Rag Doll (The Four Seasons song)

"Rag Doll"
Single by The Four Seasons
from the album Rag Doll
B-side "Silence Is Golden" (from the album Born To Wander)
Released June 1964
Format 7"
Recorded 1964
Genre Rock
Length 2:54
Label Philips Records
Writer(s) Bob Crewe
Bob Gaudio
Producer(s) Bob Crewe
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Alone"
(1964)		 "Rag Doll"
(1964)		 "Save It for Me"
(1964)

"Rag Doll" is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded by The Four Seasons and released as a single in 1964. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 18, 1964, and remained on top for two weeks.[1] According to songwriter Bob Gaudio, the recording was inspired by a dirty-faced little girl, about 5 years old, dressed in ragged clothes. At stop lights, children in the neighborhood would run into the street and clean windshields for spare change; but this little girl could only reach high enough to clean the driver side mirror of his automobile. When Gaudio reached into his wallet, all he had were notes, none smaller than $20. He gave the girl a twenty dollar bill (Gaudio has also said it was a $5 or a $10). Her astonishment stayed in Gaudio's mind as he approached the recording studio. "Rag Doll", with a few tweaks by Bob Crewe, was the result. The song was also a number one hit in Canada, and reached number two in the UK and number four in Ireland.

The B-side was the original version of "Silence Is Golden." In 1967 the song was a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart for the English band The Tremeloes.[2]

In 2010, radio station WCBS-FM in New York City ranked the Four Seasons' "Rag Doll" as the number-one song of all time, as voted on by its listeners.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 152. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Rag Doll Songfacts
  3. ↑ "CBS-FM's Top 1,001 Countdown". Wcbsfm.cbslocal.com. CBS Radio Inc. 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
Preceded by
"I Get Around" by The Beach Boys		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
July 18, 1964 (two weeks) 		Succeeded by
"A Hard Day's Night" by The Beatles


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