"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 #3 hit on the US charts. A near-simultaneous cover by British singer Susan Maughan was the hit in the UK, coincidentally also reaching #3 on the UK charts.[2][3] Both Blaine and Maughan are one-hit wonders; for both these artists, "Bobby's Girl" marked their only appearance on a national top 40 chart.

"Bobby's Girl"
Single by Marcie Blane
B-side	"A Time To Dream"
Released	September 28, 1962
Genre	Pop Rock
Length	2:15
Label	Seville Records 45-120
Songwriter(s)	Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman[1]
Producer(s)	Marvin Holtzman
Marcie Blane singles chronology
"Bobby's Girl" (1962) "What Does a Girl Do" (1963)

Marcie Blane version

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 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 by December, where it stayed for four weeks.[4] It reached 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.[5]

Chart history

Susan Maughan version

"Bobby's Girl"
Single by Susan Maughan
B-side	"Come a Little Closer"
Released	1962
Genre	Pop Rock
Length	2:15
Label	Philips Records 326544 BF
Songwriter(s)	Gary Klein, Henry Hoffman
Susan Maughan singles chronology
"Baby Doll Twist" (1962) "Bobby's Girl" (1962) "Mama Do The Twist" (1962)

Susan Maughan's cover version was released in the UK, also in 1962. It featured Wally Stott and his orchestra and chorus.[13] Substantially re-arranged from Blaine'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.[14][15]

Chart history

Other versions

In 1963 Swedish artist Lil Malmkvist made a version in German (Ariola AT 10 106).

Tracey Ullman version

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.[18]

Foreign-language versions

• 1963 : French singer Arielle performed the French-language version Je n'aime que Bobby[19] (I only love Bobby).
• 1972 : Canadian singer Mimi Hétu performed the French-language version Pardonne-moi[20] (Forgive me).
• 1984 : French singer Douchka performed the French-language version Mon p'tit cœur[21] (My little heart).

References

External links

• Marcie Blane - Bobby's Girl on YouTube