Sugar Baby Love

Album: The Very Best Of The Rubettes (1974)
Charted: 1 37
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In 1974 Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor, and his songwriting partner Tony Waddington hired session men to play a song they'd written, "Sugar Baby Love." Bickerton recalls in 1000 UK #1 Hits, "We had Paul DaVinci singing in that incredibly high falsetto voice and then a vocal group sings 'Bop-shu-waddy' over and over for about 3 minutes. Gerry Shury, who did the string arrangements, said, 'This is not going to work: you can't have a vocal group singing 'Bop-shu-waddy' non stop.' A lot of people said the same thing to us and the more determined I became to release it. The record was dormant for six or seven weeks and then we got a break on Top Of The Pops and it took off like a rocket and sold 6 million copies worldwide. Gerry said to me, 'I'm keeping my mouth shut and will concentrate on conducting the strings.'"

    Rubettes guitarist Tony J Thorpe recalls in the same book, "We were very lucky to get on Top Of The Pops. We were only at number 51, but the work permits for Sparks fell through at the last minute and we got on in their place."
  • The Rubettes went on to have a number of other British hits during the mid-'70s, including "Tonight," "Juke Box Jive," "I Can Do It" and the country-rock ballad "Baby, I Know." Their songs were mostly written by the same Bickerton-Waddington songwriting team. The Rubettes trademark was wearing white suits with matching cloth caps.
  • This was featured in the 1995 film Muriel's Wedding.

Comments: 2

  • Alexandros Adamoulas from London, UkPeople, take my advice: if you love somebody, don't think twice! =)
  • Nelson from MelbourneAbsolute brilliant song!!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?