| Bobby's Girl | |
| Cover: | Bobby'sGirlBlane.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Marcie Blane |
| B-Side: | A Time To Dream |
| Released: | September 28, 1962 |
| Genre: | Pop Rock |
| Length: | 2:15 |
| Label: | Seville Records 45-120 |
| Producer: | Marvin Holtzman |
| Next Title: | What Does a Girl Do |
| Next Year: | 1963 |
"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 near-simultaneous cover by British singer Susan Maughan was a hit in the UK, coincidentally also reaching No. 3 on the UK charts.[1] [2] 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.
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.[3] 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.[4]
| Chart (1962–1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (CHUM) Hit Parade[5] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[6] | 5 |
| Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[7] | 1 |
| Sweden (Tio i Topp)[8] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] | 3 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[10] | 2 |
| Bobby's Girl | |
| Cover: | Bobby'sGirlMaughan.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Susan Maughan |
| B-Side: | Come a Little Closer |
| Released: | 1962 |
| Genre: | Pop Rock |
| Length: | 2:15 |
| Label: | Philips Records 326544 BF |
| Prev Title: | Baby Doll Twist |
| Prev Year: | 1962 |
| Next Title: | Mama Do The Twist |
| Next Year: | 1962 |
Susan Maughan's cover version was released in the UK, also in 1962. It featured Wally Stott and his orchestra and chorus.[12] 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.[13] [14]
| Chart (1962–63) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[15] | 3 | |
| Ireland IRMA[16] | 3 | |
| Israeli Singles Chart[17] | 3 | |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[18] | 6 | |
| Norway VG-lista[19] | 6 |
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.[20]
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.
