"Bachelor Boy" | ||||
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Song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows | ||||
from the album Summer Holiday | ||||
A-side | "The Next Time" [1] | |||
Released | 30 November 1962 | |||
Recorded | 16 November 1962 | |||
Studio | EMI Studios, London | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:02 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Norrie Paramor [1] | |||
Cliff Richard and the Shadows singles chronology | ||||
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"Bachelor Boy" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, written by Richard and Bruce Welch (from the Shadows). It became a hit when it was released as the B-side of Richard's single "The Next Time". Both sides of the single were regarded as having chart potential so both sides were promoted and in many markets "Bachelor Boy" became the bigger hit. The single spent three weeks at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1963 [1] and was a major hit internationally, although it only reached No. 99 in the US. Both sides of the single were included on the accompanying soundtrack album Summer Holiday . On the soundtrack album the Michael Sammes Singers were credited as backing singers, although they were not credited on the single.
In the UK, the single was the first of three number 1 hit singles from Richard's musical film, Summer Holiday , the other two being "Summer Holiday" and "Foot Tapper". [1] The film was the most successful box-office attraction of the year.
The single was followed at number one by the Shadows' own single "Dance On!" [2]
The song is about some advice a father passes to his son, to "remain a bachelor boy until (his) dying day". Richard later commented when he wrote this song he "never expected it to be prophetic".[ citation needed ] While Richard has himself never married, the song itself does not rule out marriage, with the final verse stating "I'll get married, have a wife and a child... but until then I'll be a bachelor boy...".
The below table only includes countries where "Bachelor Boy" was listed separately on the chart, or where it was listed first when both were listed together on the chart. For a more complete list of countries where the single made the singles chart, refer to the article for "The Next Time".
Chart (1963) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [3] | 9 |
Canada (CHUM) [4] [5] [*] | 2 |
Denmark (Tracklisten) [6] | 1 |
France (SNEP) [7] | 31 |
Hong Kong [8] | 3 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [9] | 1 |
Norway (VG-lista) [10] | 8 |
South Africa (SARMD) [11] | 1 |
Sweden (Kvällstoppen) [12] | 2 |
Sweden ( Tio i Topp ) [13] | 1 |
UK (NME ) [14] | 3 [*] |
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] | 99 |
Notes:
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"Do You Want to Dance" is a song written by American singer Bobby Freeman and recorded by him in 1958. It reached number No. 5 on the United States Billboard Top 100 Sides pop chart and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. Cliff Richard and the Shadows' version of the song reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom in 1962, despite being a B-side. The Beach Boys' version reached No. 12 as "Do You Wanna Dance?" in the United States in 1965, and a 1972 cover by Bette Midler reached No. 17.
"Hawaii" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was recorded in July 1963 and released on their 1963 album Surfer Girl. It is one of the first Beach Boy songs that Hal Blaine played on, contributing timbales, but regular drummer Dennis Wilson still played. In January 1964, it was released as a single in Australia, becoming a top-10 hit. "Hawaii" made its way into the Beach Boys repertoire almost 50 years later.
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"The Last Time" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, and the band's first original song released as an A-single in the UK. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California in January 1965, "The Last Time" was the band's third UK single to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top in March and early April 1965. It reached number two in the Irish Singles Chart in March 1965, and was released on the US version of the album Out of Our Heads on 30 July 1965.
"The Next Time" backed with "Bachelor Boy" was the first of three number one hit singles from the Cliff Richard musical, Summer Holiday. Both sides were marketed as songs with chart potential, and the release is viewed retroactively as a double A-side single. However, technically double A-sides were not regarded as such until 1965, so "The Next Time" was pressed as the A-side, with "Bachelor Boy" the B-side. The song was succeeded at number one by The Shadows' "Dance On!".
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"Victoria" is a song written by Ray Davies of the Kinks. It is the opening track on the band's 1969 concept album Arthur .
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"Detroit City" is a song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, made famous by Billy Grammer, country music singer Bobby Bare and Tom Jones. Bare's version was released in 1963. The song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.
"(You're the) Devil in Disguise" is a 1963 single by Elvis Presley which was written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. It was published by Elvis Presley Music in June 1963.
Lucky Lips is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by Ruth Brown in 1956 and was successfully covered by Cliff Richard in 1963.
"Daydream" is a popular song written by John Sebastian, first released in 1966. It was originally recorded that year by Sebastian's group the Lovin' Spoonful and appeared on their album of the same title. Sebastian played the harmonica, as well as doing his own whistling in the instrumental section plus the coda before the song's fade.
"I'm Lookin' out the Window" is a ballad written by Don Raye and John Jacob Niles. Peggy Lee first recorded the song as a B-side for her 1959 single "Hallelujah, I Love Him So". The song is best known as a hit record for Cliff Richard in 1962 in numerous countries, although not in the United States.
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