The first
one-hit wonder to appear in this list – or would have been, had Bobby Day not
had a minor hit in 1957 with his song “Little Bitty Pretty One” (although
Thurston Harris had a much bigger hit with his cover). However, as an effective
one-shot hit, “Rock-In Robin” – that is how the title is spelt on the label of
the original 45 rpm single – is an agreeable and engaging record. Born in Fort
Worth, Day – real name Bobby Byrd (no, he was not that Bobby Byrd) – then moved to Los Angeles and worked with some
doo-wop groups, including the Hollywood Flames and the Satellites, before going
solo.
“Rock-In
Robin” was written by one “Jimmie Thomas.” In reality this was Leon René, who
had been around since 1902 and composed such classics as “When The Swallows
Come Back To Capistrano” and “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South.” You might
therefore be forgiven for thinking that “Robin” has a dubious reputation. In Britain
this is probably down to the fact that Bobby Day’s original record was only a
minor hit and the song is best known through Michael Jackson’s irredeemably
twee 1972 cover (to which I will be returning here in due course).
There
really isn’t much to the song, if truth be told, but Day gives it an
authoritative and enthusiastic reading – his rhetorical pause after the word
“oriole” is particularly striking - and it helps that the backing band rip
through the song with such unashamed gusto, complete with concluding
wolf-whistles. Flute solos in rock ‘n’ roll? There’s no sound in flutes, as
Buddy Rich once complained, but Plas Johnson’s onomatopoeic piccolo – yes, piccolo - solo here provides the record
with its necessary punctum. Unfortunately, René opted to use Day’s song “Over
And Over,” which would undoubtedly have given him another major hit, as the
B-side; however, the Dave Clark Five remembered it and took the song to number
one in 1965.
Date Record Made Number Two: 18
October 1958
Number of Weeks At Number Two: 2
Record At Number One: “It’s All In
The Game” by Tommy Edwards
UK Chart Position: 29
Other Information: Bobby Day went on
to be the original “Bob” in Bob and Earl but was subsequently replaced by
another “Bob” – Bob Relf, he of Northern Soul perennials such as “Blowing My
Mind To Pieces.” It is Bob Relf whom you hear on “Harlem
Shuffle.”
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