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Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop singer dies aged 72
- Thread starter firepoint525
- Start date
'My Boy Lollipop" was originally recorded by Barbie Gaye in the 50s. Millie Small improved it imo and had a big hit in 1964. It's interesting that in the UK she was known simply as "Millie".
It's hard to improve one of the most irritating songs of all time. Shame about her death, though. 72 is still fairly young -- very young for someone who had her biggest hit in 1964!
Definitely not one of my favorite songs either, but her version/style was interesting at the time. Yes, 72 is too young.
I had no idea that she was from Jamaica. She didn't sound Jamaican. Also didn't know that Chris Blackwell produced that song. Chris founded Island records and had a bunch of pop and rock hits in the 70s and 80s. It was an interesting time for music, with the British invasion, as well as music from other countries. In addition to Jamaica, there was South Africa's Miriam Makeba, who had a hit in 1967 with "Pata Pata." In 1963, you had The Singing Nun with the French folk song Dominique. That same year there was Kyu Sakamoto with Sukiyaki. All sung in their original language.
Yes, and she did a number of politically inclined protest songs as well.
Oh, and you forgot Dominico Modugno's "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" from the very beginning of the decade...
Actually Dominico Modugno's "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" was from the end of a decade http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19580906.html
Wow what an interesting chart. Two week #1, two versions of the same song, and look at how many weeks those songs were on the chart.
Dean Martin's cover peaked at #15 in Billboard.
If I may quote one line from the above article:
No one mentioned it, but I have often heard Rod Stewart credited for the harmonica solo on "My Boy Lollipop" (which is a great solo, by the way), but according to the parenthetical material in this article, he denies it:
I'm wondering if maybe she confused him with someone else.
No one mentioned it, but I have often heard Rod Stewart credited for the harmonica solo on "My Boy Lollipop" (which is a great solo, by the way), but according to the parenthetical material in this article, he denies it:
I'm wondering if maybe she confused him with someone else.
Apparently, because Pete Hogman is credited with the solo, as per his obit:
https://unitedreggae.com/news/n2028/021918/r-i-p-peter-john-hogman
What's in a title?
Interesting that you mention Kyu Sakamoto. The song was originally called,"Ue O Muite Aruko." The record company decided that the title would be too hard for English speakers to pronounce so they changed it to "Sukiyaki." Since that's actually a cooked beef dish it had nothing to do with the song. Turned out to be a smart move since the record sold over a million copies and hit number one on the Billboard chart.
Interesting that you mention Kyu Sakamoto. The song was originally called,"Ue O Muite Aruko." The record company decided that the title would be too hard for English speakers to pronounce so they changed it to "Sukiyaki." Since that's actually a cooked beef dish it had nothing to do with the song. Turned out to be a smart move since the record sold over a million copies and hit number one on the Billboard chart.
In a similar story, the previously mentioned song "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" is better known as "Volare."
But "volare" is in the lyrics. "Sukiyaki" was just a handy, familiar Japanese word to slap onto the song. It's as if "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" had been renamed "Lasagna" and "Dominique" released as "Fondue."
Actually Dominico Modugno's "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" was from the end of a decade http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19580906.html
It actually crossed over. One of many songs to do well over year-end, but finding that the individual years did not look as good as the song actually did in sales and airplay.
And all of those songs showed the after-effects of the Payola scandal... a lot of only slightly modernized MOR songs popping up in the Top 40 charts.
And we got a dose of strange or different dance rhythms, ranging from the Bristol Stomp and the Twist to Millie Small's Jamaican ska rhythm.
And we got a dose of strange or different dance rhythms, ranging from the Bristol Stomp and the Twist to Millie Small's Jamaican ska rhythm.
Had there been internet message boards in 1962, you'd have posters saying "When did my Top 40 station get so damned mushy?"
It was in that context that the Beatles arrived in February 1964.
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