Two Little Boys

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Two Little Boys is a popular song written by Theodore Morse and Edward Madden. It was written in 1902 and it became a popular music hall song hit of the time made popular by Harry Lauder.

In 1969 it was revived in popularity when during a tour of Arnhem Land in Australia, Australian entertainer Rolf Harris briefly stayed with folk musician Ted Egan. Egan sung him the song, which Harris recorded on tape. When he got back to England he persuaded his television producer into using the song on his BBC variety show. Harris discovered he had lost the tape and rang Egan, twelve thousand miles away in Canberra, and got him to sing the song over the phone. Alan Braden arranged the song for the TV show, and the audience reaction was such that it was recorded by Harris and released as a single. The song reached #1 on the singles chart in December 1969 for six weeks and became the UK's best selling single of 1969. On Desert Island Discs, Margaret Thatcher picked it as her favourite song.

The song was revived in 1981 by Splodgenessabounds and reached #27 on the UK singles chart. The song is popular amongst Hartlepool United fans and is regularly sung at matches. In 2006, a group of Hartlepool United fans released the single Poolie Pride, which contained the track Two Little Boys as a double A-side with Never Say Die.

The song is also commonly played by Irish band The Frames during live performance of their song Star star**.

Another version, with the names changed, is also sung by the character Spud in the film Trainspotting after Tommy's funeral.

Preceded by "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies

UK number one single (Rolf Harris version) December 16, 1969

Succeeded by "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse