He's So Fine
Encyclopedia
"He's So Fine" is a recording by The Chiffons
which topped the Billboard Hot 100
for four weeks in the spring of 1963
. One of the most instantly recognizable Golden Oldies with its doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang background vocal, "He's So Fine" is also renowned as the plaintiff song in the now-infamous plagiarism case against George Harrison
's "My Sweet Lord
".
who produced the Chiffons singing "He's So Fine" and two other Mack compositions at Capitol Recording Studios; the Tokens themselves - who'd never previously played on a recording session - provided the instrumentation. Originally, "Oh, My Lover", one of the two other songs, was considered the potential hit but the completed track for "He's So Fine" with its now classic 'Doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang' background vocal - the suggestion of the session's sound engineer Johnny Cue - seemed an obvious smash, although Capitol Records for whom the Tokens were house producers rejected the track: Jay Siegal of the Tokens would recall Capitol president Voyle Gilmore dismissing the track as "too trite...too simple". The Tokens shopped "He's So Fine" to ten labels before placing it with Laurie Records
. Siegal - "We played it and they locked the doors and said, 'You're not getting out of here. We want that record.'...Of course, we'd already been turned down by ten companies - give us eighty cents and we'd have given you the record." http://bobshannon.com/stories/hesofine.htmlhttp://www.spectropop.com/HankMedress/index.htm
Released in December of 1962, "He's So Fine" entered the national charts in February of 1963 attaining the #1 position on March 30 and remaining #1 for a four week period and also made it to number one on the soul singles chart. "He's So Fine" was also a #16 hit in the UK
.
The Chiffons' two later Top 10 hits both contain echoes of "He's So Fine", although neither song was written by Ronald Mack, who died soon after the Chiffons had recorded his song. "One Fine Day
" was written by Carole King
and Gerry Goffin
who had had Little Eva
record the song before shopping it to the Chiffons after the group hit with "He's So Fine", and "Sweet Talking Guy" - in which the background vocalists sing: "He's so fine" - was co-written by the co-founder of Laurie Records, Eliot Greenberg. Also after the Chiffons had had hits with "He's So Fine" and "One Fine Day"1 the Tokens especially wrote the song "A Love So Fine" to be their next single: it managed a #40 peak.
had a #5 C&W
hit with her 1971 remake of "He's So Fine"; this version - which omits the original's 'doo lang' background vocal, and plays on the similarities with "My Sweet Lord" by playing the same notes in the guitar solos - also crossed over
to #53 on the Pop charts and gave Miller her career best chart placing with a #2 ranking on the Easy Listening
charts.
1978 saw two disparate remakes of "He's So Fine" chart. First in May Jane Olivor
's remake reached #77: her version of "He's So Fine" - in the vein of Cissy Houston
's 1971 take on the Ronettes' "Be My Baby
" - reinvented the girl-group classic as a lush ballad
. Two months later an attempted replication of the original "He's So Fine" credited to Kristy
and Jimmy McNichol reached #70. The latter version only featured Kristy, the duo credit reflecting the track's parent 'Kristy and Jimmy McNichol' album which was produced by Philip Margo
and Mitch Margo
who - as members of the Tokens - had produced the Chiffons' original.
In 1987 Jonathan King
put his 1971 version of "He's So Fine" as the B-side of his remake of the Cat Stevens
song, "Wild World
". King remade "Wild World" to corroborate his contention that the Pet Shop Boys
has plagiarized it with their hit "It's a Sin
": he chose "He's So Fine" as the B-side to stress his position due to the songs' involvement in the plagiarism suit described in
the following section. His version was played in the court room by the Chiffons legal team.
Dionne Bromfield
covered this song on her debut album "Introducing Dionne Bromfield
" in 2009.
of "He's So Fine". The case did not go to trial until February 1976 when the judge ruled on the liability portion of the suit in favor of Bright Tunes, determining that Harrison was guilty of "subconscious" plagiarism.
The suit to determine damages was scheduled for November 1976 but delayed until February 1981, by which time Allen Klein
, Harrison's onetime manager who had been his legal adviser in the first phase of the suit, had become the plaintiff by virtue of purchasing Bright Tunes. The final decision was that Harrison himself would purchase Bright Tunes from Klein for $587,000—the amount Klein had paid for the corporation—and although litigation continued for at least ten more years that decision was upheld.
" was written in reaction to the plagiarism suit.
The Chiffons
The Chiffons was an all girl group originating from the Bronx area of New York in 1960.-Biography:The Chiffons were one of the top girl groups of the early 1960s...
which topped the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for four weeks in the spring of 1963
1963 in music
-Events:*January 1 – The Beatles start a 5-day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single, "Love Me Do".*January 4 – At Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, Dalida receives a Juke Box Global Oscar for the year's most-played artist on juke boxes....
