The Boy from New York City

"The Boy from New York City" is a song originally recorded by the American soul group The Ad Libs,[2] released as their first single in 1964. Produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the song peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the chart week of February 27, 1965. Though the group continued to record many other singles, they would never repeat the chart success of "The Boy from New York City". According to Artie Butler, the track was recorded at A&R Studios in New York, in three separate sessions. The first session was to lay down the rhythm section, then the next session was for the lead and backup vocals, with the last session was just for the horns.

"The Boy from New York City"
Single by The Ad Libs
B-side"Kicked Around"
ReleasedDecember 1964
Recorded1964
GenreSoul, doo wop
Length2:50
LabelBlue Cat
Songwriter(s)
  • George Davis
  • John T. Taylor
[1]
Producer(s)Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
The Ad Libs singles chronology
"The Boy from New York City"
(1964)		 "I'm Just a Down Home Girl"
(1965)
"The Boy from New York City"
Single by The Manhattan Transfer
from the album Mecca for Moderns
B-side"(The Word of) Confirmation"
ReleasedMay 1981 (1981)
Length3:40
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
  • George Davis
  • John T. Taylor
Producer(s)Jay Graydon
The Manhattan Transfer singles chronology
"Trickle Trickle"
(1980)		 "The Boy from New York City"
(1981)		 "Smile Again"
(1981)

Chart history

Manhattan Transfer and Darts covers
Cheryl Bentyne of the Manhattan Transfer
on The Boy from New York City
"To have a hit like that you need a great song. We thought 'Boy from New York City' had a second shot [at success] in it & it did. It's one of those perfect sing-a-long songs. People love to sing it & the key to that song is the bassline at the beginning...that grabs the listener. That song swings."[7]

The song was later covered by Darts and The Manhattan Transfer, both becoming chart hits in the UK and US respectively. Darts peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1978,[8] while The Manhattan Transfer's version, featuring Janis Siegel on lead, peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1981. The song also inspired a response song by The Beach Boys, "The Girl from New York City", from their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). The Manhattan Transfer version was used by pro wrestler Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant as his theme music during his tenure with Jim Crockett promotions in the 1980s.

The Manhattan Transfer

Additional Musicians

Chart history (Darts)

Chart history (Manhattan Transfer)

Track listing
  • "The Boy from New York City" - 2:50
  • "Kicked Around" - 1:47

Allison Jordan version

After successfully launching 19 year old Sheena Easton[24] on to the pop charts via her early 1980s TV show The Big Time, Esther Rantzen decided to get involved in launching another pop star's career with a talent competition on That's Life!. The 1992 Search for a Star competition had entries from over 2,000 auditionees, with nine finalists chosen to perform a medley of Beatles songs on the episode broadcast on 22 March 1992.[25]

The winner of the competition was 18 year old Allison Jordan (now known as Cloé Hedger), who got to release a cover of "The Boy from New York City",[26][27]produced by Nigel Wright with A&R manager Simon Cowell involved in the process as well.[28] The single was released by Arista/BMG Eurodisc as the winner's single[29] with the song reaching number 23 in the UK Official Top 40.[30] After issuing an unsuccessful follow-up called "Heart and Soul" on Eagle Records,[31][32][33] Jordan joined Eurodance group Cappella[34] scoring a Top 20 hit called "Tell Me the Way" in 1995.

References
  1. "The Boy From New York City - The Ad Libs | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  2. "The Boy From New York City - The Ad Libs | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  3. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  4. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 27, 1965". Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  5. "RPM Top 40 Singles - March 1, 1965" (PDF).
  6. Musicoutfitters.com
  7. Hartford Courant 24 September 2014 "Still on Track: Manhattan Transfer remains unique" by Ed Condran p.D1-D2
  8. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 141. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 82. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Boy from New York City". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  11. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1979). "Top 200 Singles in 1978". BPI Year Book 1979 (4th ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 186–89. ISBN 0-906154-02-2.
  12. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1979). "Top 200 Singles in 1978". BPI Year Book 1979 (4th ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 186–89. ISBN 0-906154-02-2.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". 30 March 2012. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  15. NZ Top 40 Singles, 27 September 1981
  16. "The Manhattan Transfer - Boy from New York City - hitparade.ch".
  17. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  18. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 15, 1981". Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  19. "Top 100 Singles (1981)". RPM. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  20. http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3870
  21. Swiss Year-End Charts, 1981
  22. Musicoutfitters.com
  23. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1981". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  24. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/085a194bc4c74f579880b213d681cfd2
  25. Radio Times Issue 3560, 21 - 27 March 1992
  26. https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the-boy-from-new-york-city/
  27. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16559/darts/
  28. https://www.stephenhedger.com/cloe-hedger-being-the-wife-of-relationship-coach-stephen-hedger-simon-cowell-lifes-journey/#.YZJs9RfP0dU
  29. 1992 Arista Records/BMG Eurodisc cat no: 74321 10042 7
  30. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/27554/allison-jordan/
  31. 1993 ViVo/Eagle Records cat no: VVR 001
  32. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/d2020df2e76147ffbfc3258f6a70e764
  33. Radio Times Issue 3622, 5 - 11 June 1993
  34. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/24811/cappella/

24. ^ https://artiebutler.com/boy-from-new-york-city/.


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