Wednesday, October 06, 2010
"My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small
Born on this day in 1946, Jamaican songstress Millie Small had a big hit in 1964 with My Boy Lollipop, which she recorded in London; the song had originally been a minor hit by Barbie Gaye.
Despite its Motown-esque sound, Small's version is considered the first internationally successful ska song. Accompanying her on guitar is Ernest Ranglin, with Jon Hiseman on drums; there remains, however, some question as to who is performing the harmonica solo... Jimmy Powell always maintained it was him, while the preponderance of opinion seems to favour Pete Hogman of The Five Dimensions. There's even a rumour that a still-unknown Rod Stewart deserves the credit.
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Opinion is irrelevant, Pete Hogman who is a straightforward and honest bloke, maintains that it was him.
ReplyDeletePete moved to the Isle of Wight about twenty years ago and is still playing.
Well, there we have it... Pete Hogman it is. Still, I wouldn't put it past the record company in those days (or even today) to employ three different people to play the same thing, just in case the song became a smash hit. Deprives people of their bragging rights, dontcha know?
ReplyDeleteThose record label toads are just that...