. One of the most instantly recognizable Golden Oldies with its doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang background vocal, "He's So Fine" is also renowned as the plaintiff song in the now-infamous plagiarism case against George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
's "My Sweet Lord
My Sweet Lord
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna...
".
The Chiffons version
"He's So Fine" was written by Ronald Mack, an acquaintance of the Chiffons' members who set himself up as their manager after overhearing them sing in their high school's lunch room. Mack elicited the interest of Bright Tunes Corporation, a production company run by the TokensThe Tokens
The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-scoring 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...
who produced the Chiffons singing "He's So Fine" and two other Mack compositions at Capitol Recording Studios; the Tokens themselves - who'd never previously played on a recording session - provided the instrumentation. Originally, "Oh, My Lover", one of the two other songs, was considered the potential hit but the completed track for "He's So Fine" with its now classic 'Doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang' background vocal - the suggestion of the session's sound engineer Johnny Cue - seemed an obvious smash, although Capitol Records for whom the Tokens were house producers rejected the track: Jay Siegal of the Tokens would recall Capitol president Voyle Gilmore dismissing the track as "too trite...too simple". The Tokens shopped "He's So Fine" to ten labels before placing it with Laurie Records
Laurie Records
Laurie Records was a record label started in 1958 by Gene Schwartz and Allan I. Sussel. Sussel was a multi-millionaire whose earlier record company, Jamie Records , had been unsuccessful. As a result, Sussel joined forces with Schwartz to found Laurie Records, this time named after his other...
. Siegal - "We played it and they locked the doors and said, 'You're not getting out of here. We want that record.'...Of course, we'd already been turned down by ten companies - give us eighty cents and we'd have given you the record." http://bobshannon.com/stories/hesofine.htmlhttp://www.spectropop.com/HankMedress/index.htm
Released in December of 1962, "He's So Fine" entered the national charts in February of 1963 attaining the #1 position on March 30 and remaining #1 for a four week period and also made it to number one on the soul singles chart. "He's So Fine" was also a #16 hit in the UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
The Chiffons' two later Top 10 hits both contain echoes of "He's So Fine", although neither song was written by Ronald Mack, who died soon after the Chiffons had recorded his song. "One Fine Day
One Fine Day (song)
"One Fine Day" has been recorded by a diverse array of artists including Susie Allanson, the Carpenters as part of the oldies medley on their album Now and Then, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, Even in Blackouts, Kids Incorporated, David Lasley, Natalie Merchant , the Mountain Goats, Aaron Neville,...
" was written by Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
and Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
who had had Little Eva
Little Eva
Eva Narcissus Boyd , known by the stage name of Little Eva , was an American pop singer.-Biography:...
record the song before shopping it to the Chiffons after the group hit with "He's So Fine", and "Sweet Talking Guy" - in which the background vocalists sing: "He's so fine" - was co-written by the co-founder of Laurie Records, Eliot Greenberg. Also after the Chiffons had had hits with "He's So Fine" and "One Fine Day"1 the Tokens especially wrote the song "A Love So Fine" to be their next single: it managed a #40 peak.
- 1The Chiffons actually had the non-charting single release "Lucky Me" between "He's So Fine" and "One Fine Day".
- "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons is featured on the soundtrack album to the 1979 film 'QuadropheniaQuadropheniaQuadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
'.
Other versions
Jody MillerJody Miller
Jody Brooks is an American country music singer. Born as Myrna Joy Miller, she was born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in Oklahoma.-Career:...
had a #5 C&W
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
hit with her 1971 remake of "He's So Fine"; this version - which omits the original's 'doo lang' background vocal, and plays on the similarities with "My Sweet Lord" by playing the same notes in the guitar solos - also crossed over
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
to #53 on the Pop charts and gave Miller her career best chart placing with a #2 ranking on the Easy Listening
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
charts.
1978 saw two disparate remakes of "He's So Fine" chart. First in May Jane Olivor
Jane Olivor
Jane Olivor is an American cabaret singer. She was initially compared, often favorably, to Barbra Streisand and Édith Piaf.-Background:...
's remake reached #77: her version of "He's So Fine" - in the vein of Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
's 1971 take on the Ronettes' "Be My Baby
Be My Baby
"Be My Baby" is a 1963 single written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, performed by The Ronettes and produced by Spector. When released as a single, the song reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart and #4 on the UK's Record Retailer...
