Annie Had a Baby

"Annie Had a Baby"
Single by The Midnighters
B-side	"She's the One"
Released	August 1954 (1954-08)
Genre	Rhythm and blues, Doo-wop
Length	2:40
Label	Federal 12195
Songwriters	Henry Glover Lois Mann
The Midnighters singles chronology
"Sexy Ways" (1954) "Annie Had a Baby" (1954) "Annie's Aunt Fannie" (1954)

"Annie Had a Baby" is a 1954 rhythm and blues song, written by Henry Glover and Lois Mann and recorded by The Midnighters. The single was one of many answer songs to "Work with Me, Annie", a previous hit for The Midnighters. Like its predecessor, "Annie Had a Baby" was also a number one hit on the US Billboard R&B chart. ^[1] A credible inspiration for this song was when a Los Angeles DJ played "Work with Me, Annie", then joked about a follow-up record titled "Annie Had a Baby", which caused King Records to receive orders for the then non-existing single. So the song was composed, recorded and released to fill the orders. ^[2]

The record sold in excess of one million copies. ^[3]

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 44.
2. Fox, Jon Hartley (October 2010). King of the Queen City: the story of King Records - Jon Hartley Fox - Google Books. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   9780252091278 . Retrieved 2012-01-14.
3. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 67. ISBN   0-214-20512-6.