See You In September
Encyclopedia
"See You in September" is a song written by Sid Wayne
and Sherman Edwards
. The song was first recorded by the Pittsburgh vocal group, The Tempos. This first version peaked at #23 in the summer of 1959. The most popular version of "See You In September" was the version by the Happenings
in 1966, when it reached #3.
, on Tin Pan Alley
[to] meet with different songwriters there. We'd eat at Jack Dempsey's
or The Turf Restaurant and then we'd go up to one of the publishers' offices and work in the piano room. We'd sit around saying to each other, 'What do you want to write today? A hit or a standard?'" At 11 a.m. on a Friday in June 1959 Wayne thus met up with Sherman Edwards: "he said, 'What do you want to write?' 'I'd like to write a song called See You in September,"' I said. We talked it back and forth and I think I may have contributed part of the opening music, but with Sherman it didn't matter, because he could throw me back half the lyric - that's how he worked. I think probably by two in the afternoon we got the song finished. It needed to be written; it was like boiling inside of us."
By 4:30 p.m. that day Wayne and Edwards had reworked their composition, simplifying it so as to appeal to the teen demographic, and proceeded to make the rounds of publishers to pitch the song which, after one rejection, met with an enthusiastic reception from Jack Gold, owner of the local Paris label, who by 8 p.m. had telephoned the Tempos1 in their hometown of Pittsburgh. The group had been flown in to New York City by the next day: Saturday. Sid Wayne - ""By Monday the record was cut [with the Billy Mure orchestra], test pressings were Thursday, and by Friday the song was played on WNEW in New York. The thing took off like wildfire....Five hundred dollars to split between the two of us [ie. Wayne & Edwards]...was a damn good week's pay in
1961." http://old.dmagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=5C1933F1D01C4247A724BAB13C6E670B&nm=test&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=7155F7796F354F21B1183937D847D6DF&AudId=29CB3DCAC7E94A08B642EC371FE6E70B&tier=4&id=233CD445200E41BFA4503C8F913DAA83
In fact the Tempos' "See You in September" failed to become a hit in the New York City area and despite breaking in San Francisco in June 1959 the single did not reach the national charts until that July. Despite a subsequent swift ascent of the Billboard Hot 100
, the single's momentum fell sharply at the end of August with a resultant #23 peak. Although overshadowed by the Happenings' #3 remake, the Tempos' version of "See You in September" did gain considerable currency in 1973 by virtue of its inclusion on the
American Graffiti soundtrack.
[to be] a great song and kind of a shitty record. We always looked for that. If you want to revise something and put your own sound to it, I think you should look for a great song that was not a great record."http://www.classicbands.com/HappeningsInterview.html Recorded in the spring of 1966, the Happenings" version of "See You in September" was produced by Bob Crewe
for the B.T. Puppy label. The song's arrangement - by Herb Bernstein
- recalled both the recordings of the Tokens
- who owned B. T. Puppy - and the Four Seasons. Breaking out in Boston, where the track reached the Top Ten that June, "See You in September" accrued enough national support to enter the Billboard Hot 100 that July to reach that chart's Top Ten the second week of August 1966. Despite peaking at #3 the first week of September 1966, the single had enough staying power to remain in the Top Ten throughout the rest of the month.
.
That December the Happenings were awarded a Gold disc
for "See You in September"'s selling a million units. "See You in September" became a hit in Brazil, appearing at #1 on the chart for Rio de Janeiro in January 1967. In June 1967 the Happenings were invited to participate in the Sanremo Music Festival
, where they performed their "See You in September" in Italian as "Aria de settembre".
http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/sanremo/edizioni/1967.htm
style by the Quotations
in April 1962; according to Quotations member Harvey Hersh: "Verve
[the group's label] released the record in August which pretty much destroyed any chance of air play."http://www.thequotations.com/aboutthe.htm
1962 also saw a cover of "See You in September" on the album The Things We Did Last Summer
by Shelley Fabares
.
The Chiffons
recorded a version of "See You in September" for their 1963 He's So Fine album; the track was reprised on their 1966 Sweet Talkin' Guy album.
Mike Clifford
had a September 1964 single release of "See You in September" but as the B-side of the non-charter "One By One The Roses Died".
