Bobby Day

During the 1950s Bobby Day stood out as a central figure in Los Angeles’ thriving doo-wop scene, penning three early rock standards that later artists returned to repeatedly. He belonged to the Hollywood Flames, regarded at the time as one of the city’s leading R&B vocal ensembles, and also spent a short period in Bob & Earl, the duo that would score its signature success on “Harlem Shuffle” after his departure. In 1957 he assembled the Satellites and recorded the original version of “Little Bitty Pretty One” for Class Records; a nearly identical rendition by Thurston Harris soon outsold it. Day responded the following year with the up-tempo “Rockin’ Robin,” which topped the R&B charts, while its B-side, “Over and Over,” also charted, even though the Dave Clark Five’s 1965 cover is the version most often recalled today. He continued to place additional singles with Class in 1959, among them “That’s All I Want” and the imitative “The Bluebird, the Buzzard & the Oriole,” before moving restlessly between labels throughout the 1960s.