" - reinvented the girl-group classic as a lush ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
. Two months later an attempted replication of the original "He's So Fine" credited to Kristy
Kristy McNichol
Christina Ann "Kristy" McNichol is an American actress.McNichol is best known for her roles as Leticia “Buddy” Lawrence on the television drama series Family and as Barbara Weston on the sitcom Empty Nest. She is also the sister of former child actor Jimmy McNichol...
and Jimmy McNichol reached #70. The latter version only featured Kristy, the duo credit reflecting the track's parent 'Kristy and Jimmy McNichol' album which was produced by Philip Margo
Philip Margo
Philip "Phil" Margo is an American musician and author who, along with his brother Mitch Margo is a member of The Tokens. They are best known for their hit recording of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks in 1961...
and Mitch Margo
Mitch Margo
Mitch Margo is an American singer and songwriter who was a professional recording artist by the age of 14. He was, and still is a member of The Tokens, best known for their hit recording of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for 3 weeks in 1961...
who - as members of the Tokens - had produced the Chiffons' original.
In 1987 Jonathan King
Jonathan King
Jonathan King is an English singer, songwriter, impresario and record producer. He is also the author of three novels, Bible Two and The Booker Prize Winner , and Beware the Monkey Man , and an autobiography, 65 My Life So Far .King first came to prominence as an...
put his 1971 version of "He's So Fine" as the B-side of his remake of the Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
song, "Wild World
Wild World
"Wild World" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It first appeared on his fourth album, Tea for the Tillerman, recorded and released in 1970 and, continuing the change in Stevens' sound, after leaving Deram Records and signing with Island Records...
". King remade "Wild World" to corroborate his contention that the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
has plagiarized it with their hit "It's a Sin
It's a Sin
"It's a Sin" is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in 1987.-Background and writing:...
": he chose "He's So Fine" as the B-side to stress his position due to the songs' involvement in the plagiarism suit described in
the following section. His version was played in the court room by the Chiffons legal team.
- The classic 'doo-lang' background lyric from "He's So Fine" was utilized by Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Keith RichardsKeith RichardsKeith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
in their composition "Shang a Doo Lang" which the Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
recorded in November of 1963: that version was never released but a version by Adrienne PostaAdrienne PostaAdrienne Posta is an English film and television actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname Posta in 1966. She recorded a number of singles. She is now semi-retired and works as a teacher in the Midlands and at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts...
was a single in 1964. The 1979 single "You're Gonna Get What's Comin'" by Bonnie RaittBonnie RaittBonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
concludes with a repetition of the 'doo-lang' lyric. In 1982 AnekaAnekaAneka is a Scottish singer.In 1981 she hit number one in the UK Singles Chart with her song, "Japanese Boy". She was well known for the Oriental image she adopted for the song...
had the single "Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang", the title standing in for the vocals which a career background singer laments are her lot.
Dionne Bromfield
Dionne Bromfield
Dionne Julia Bromfield is a British soul singer-songwriter. Bromfield's debut album, Introducing Dionne Bromfield, was released in 2009 by Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records label...
covered this song on her debut album "Introducing Dionne Bromfield
Introducing Dionne Bromfield
Introducing Dionne Bromfield is the debut album from British singer Dionne Bromfield. In September 2009, it was announced that Bromfield, then 13 years old was the first artist to be signed to her godmother Amy Winehouse's new record label Lioness Records...
" in 2009.
My Sweet Lord
On February 10, 1971, Bright Tunes Music Corporation filed suit alleging that the current George Harrison hit "My Sweet Lord" was a plagiarismPlagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
of "He's So Fine". The case did not go to trial until February 1976 when the judge ruled on the liability portion of the suit in favor of Bright Tunes, determining that Harrison was guilty of "subconscious" plagiarism.
The suit to determine damages was scheduled for November 1976 but delayed until February 1981, by which time Allen Klein
Allen Klein
Allen Klein was an American businessman, talent agent and record label executive. His clients included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.- The accountant :...
, Harrison's onetime manager who had been his legal adviser in the first phase of the suit, had become the plaintiff by virtue of purchasing Bright Tunes. The final decision was that Harrison himself would purchase Bright Tunes from Klein for $587,000—the amount Klein had paid for the corporation—and although litigation continued for at least ten more years that decision was upheld.
Aftermath
In 1975 the Chiffons would record a version of "My Sweet Lord", attempting to capitalize on the publicity generated by the lawsuit. Harrison's "This SongThis Song
"This Song" is the fourth track on George Harrison's 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3. It was released as the leadoff single from the album and reached #25 on the American pop charts.-History:...
" was written in reaction to the plagiarism suit.