It entered the charts in October and made the Top 10 within a month, reaching No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 by December, where it stayed for four weeks. It reached No. 2 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' chart, staying on the charts for nineteen weeks, and made Blane (very briefly) the top-selling female singer in the US.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Susan Maughan version

's cover version was released in the UK, also in 1962. It featured

Wally Stott Angela Morley (10 March 192414 January 2009) was an English composer and conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley provided incidental music for ''The Goon Show'' and ''Hancock's ...

and his orchestra and chorus. Substantially re-arranged from Blane's original, Maughan's version dropped the spoken word intro, and had a more sophisticated, less 'teen-age' sound. It spent nineteen weeks on the UK's ''

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 ti ...

'' chart, peaking at No. 3.

Chart history

Other versions

Tracey Ullman version

In 1983

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics h ...

released a version of "Bobby's Girl" on the album ''

You Broke My Heart in 17 Places ''You Broke My Heart in 17 Places'' is the debut studio album by Tracey Ullman, released in 1983. It peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums chart and No. 34 in the spring of 1984 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States.''Joel Whitburn Present ...

'' and as a single. Ullman's version reached No. 45 in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

The Copstars version

In 2001, members of the

West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of ...

force released a version in aid of the John Taylor Hospice in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Lead vocals on the song was by

Hayley Evetts Hayley Evetts (born 4 March 1976 in Birmingham, England) is an English singer, television presenter and stage actress, who rose to fame on the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol''. Career Evetts first came to the attention of the public in 2001 when sh ...

and comedian

Joe Pasquale Joseph Ellis Pasquale (born 20 August 1961) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. He is well-known for his squeaky, high-pitched voice. In 1987 he was the runner-up on the TV talent show New Faces, since then he has appeare ...

Foreign-language versions

*1963 :

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

artist Lil Malmkvist did a version in

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(Ariola AT 10 106). It reached No. 16 at the

Musikmarkt ''Musikmarkt'' was a magazine of the music industry in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, based in Munich. '' Die Welt'', a German newspaper, described the magazine as the music industry's thermometer. History and profile ''Musikmarkt'' was estab ...

Top 50-list. *1963 :

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

singer Arielle performed the French-language version ''Je n'aime que Bobby'' (I only love Bobby). *1972 :

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

singer Mimi Hétu performed the French-language version ''Pardonne-moi'' (Forgive me). *1984 : French singer Douchka performed the French-language version ''Mon p'tit cœur'' (My little heart).

References

External links

* {{authority control 1962 songs 1962 singles American pop rock songs Philips Records singles Seville Records singles Tracey Ullman songs