"Sherry" is a song written by

Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the ban ...

and recorded by The Four Seasons.

Song information

According to Gaudio, the song took about 15 minutes to write and was originally titled "Jackie Baby" (in honor of then- First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

). In a 1968 interview, Gaudio said that the song was inspired by the 1961 Bruce Channel hit " Hey! Baby". At the studio, the name was changed to "Terri Baby", and eventually to "Sherry", the name of the daughter of Gaudio's best friend, New York DJ

Jack Spector Jack Spector (September 15, 1928 – March 8, 1994) was an American radio disc jockey and TV host, particularly known for his work in New York City during the Swinging Sixties, 1960s "rock radio" era. Career 1955-1969 Spector began his rad ...

. One of the names that Gaudio pondered for the song was "Peri Baby", which was the name of the record label for which

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons. As a songw ...

worked, named after the label owner's daughter. The single's B-side was "I've Cried Before". Both tracks were included in the group's subsequent album release, ''Golden Hits of the 4 Seasons'' (1963). In 2023, "Sherry" was selected for preservation in the United States

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Charts

Certifications

Reception

"Sherry" drew the attention of

WPOP WPOP (1410 AM) is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, broadcasting a news/talk and sports radio format, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford. WPOP broadcas ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, a radio station known for its aggressive seeking out of new hit records; WPOP overnight host Joey Reynolds soon placed the record into heavy

rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...

. Shortly thereafter, "Sherry" became the band's first nationally released single and their first number one hit, reaching the top of the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on September 15, 1962. It remained at number one for five consecutive weeks, and number one on the R&B charts for one week. "Sherry" became the first single by The Four Seasons to go to number one on the R&B charts.

Cover versions

*A version of the song was later recorded and released by British singer/songwriter

Adrian Baker Adrian Baker (born 18 January 1951) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Career Baker made his debut as a singer on Magnet Records/Epic Records in the United Kingdom. In 1975, he released his first solo album, ''Into a Drea ...

. It was released in July 1975 along with "I Was Only Fooling" on the

Magnet Records Magnet Records was a British record label, started in 1973 by Michael Levy and Peter Shelley. Adam Sweeting"Alvin Stardust obituary" ''The Guardian'', 23 October 2014 It was acquired by Warner Bros. Records in 1988 for an estimated £10m. Ar ...

label (MAG 34). *A version by Robert John entered ''Billboards Hot Top 100 chart at position number 82 on October 25, 1980; it spent five weeks on the Top 100, peaking at number 70 on November 8, 1980. *One version of the song was recorded by British pop group Dreamhouse, which appears on their debut album, and was released in 1998.

Song in popular culture

The song appears on the soundtrack album of the films; '' Stealing Home'' (1988) and ''

The Help ''The Help'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A ''USA Today' ...

'' (2011), as well as a television episode of

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

. In '' The Marvelous Wonderettes'', Missy takes the lead on the song with the Wonderettes singing backup. At the climax of the song, Missy hits a Phantom of the Opera-esque high note. As with most of the Four Seasons' hit records, "Sherry" is included in the Four Seasons musical biopic ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...

'', with Reynolds's stunt being used to lead into the song. (Reynolds went uncredited in the musical and was replaced by the fictional disc jockey Barry Belson, a fact that Reynolds resented.Zelig of the Night
''The New York Times''. Retrieved March 7, 2024.)

References

{{Authority control 1962 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles The Four Seasons (band) songs Robert John songs Songs written by Bob Gaudio Vee-Jay Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Crewe 1962 songs United States National Recording Registry recordings Doo-wop songs