My Boy Lollipop

My Boy Lollipop is a track made famous by Millie Small in 1964, considered to be ska's first commercial hit and one of the most successful singles in this style of music, selling over six million copies.

Genesis

The original, still largely unknown today, was written in 1956 by the then 17-year-old white singer Barbie Gaye, who sang the rhythm & blues track My Boy Lollypop / Say You Understand (the spelling of the original title contained a "y") on the just-founded insignificant record label DARL Records (#1002). The lyrically simple song about the love for a boy could not place in any of the official music charts, but was only listed in November 1956 at the last position 25 of the radio station WINS/New York City in a hit parade compiled by the well-known radio DJ Alan Freed.

The song was probably composed by Bobby Spencer, at that time a member of the doo-wop formation Harptones, and their manager Johnny Roberts. These names are also on the original label. However, record mogul Morris Levy later claimed that Bobby Spencer was a pseudonym under which he composed the song himself. Johnny Roberts was therefore no longer listed as a composer, but was replaced by Morris Levy's name after 1964.

Barbie Gaye - My Boy Lollypop

Cover versions

BMI registered Johnnie B. Roberts, Robert Spencer and Morris Levy as authors and gave the million seller a BMI Award. A total of 31 versions of this title are registered. In July 1964, a German version by Heidi Bachert was released under the same title with lyrics by Kurt Hertha (Polydor #52 348), but it only made it to #32. Maggie Mae was able to reach position 17 with this in August 1976.