Da Doo Ron Ron

"Da Doo Ron Ron" is a 1963 hit single by The Crystals, produced by Phil Spector in his Wall of Sound style. The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Spector. The drummer was Hal Blaine.^[1]

That's gold. That's solid gold coming out of that speaker

—Spector to Sonny Bono, after listening to the final playback of "Do Doo Ron Ron".^[2]

On May 11, 1963, it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] It also reached number five in the UK.

Other versions

Bette Midler recorded a version of the song for her album Bette Midler (1973). The song is performed as a medley with "Uptown" and "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)".

Iain Matthews recorded a version of this song on Tigers Will Survive. He kept the gender-orientation intact.

The song became a #1 Billboard hit in 1977, launching the career of teen idol Shaun Cassidy. (The words were changed slightly to make it a boy-girl song.)

All-girl rock band The Donnas recorded a version of the song as a single, which was later placed on the 1998 re-release of their 1997 self-titled CD.

Bootlegged studio recordings of the song are found by Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys (early sessions for Keepin' the Summer Alive). Other artists who have covered this song include The Carpenters, Jack Nitzsche, The Raindrops, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and The Searchers.^[4]

In 2004, this song was ranked #114 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[5]

The British comedy show, Spitting Image, parodied this song as "Da Do Run Ron", a spoof election campaign song for Ronald Reagan.

It was used as the theme tune to Hale & Pace's one sitcom vehicle, The Management.

In 1963, Johnny Halliday sang a French version, written by Georges Aber,^[6] in his first film, D'où viens-tu Johnny ?^[7] Other French singers also covered the song, including Frank Alamo (1 June 1963),^[8] Richard Anthony and Sylvie Vartan,^[9] and Donald Lautrec in Quebec.^[10]

References