Daddy Cool (The Rays song)

Last updated
"Daddy Cool"
Single by The Rays
A-side "Silhouettes"
B-side "Daddy Cool"
Released1957
Genre Rock
Label Cameo-Parkway
Songwriter(s) Frank Slay, Bob Crewe

"Daddy Cool" is a song by US doo-wop group The Rays and was released on Cameo Records as the B-side of their 1957 single "Silhouettes". It became a No. 3 hit on the Billboard Pop singles chart. [1] [2] [3] The song was written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, who had also written the A-side, "Silhouettes". [4] The song became a No. 1 single on the Australian singles charts when covered by novelty band Drummond in 1971, and remained there for seven weeks. [5] UK cover band Darts also had a hit single with the song, which reached No. 6 in 1977. [2]

Contents

Cover versions

Fellow 1950s doo-wop band The Diamonds, from Canada, covered both sides of The Rays' single "Silhouettes"/"Daddy Cool" in the same year (1957) and saw their version reach No. 10. [2] UK artists Darts' first ever studio recording was a medley of "Daddy Cool" and "The Girl Can't Help It", which they released as a 1977 single. It peaked at No. 6. [2] Guy "Daddy Cool" Darrell released a single on the Warwick label in 1961 entitled "Daddy Cool, Daddy Cool (Daddy Cool, Cool, Cool)". However, it is unrelated to the Rays record except for having been inspired by the title. The Guy Darrell record was written by Gluch-D'Agostino. In 1989, Berkeley pop-punk band Sweet Baby performed a version on their sole album, It's a Girl. Also covered in 1958 by Linden, NJ band the Bonnevilles, with Wayne Tevlin on lead vocals. Tevlin also sang lead on the 1963 release of "One Night" by the Four Kings and on "Sea of Misery", released in 1968 by the Most.

Australian versions

While it is thought 1970s Australian rock band Daddy Cool "named themselves after the song", band leader Ross Wilson has stated the band was named before he first heard the song. [6] They performed their cover version whilst touring Australia, including the Myponga Festival (60 km south of Adelaide, South Australia). In January 1971, they recorded a studio version for their debut album Daddy Who? Daddy Cool , which was released in July 1971. [7] [8] This, in turn, was covered by another Australian band, Drummond (pseudonym for Adelaide band Allison Gros), [7] which recorded the song in a Chipmunks style and released it as a novelty single in 1971. [2] [9] Already in the National Singles charts at No. 1 for ten weeks was Daddy Cool's record-breaking hit "Eagle Rock", which was displaced by Drummond's tribute single "Daddy Cool". [5] 'Drummond' was a rotating house pseudonym employed by Festival Records to release novelty records by a series of musicians; this particular Drummond single was the work of the band Allison Gros, consisting of Graeham Goble, Russ Johnson and John Mower. They moved to Melbourne and subsequently recorded their own material as Mississippi and then, with the addition of Beeb Birtles, evolved into Little River Band. [2] [9]

Charts

Darts

Chart (1977–78)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [10] 9
Ireland (IRMA) [11] 10
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [12] 7
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [13] 3
UK Singles (OCC) [14] 6

Related Research Articles

Daddy Cool may refer to:

Pat Wilson is an Australian singer and journalist. Wilson wrote for Go-Set, a 1960s and 1970s pop music newspaper, under the pen-name "Mummy Cool" during 1971–1972. Wilson released several singles in the early 1980s including the hit single "Bop Girl". The song was written by her then husband Ross Wilson of the bands Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock. Pat currently resides in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Wilson (musician)</span> Australian singer and songwriter (born 1947)

Ross Andrew Wilson is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is the co-founder and frontman of the long-standing rock groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, as well as a number of other former bands, in addition to performing solo. He has produced records for bands such as Skyhooks and Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons, as well as for those of his own bands. He appeared as a judge on celebrity singing TV series It Takes Two from 2005. Wilson was individually inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1989 and again as a member of Daddy Cool in 2006. Ross currently resides in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Rock (song)</span> 1971 single by Daddy Cool

"Eagle Rock" is the debut single by Australian rock band Daddy Cool, released in 1971 on the Sparmac record label. It went on to become the best-selling Australian single of the year, achieving gold status in eleven weeks, and remaining at No. 1 on the national charts for a (then) record ten weeks. "Eagle Rock" also spent 17 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the Melbourne Top 40 Singles Chart. The song was re-released by Wizard Records in 1982, and reached No. 17 on the Australian singles chart.

Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darts (band)</span> British band

Darts were a nine-piece British doo-wop revival band that achieved chart success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The London-based band had a number of UK top 20 hits including three successive number twos with revivals of early US rock and roll, R&B and original songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'll Be Gone (Spectrum song)</span> 1971 single by Spectrum

"I'll Be Gone" or "Some Day I'll Have Money" is a song by Australian progressive rock group Spectrum released as their debut single by EMI on Harvest Records in January 1971. It peaked at #1 on the national singles chart, while it reached Top 5 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Mike Rudd, and produced by Howard Gable. The B-side, "Launching Place Part Two" was written to promote a music festival. Spectrum never repeated the success of "I'll Be Gone".

