Follow the Boys (song)
| "Follow the Boys" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Connie Francis | ||||
| from the album Follow the Boys | ||||
| A-side | "Follow the Boys" | |||
| B-side | "Waiting For Billy" | |||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Recorded | 1963 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:40 | |||
| Label | MGM Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Benny Davis/Ted Murry | |||
| Connie Francis US singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Follow the Boys" is a 1963 song that was used as the theme song to the 1963 comedy film of the same name and was also a Top 20 hit for Connie Francis.
Recording history
Three different versions of the song exist: the first version was recorded on June 30, 1962 during the shooting of the on-location scenes in Italy, where Francis overdubbed her vocals to a playback which had been pre-recorded under the direction of Geoff Love at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London. This version was used for the opening and closing credits of the film.
The second recording of the "Follow the Boys" theme song was conducted by LeRoy Holmes, a veteran of the classic MGM musicals who by 1963 had left that studio to compose for United Artists films; however he returned to MGM to work with Francis whose 1958 hit "Stupid Cupid" he'd conducted. The recording took place on September 27, 1962. This version was released on the original MGM Records Single.
The third recording was recorded on January 10, 1963. This version used the original September 1962 playback with Francis overdubbing new vocals. This version was released on the album "Follow the Boys" (MGM Records SE-4123), which featured the film's songs on the A-Side and a selection of Italian-flavored songs to fit the movie's setting on the B-Side although they didn't appear in the actual movie.
"Follow the Boys" was stylistically reminiscent of the hit theme song from Where the Boys Are written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield but was in fact written by Benny Davis and Ted Murry (pseudonym for Murray Mencher) the composers of Francis 1962 #1 "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You".
Released in February 1963, "Follow the Boys" was ranked in local hit parades across the US typically peaking in the Top 20 with Top Ten status achieved in Dallas and Philadelphia along with some smaller markets. Nationally "Follow the Boys" peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1963 where it would be Francis' final showing in the Top 20. The single was markedly more successful as ranked by Cash Box spending two weeks at #11.
The B-side of "Follow the Boys", "Waiting For Billy", written by Davis and Murry with Dramato Palumbo was also from the Follow the Boys film, and refers to the Roger Perry character's name being Billy Pulaski. "Waiting For Billy" received enough airplay to "bubble under" the Billboard Hot 100 at #127.
Francis recorded several foreign-language versions of "Follow the Boys": for all versions the playback of the September 1962 recording was used.
- German: "Mein Schiff fährt zu dir" my ship sails to you
- Italian: "Per sempre con te" forever with you
- French: "En suivant mon Coeur" following my heart
- Spanish: "Detras del amor" behind the love
- Japanese 渚のデイト date of the beach
Unlike the original US release of "Follow the Boys", the foreign language versions were not coupled with "Waiting for Billy", but with a foreign language version of "Tonight's my night", another song from the movie's soundtrack:
- German: "Die Nacht ist mein" In Germany this was the A-Side & peaked at #2:
- "Mein Schiff fährt zu dir" was relegated to the B-Side
- Italian (regular language): "Che bella notte"
- Italian (Neapolitan): "Che bella notte" (US album release only)
- French: "Décidement"
- Spanish: "Esta es mi noche"
- Japanese 星影で愛して
The only evident remake of "Follow the Boys" is that by Iveta Bartošová which appears on her 1989 album Closer Now.
