"Bachelor Boy" is a song by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

and

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

, written by Richard and Bruce Welch (from the Shadows). It became a hit when it was released as the B-side of Richard's single " The Next Time". Both sides of the single were regarded as having chart potential so both sides were promoted and in many markets "Bachelor Boy" became the bigger hit. The single spent three weeks at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1963 and was a major hit internationally, although it only reached No. 99 in the US. Both sides of the single were included on the accompanying soundtrack album '' Summer Holiday''. On the soundtrack album the Michael Sammes Singers were credited as backing singers, although they were not credited on the single. In the UK, the single was the first of three number 1 hit singles from Richard's

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

, '' Summer Holiday'', the other two being " Summer Holiday" and " Foot Tapper". The film was the most successful

box-office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

attraction of the year. The single was followed at number one by the Shadows' own single " Dance On!" The song is about some advice a father passes to his son, to "remain a bachelor boy until (his) dying day". Richard later commented when he wrote this song he "never expected it to be prophetic". While Richard has himself never married, the song itself does not rule out marriage, with the final verse stating that as time goes by, the speaker probably will fall in love marry and have a child "but until then I'll be a bachelor boy..." and indicates he would be happy to remain so for life.

Chart performance

The below table only includes countries where "Bachelor Boy" was listed separately on the chart, or where it was listed first when both were listed together on the chart. For a more complete list of countries where the single made the singles chart, refer to the article for " The Next Time". Notes: * In Canada, the week "Bachelor Boy" peaked at number 2, Richard's " Summer Holiday" was at number 1. * In the UK, although the single peaked at number 1 in the ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The ti ...

'' singles chart that was later accepted as the retrospective official chart for the period, the competing ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' singles chart listed the two tracks separately with "The Next Time" peaking at number 1 and "Bachelor Boy" peaking at number 3.

References

External links

In-depth Song Analysis
at the Cliff Richard Song Database (cliffrichardsongs.com) 1962 singles Cliff Richard songs UK singles chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs from musicals Songs written by Bruce Welch 1962 songs Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor {{1960s-single-stub