Songfacts®:

• Running a brisk 1:57, this doo-wop song is emblematic of the genre, complete with "dooby-doo"s and a super-innocent lyric about a girl this guy is crazy for. It was a #10 hit in the US in the summer of 1963; a year later The Beatles invaded and doo-wop suddenly sounded dated.
• Randy & The Rainbows were from Queens, New York, a doo-wop hotspot. In this lineup, they were comprised of two sets of brothers: Randy and Frank Safuto, and Mike and Sal Zero, plus Ken Arcipowski. "Denise" was their first single.
• The song was written by Neil Levenson, who wasn't a member of the group. According to his 2008 obituary in Billboard, Levenson wrote the song for Denise Lefrak, his childhood friend.
  
  Levenson also wrote the next Randy & The Rainbows single, "Why Do Kids Grow Up," which stalled at #97 - it was their last chart appearance. Levenson also shows up on the credits for "When It's All Over" by Jay & The Americans and "I Wanna Swim With Him" by The Daisies.
• Songwriter Neil Levenson brought Randy & The Rainbows in contact with the Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"). The Tokens producers worked on the track, and it became the last doo-wop hit for the Laurie label.
• Blondie revived this song in 1977, changing the title to "Denis" but keeping the pronunciation as "Denise," thus making it about a French guy so their frontwoman Debbie Harry could sing it. This was early in Blondie's career, and the song was their breakthrough in Europe. They didn't have a hit in their home country of America until a year later with "Heart Of Glass."