In the UK
, where the Happenings' single was released on Fontana Records
in August 1966 and fell short of UK Singles Chart
, "See You in September" was recorded the same month by The Symbols
, a male quartet from East London signed by Edward Kassner
of President Records specifically to cover the Happenings' hit. Featuring Keith Mansfield
on orchestral arrangement/conducting duties, the Symbols' version of "See You in September" reached #19 on the Radio London
Fab 40, without ranking on the UK Singles Chart. Distribution problems reportedly also factoring into its lack of chart impact, although the Symbols remained with President providing the label with successful covers of older American hits "Bye Bye Baby" and "The Best Part of Breaking Up"; and their guitarist, Mick Clarke, would be a founding member of The Rubettes
. "See You in September" was also recorded by Gerry and the Pacemakers.
In November 1966, Olivier Despax recorded a French language version of "See You in September" in London for release on Barclay Records
. That same year the Spanish rendering "Te veré en septiembre" was recorded by both Marta Baizán and Kinita.
Also in 1966, in Hong Kong
, this song was covered by local pop
group Teddy Robin and the Playboys
on their LP album Not All Lies!.
In 1972 a remake of "See You in September" by the Mike Curb Congregation
reached #15 on Billboard
s Easy Listening chart
. Julie Budd also remade the song that year, with her version successful enough in Argentina to justify a South American tour in the spring of 1973.
In August 1979 a version of "See You in September" by Debby Boone
was issued as a single to coincide with the release of the Debby Boone
album (which did not feature "See You in September"). This version charted at #41 C&W
and #45 Adult Contemporary
.
Sid Wayne
Sid Wayne was an American songwriter, lyricist and composer, who wrote a number of well-known songs from the 1950s to the 1980s...
and Sherman Edwards
Sherman Edwards
Sherman Edwards was an American songwriter.-Biography:Edwards was born in New York City and was raised in Weequahic, New Jersey, where he attended Weequahic High School. He attended Columbia University, where he majored in history. Throughout college, Edwards moonlighted, playing jazz piano for...
. The song was first recorded by the Pittsburgh vocal group, The Tempos. This first version peaked at #23 in the summer of 1959. The most popular version of "See You In September" was the version by the Happenings
The Happenings
The Happenings were a pop music group that originated in the 1960s. The group's major hits were "See You In September" , which was originally recorded by the Tempos in 1959; a cover version of the George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin song, "I Got Rhythm" , updated for the nascent pop/rock era; and "Hare...
in 1966, when it reached #3.
Background
Sid Wayne would recall the song's inception: "I was in the habit of going from my home on Long Island every day to Brill BuildingBrill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
, on Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
[to] meet with different songwriters there. We'd eat at Jack Dempsey's
Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant
Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant, known popularly as Jack Dempsey's, was a restaurant located on Broadway between 49th and 50th streets in Manhattan, New York. Owned by world Heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Dempsey, it was considered by many as an American institution...
or The Turf Restaurant and then we'd go up to one of the publishers' offices and work in the piano room. We'd sit around saying to each other, 'What do you want to write today? A hit or a standard?'" At 11 a.m. on a Friday in June 1959 Wayne thus met up with Sherman Edwards: "he said, 'What do you want to write?' 'I'd like to write a song called See You in September,"' I said. We talked it back and forth and I think I may have contributed part of the opening music, but with Sherman it didn't matter, because he could throw me back half the lyric - that's how he worked. I think probably by two in the afternoon we got the song finished. It needed to be written; it was like boiling inside of us."
By 4:30 p.m. that day Wayne and Edwards had reworked their composition, simplifying it so as to appeal to the teen demographic, and proceeded to make the rounds of publishers to pitch the song which, after one rejection, met with an enthusiastic reception from Jack Gold, owner of the local Paris label, who by 8 p.m. had telephoned the Tempos1 in their hometown of Pittsburgh. The group had been flown in to New York City by the next day: Saturday. Sid Wayne - ""By Monday the record was cut [with the Billy Mure orchestra], test pressings were Thursday, and by Friday the song was played on WNEW in New York. The thing took off like wildfire....Five hundred dollars to split between the two of us [ie. Wayne & Edwards]...was a damn good week's pay in
1961." http://old.dmagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=5C1933F1D01C4247A724BAB13C6E670B&nm=test&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=7155F7796F354F21B1183937D847D6DF&AudId=29CB3DCAC7E94A08B642EC371FE6E70B&tier=4&id=233CD445200E41BFA4503C8F913DAA83
In fact the Tempos' "See You in September" failed to become a hit in the New York City area and despite breaking in San Francisco in June 1959 the single did not reach the national charts until that July. Despite a subsequent swift ascent of 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...
