Music to Watch Girls By
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| "Music to Watch Girls By" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Bob Crewe Generation | ||||
| from the album Music to Watch Girls By | ||||
| B-side | "Girls On the Rocks" | |||
| Released | December 1966 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | DynoVoice Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sid Ramin | |||
| Producer(s) | Bob Crewe | |||
| The Bob Crewe Generation singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Music to Watch Girls By" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Andy Williams | ||||
| from the album Born Free | ||||
| B-side | "The Face I Love" | |||
| Released | March 1967 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:32 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Composer(s) | Sid Ramin | |||
| Lyricist(s) | Tony Velona[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | Nick De Caro | |||
| Andy Williams singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Music to Watch Girls By" was the first Top 40 hit by Bob Crewe using his own name, recorded by his group The Bob Crewe Generation.[2] The music was composed by Sidney "Sid" Ramin.
Background
Crewe first heard the song performed in a jingle demo for a Diet Pepsi commercial, and according to Greg Adams, writing for All Music Guide, the song "exemplified the groovy state of instrumental music at that time."[2] In Bob Crewe's version, a trumpet plays the whole verse, the first time around, sounding like Herb Alpert's Tijuana brass style. The second time the verse is played, a half step up in tone from G minor to A-flat minor, a tenor saxophone plays a jazzier version, accompanied by strings, surf-style guitar (reminiscent of 1960s spy films) and a harpsichord, that play a counter-melody. The trumpets finish up the refrain, and all of the parts are played, repeating the first part in the coda, before the fade.
Chart Performance
The "big-band, horn driven"[3] recording went to #15 on the pop chart and #2 on the Easy Listening chart.[4]
Other Recordings
- A vocal recording from 1967 by Andy Williams, featuring lyrics written by Tony Velona, went to #34 in the United States,[1] and after it was used in a Fiat advertisement in the UK in 1999, the re-released single reached the top ten.[5]
- A version by Al Hirt reached #31 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #119 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967.[6]
- A French-language version, "Le jeu du téléphone", was recorded in 1967 by Lucky Blondo, which was covered by Natacha Snitkine and also Ginette Lemieux (under the mononym Caroline).
- A version of this song, entitled "Music to Watch Space Girls By" was included on the 1967 album Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space.
- Another French-language version, "Ça s’est arrangé", from 1967 by Jean-Paul Keller was featured in the film A Simple Favor from 2018.
- The Higsons covered the vocal version in 1984; this was released on a single and the album The Curse of the Higsons.
- Other instrumental versions of the song were recorded by Billy Vaughn, Chet Atkins and Walter Wanderley.
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