Bachelor Boy

Album: Summer Holiday (1962)
Charted: 1
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Songfacts®:

  • Released in November 1962, "Bachelor Boy" was the B-side of "The Next Time," both of which appeared in the 1963 musical Summer Holiday - a vehicle for Cliff. Co-written by the man himself and Shadows guitarist Bruce Welch, it turned out to be prophetic: Cliff never married, although Bruce did twice - and divorced twice! >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England
  • This was listed as a double A-side with the chart topping "The Next Time" from January 1963, making it Cliff Richard's only self penned #1.
  • Bruce Welch recalled in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: "Cliff was becoming a family entertainer and I thought 'Bachelor Boy' would be a great title for him. I wrote most of it and when I got stuck on one of the verses I got Cliff to help me out."
  • The song was only added as an afterthought to Summer Holiday. Remembered Welch: "The producers decided to add it to the film and so we did it in a mock-up of a roadside in Greece, which was done in the Elstree studios. That awful little dance is almost as embarrassing to me as hearing 'a wife and a child' because we had the stress on the wrong syllable."

Comments: 1

  • Zabadak from London, EnglandThe version in the film has a different vocal take.
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