This candy-coated hit tells a simple story about a young girl in love. She sings:
My boy lollipop
You make my heart go giddyup
Millie Small was just 17 when the song was released.
This song was originally an R&B hit in late 1956 for a white American singer named Barbie Gaye - her version is based on a piano rhythm and has a big saxophone solo. Millie Small's rendition has more of a reggae feel and features a harmonica solo.
The original is titled "My Boy Lollypop," making it more obvious that she is singing about a guy, not a piece of candy.
After she recorded a couple of songs for a label in her native Jamaica, Small (while still a teenager) was discovered by The A&R man Robert Blackwell and was brought (along with Ernest Ranglin) to England by him in late 1963 to record this; she was 17 at the time. Blackwell, along with his brother Chris, was a successful music producer who contributed to the development of reggae and ska music and helped reggae obtain international recognition. This song was the first to help his Jamaican label, Island, make millions.
"I had deals with the producers in Jamaica who would send me records," Chris Blackwell recalled to Uncut magazine. "One came from Coxsone Dodd. He was king of Jamaica. It was called 'We'll Meet' by Roy & Millie, a boy and girl duo. Whenever the girl's voice came in, it would jump out. I thought, 'How can I contact this girl? Because her voice is incredible.'
I went to Jamaica, and I met with her mother. I asked if I could bring her over to England and her mother said yes.
I eventually found a song I thought would work for her. She had a very high-pitched voice, and I wanted to make sure that the record wasn't too long, because after a bit you'd really want to turn it off! But if we made it shorter, you'd really want to hear it again and again. I got my way. 'My Boy Lollipop' was 1 minute 58 seconds and it sold 7 million copies worldwide."
This is one of the best-selling hits with a reggae influence, and depending on your definition of ska, could be considered the first hit in that genre. Ska developed in Jamaica as a hybrid of American R&B and Caribbean music, and Small's producer Chris Blackwell helped bring the sound to England and America with his Island label.
In England, ska was an easier sell because of the large Jamaican population, and artists like Prince Buster and Jimmy Cliff caught on in the '60s. In America, the sound was mostly novelty, and the next hit single in that style was
The Israelites by Desmond Dekker & the Aces in 1969. America didn't really warm to ska until the '90s, but in the UK groups like Madness and The Specials were big during the 2 Tone era of the '70s and '80s.
Contrary to legend, the harmonica player was not Rod Stewart but Pete Hogman of The Pete Hogman Blues Band and Hoggie & The Sharpetones. Hogman told us: "The backing for 'My Boy Lollypop' was recorded live in the studio. I played harmonica and Ernest Ranglin played a black Gibson. Several people have claimed to have played the harmonica break but I can promise you it was me, and it was all recorded in London. By the way, Rod Stewart has never claimed to have played that solo, in fact he has said it was me in the Bob Marley life story
Catch A Fire."
This was written by Robert Spencer, who was a member of the group The Cadillacs, best known for their 1955 single "Speedo." Morris Levy and Johnny Roberts' names also show up on the credits. Levy was an industry bigwig who understood the business very well and sometimes used that understanding to claim songwriting credits. Little is known about Roberts, but he does have several other songwriting credits.
"My Boy Lollipop" was a British Invasion hit, coming to America as The Beatles were making waves there. The song was huge in the summer of 1964, and reached #2 on July 4, held out of the top spot by The Beach Boys first #1, "
I Get Around."
Jamaican Ernest Ranglin played the guitar on this track. Famous for his session work at Studio One (the "Motown of Jamaica") in Kingston, he soon became one of the primary pioneers of Caribbean music.
Millie Small (she really was small - about 5' 2") managed just one more hit: "Sweet William," which made #40 US and #30 UK in 1964. In the UK, she recorded as "Millie."
In a scene from the 1997 film Spice World, the Spice Girls and two young female fans sing along to Small's version of this song while the Girls take the fans on a boat ride.
Although this song missed the #1 spot on the national charts in both the US and the UK, it managed to reach #1 in Ireland.
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Suggestion credit:
Jerro - New Alexandria, PA
This was used in the first season of Miami Vice on the 1985 episode "Lombard." It also appears in these movies:
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
The Big Tease (1999)
Slappy and the Stinkers (1998)
A cover version by the English two-tone and ska band Bad Manners, re-titled "My Girl Lollipop (My Boy Lollipop)," reached #9 in the UK in 1982.
