"Bobby's Girl" is a song and single written by Gary Klein and Henry Hoffman. The original was performed by American teenage singer Marcie Blane, and became a No. 3 hit on the US charts. A version by British singer Susan Maughan was released in the UK less than a month later, coincidentally also reaching No. 3 on the UK charts. Both Blane and Maughan are one-hit wonders; 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 "You'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 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 Chart (1962–1963)PeakpositionCanada (CHUM) Hit Paradehttp://chumtribute.com/62-12-17-chart.jpg CHUM Hit Parade, December 17, 19623New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)Flavour of New Zealand, 3 January 19635Sweden (Kvällstoppen)1Sweden (Tio i Topp)1U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - 3U.S. Cash Box Top 100Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 29, 19622
Year-end charts Chart (1963)RankU.S. Cash Box Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 196349
Susan Maughan version
Susan Maughan's cover version was released in the UK, also in 1962. It featured Wally Stott 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 chart, peaking at No. 3.
Chart history
Chart (1962–1963)PeakpositionUK Singles Chart3Ireland IRMA3Israeli Singles Chart3New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)Flavour of New Zealand, 13 December 19626Norway VG-lista6
Other versions
Tracey Ullman version In 1983 Tracey Ullman released a version of "Bobby's Girl" on the album You Broke My Heart in 17 Places and as a single. Ullman's version reached No. 45 in West Germany.Tracey Ullman – Bobby's Girl, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
The Copstars version In 2001, members of the West Midlands Police force released a version in aid of the John Taylor Hospice in Birmingham. Lead vocals on the song was by Hayley Evetts and comedian Joe Pasquale.
Foreign-language versions 1963 : Swedish artist Lil Malmkvist did a version in German (Ariola AT 10 106). It reached No. 16 at the Musikmarkt Top 50-list.
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