Robert George Porter was an Australian country and pop-rock musician, producer and record label owner.

The Rays were an American group formed in New York City in 1955, and active into the early 1960s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes", a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957 on Cameo after being initially released on the small XYZ Records. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, Jr. Also on XYZ, they had a minor hit with "Mediterranean Moon" a mid-chart hit with "Magic Moon".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graeham Goble</span> Musical artist

Graeham George Goble, is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Little River Band and Birtles Shorrock Goble.

Mississippi were an Australian soft rock band (1972–1975), which included Graham Goble on lead vocals and guitar, Beeb Birtles on lead vocals and guitar, and Derek Pellicci on drums. The band had started as Allison Gros in Adelaide in 1970 and moved to Melbourne in 1971 where they recorded as Allison Gros, Drummond and, early in 1972, became Mississippi. As Drummond they issued a cover version of "Daddy Cool", which peaked at No. 1 on the Go-Set National Top 40 for eight weeks. As Mississippi they reached No. 10 with "Kings of the World". In early 1975, with Birtles, Goble and Pellici aboard and the addition of Glenn Shorrock, the group were renamed Little River Band.

<i>Daddy Who? Daddy Cool</i> 1971 studio album by Daddy Cool

Daddy Who?... Daddy Cool is the 1971 debut album by Australian rock band Daddy Cool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silhouettes (The Rays song)</span> Original song written and composed by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay; first recorded by The Rays

"Silhouettes" is a song made famous by the doo-wop group the Rays in 1957, peaking at number 3 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. A competing version by the Diamonds was also successful. In 1965 it was a number 5 hit in the US for Herman's Hermits, and in 1990 it was a number 10 hit in the UK for Cliff Richard.

"The Girl Can't Help It" is the title song to the film The Girl Can't Help It, with words and music by songwriter Bobby Troup. It was performed by Little Richard and was released in December 1956. In the US, the song peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart and No. 7 on the R&B Best Sellers Chart. Overseas, "The Girl Can't Help It" peaked at No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart. It was included on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at No. 413. Originally, Fats Domino was lined up to record the track, which was not written as a rock song.

Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan, Ross Hannaford, Ross Wilson and Gary Young. Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks. Their debut, July 1971's LP Daddy Who? Daddy Cool, also reached number 1 and became the first Australian album to sell more than 100,000 copies. The group's name came from the 1957 song "Daddy Cool" by US rock group The Rays. Daddy Cool included their version of this song on Daddy Who? Daddy Cool.

APRA's Top 30 Australian songs was a list created by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in 2001, to celebrate its 75th anniversary. A panel of 100 music personalities were asked to list the "ten best and most significant Australian songs of the past 75 years". The top ten songs, in numerical order, were announced on 28 May 2001 at the APRA Awards. The next twenty were not ordered and had been released nearly four weeks earlier, on 2 May, in a media statement by APRA representative Debbie Kruger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanda & Young</span> Australian songwriting/producing duo

Vanda & Young were an Australian songwriting and producing duo composed of Harry Vanda and George Young. They performed as members of 1960s Australian rock group the Easybeats where Vanda was their lead guitarist and backing singer and Young was their rhythm guitarist and backing singer. Vanda & Young co-wrote most of the Easybeats' later hits including their international hit "Friday on My Mind" and they were the record producers for the group from 1967. Young was the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young of the hard rock band AC/DC and also the record producer behind several of the band's biggest albums.

"Daddy's Home" is a famous song by American doo-wop group Shep and the Limelites. The song was written by the three members of the band, James "Shep" Sheppard (1935–1970), Clarence Bassett (1936–2005) and Charles Baskerville. The group recorded the original version of "Daddy's Home" on February 1, 1961, and it was released on Hull Records in March 1961 with the B-side being "This I Know".

Philip John Manning is an Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Manning has been a member of various groups including Chain and has had a solo career. As a member of Chain, Manning co-wrote their January 1971 single "Black and Blue" which became number one on the Melbourne charts and also Judgement, which reached number two in Sydney. The related album, Toward the Blues followed in September and peaked in the top 10 albums chart.

Ronald Stewart Tudor MBE was an Australian music producer, engineer, label owner and record industry executive. He started his career with W&G Records in 1956 as a sales representative; he became their in-house producer and A&R agent before leaving in 1966.

References

  1. ↑ "Billboard singles". allmusic. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Drummond "Daddy Cool"". Pop Archives. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  3. ↑ "The American Bandstand 10 best selling records chart for 1957". TV.com. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  4. ↑ "Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)". APRA . Retrieved 2008-05-10.[ dead link ]
  5. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992 . St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  6. ↑ "Daddy Who?" by Craig Horne, published by Melbourne Books 2018
  7. 1 2 "Daddy Cool". Milesago. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  8. ↑ "Albums by Daddy Cool". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  9. 1 2 "Mississippi". Milesago. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  10. ↑ "Darts – Daddy Cool %2F The Girl Can't Help It" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Daddy Cool". Irish Singles Chart.
  12. ↑ "Darts – Daddy Cool %2F The Girl Can't Help It" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  13. ↑ "Darts – Daddy Cool %2F The Girl Can't Help It". Singles Top 100.
  14. ↑ "Darts: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.