"Ricochet" (sometimes rendered "Rick-o-Shay" and also as "Ricochet Romance") is a popular

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman,

Joe Darion Joe Darion (30 January 1911 — 16 June 2001) was an American musical theatre lyricist, most famous for '' Man of La Mancha'', which is considered, by some critics, as a precursor to 1980s sung-through musicals such as '' Les Miserables''. Dario ...

, and

Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and themes to television shows and films. He wrote the lyrics for songs including " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (with composer Cha ...

, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

. In fact, since Coleman and Darion wrote "

Changing Partners "Changing Partners" is a pop song with music by Larry Coleman and lyrics by Joe Darion, published in 1953. The best-known recording was made by Patti Page. It was also recorded the same year by Dinah Shore, Kay Starr and Bing Crosby. Hit versi ...

" the same year, with Darion as lyricist and Coleman as composer, while Gimbel wrote the English lyric for " Sway" the same year, it can be concluded that Coleman wrote the music and Darion and Gimbel the lyrics.

Versions

It was included in a 1954 film, '' Ricochet Romance.'' The best-known version was recorded by

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

on July 10, 1953 and released by

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

as catalog number 61043, peaking at number 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart in 1953. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

was "Too Young to Tango". "Ricochet" is one of the songs Teresa Brewer re-recorded in 1962 for her

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

label ''Greatest Hits'' album, with a new Nashville arrangement. In the United Kingdom, the most popular version was by

Joan Regan Joan Regan (born Joan E. Bethell; 19 January 1928 – 12 September 2013) was an English traditional pop singer, popular during the 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Joan E. Bethell was born in either Romford, Essex, or West Ham, London (sour ...

, and other versions were done by

Alma Cogan Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. Ch ...

and

Billie Anthony Billie Anthony (born Philomena McGeachie Levy; 11 October 1932 – 5 January 1991) was a Scottish female singer. She is best known for her Top 10 hit version of "This Ole House", which despite chart competition from other versions of the same ...

. :The recording by

With The Squadronaires was released by UK Decca Records as catalog number F 10193, and in Australia as catalogue number Y6543. It reached number 8 on the UK song chart. :The recording by

with

Ken Mackintosh Kenneth Victor Mackintosh (4 August 1919 – 22 November 2005) was an English saxophonist, composer and bandleader. He accompanied singers such as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro. Early life Mackintosh was born in Liversedge, Yorksh ...

and his orchestra was made in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on November 27, 1953. It was released in 1954 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

label as catalog numbers B 10615 and 7M 173. The B-side was "The Moon is Blue". A comical version of the song is sung on the Season 4 (1955) episode of ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'' "Tennessee Bound", by "Teensy" and "Weensy", portrayed by the "

Borden Twins The Borden Twins (born May 29, 1932), Rosalyn Borden and Marilyn Borden, were twin sisters who acted together in numerous television programs from the 1950s until the 1980s. They were best remembered as "Teensy" and "Weensy" in an episode of ''I ...

" (sisters Marilyn and

Rosalyn Borden Rosalyn "Roz" Borden (May 29, 1932 – January 23, 2003) was an American actor and singer, and along with her sister, Marilyn Borden, were known as The Borden Twins. The duo are perhaps best known for their appearance on ''I Love Lucy'' playing ...

). An Icelandic version was made in 1978 by a comedy duo called Halli & Laddi. Halli & Laddi are brothers and comedians in Iceland. This version is called "Tvær úr tungunum", and the lyrics are written about two sisters from the countryside in Iceland, going to the capital city Reykjavik for the first time, looking for good time and trying to find companions of the opposite sex. ;Listing of versions *Die 3 Jacksons Philips Germany 1958 *Betsy Gay Tops USA *

Enoch Light Enoch Henry Light (August 18, 1907 – July 31, 1978) was an American classically trained violinist, danceband leader, and recording engineer. As the leader of various dance bands that recorded as early as March 1927 and continuing through a ...

And His Orchestra Waldorf USA *

with

The Squadronaires The Squadronaires is a Royal Air Force band which began and performed in Britain during and after World War II. The official title of the band was 'The Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra', but it was always known by the more popular title "The S ...

Decca UK 1955 *

Snooky Lanson Roy Landman (March 27, 1914 – July 2, 1990),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 159. better known as Snooky Lanson, was an Am ...

With

Sy Oliver Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader. Life Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. His mother was a piano teacher, and his f ...

And Orchestra Bell Record USA 1954 *

Vicki Young Vicki Young (born 1971) is a British journalist. She has been the Deputy Political Editor of BBC News since October 2020 and the presenter of Politics Live since June 2025. She was formerly the chief political correspondent and has contributed ...

Capitol USA 1953 *

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and education Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Americ ...

And His

Hotel Taft The Taft Hotel building is a 22-story pre-war Spanish Renaissance structure that occupies the eastern side of Seventh Avenue between 50th and 51st streets, just north of Times Square, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. I ...

Orchestra Prom USA *

UK 1954 * Halli & Laddi 1978 *

Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar was an Icelandic jazz music band. The band formed in 1990 when singer and songwriter Björk, who at the time sang for The Sugarcubes, joined the tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar with piani ...

1990

References

External links

Song lyric
1953 songs Teresa Brewer songs Songs with music by Larry Coleman Songs with lyrics by Joe Darion Songs with lyrics by Norman Gimbel Breakup songs {{pop-standard-stub

Versions

See also

References

External links