, the single's momentum fell sharply at the end of August with a resultant #23 peak. Although overshadowed by the Happenings' #3 remake, the Tempos' version of "See You in September" did gain considerable currency in 1973 by virtue of its inclusion on the
American Graffiti soundtrack.
- 1Mike Lazo (top tenor), Jim Drake, Tom Monito, Gene Schachter
The Happenings version
Bob Miranda of the Happenings recalls that he and the other members of the group considered the original version of "See You in September", which was "sort of a slow Cha-ChaCha-cha-cha (music)
The Cha-cha-chá is a style of Cuban music. It is popular dance music which developed from the danzón in the early 1950s.- Origin :As a dance music genre, cha-cha-chá is unusual in that its creation can be attributed to a single composer, Enrique Jorrín, then violinist and songwriter with the...
[to be] a great song and kind of a shitty record. We always looked for that. If you want to revise something and put your own sound to it, I think you should look for a great song that was not a great record."http://www.classicbands.com/HappeningsInterview.html Recorded in the spring of 1966, the Happenings" version of "See You in September" was produced by Bob Crewe
Bob Crewe
Bob Crewe is an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, record producer and fine artist. He is known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons...
for the B.T. Puppy label. The song's arrangement - by Herb Bernstein
Herb Bernstein
- Professional Life :Bernstein arranged and produced records for many artists in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. These artists include Laura Nyro, John Denver, Joel Grey, The Four Seasons, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Dusty Springfield, Tina Turner, The Happenings, Julie Budd, Lainie Kazan, Frankie Valli,...
- recalled both the recordings of the Tokens
The 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 owned B. T. Puppy - and the Four Seasons. Breaking out in Boston, where the track reached the Top Ten that June, "See You in September" accrued enough national support to enter the Billboard Hot 100 that July to reach that chart's Top Ten the second week of August 1966. Despite peaking at #3 the first week of September 1966, the single had enough staying power to remain in the Top Ten throughout the rest of the month.
.
That December the Happenings were awarded a Gold disc
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
for "See You in September"'s selling a million units. "See You in September" became a hit in Brazil, appearing at #1 on the chart for Rio de Janeiro in January 1967. In June 1967 the Happenings were invited to participate in the Sanremo Music Festival
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...
, where they performed their "See You in September" in Italian as "Aria de settembre".
http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/sanremo/edizioni/1967.htm
Other versions
During the period between the original recording of "See You in September" by the Tempos in 1959 and the #3 hit version by the Happenings in 1966, the song was remade in classic doo-wopDoo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
style by the Quotations
The Quotations
The Quotations are a doo-wop band, primarily from James Madison High School in East Brooklyn, New York.The group started in 1958 at Barney's Pool Room on Kings Highway in East Brooklyn, New York. The original members of the group were Richie Schwartz , Lew Arno and Harvey Hersh[kowitz] who hung...
in April 1962; according to Quotations member Harvey Hersh: "Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
[the group's label] released the record in August which pretty much destroyed any chance of air play."http://www.thequotations.com/aboutthe.htm
1962 also saw a cover of "See You in September" on the album The Things We Did Last Summer
The Things We Did Last Summer (album)
The Things We Did Last Summer is the second studio pop album by singer and actress Shelley Fabares released in 1962 on Colpix Records. It was available in both mono and stereo, catalogue numbers CP-431 and SCP-431....
by Shelley Fabares
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...
.
The Chiffons
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...
recorded a version of "See You in September" for their 1963 He's So Fine album; the track was reprised on their 1966 Sweet Talkin' Guy album.
Mike Clifford
Mike Clifford
Mike Clifford, , is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his 1962 pop hit, "Close To Cathy", which reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100....
had a September 1964 single release of "See You in September" but as the B-side of the non-charter "One By One The Roses Died".
In the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where the Happenings' single was released on Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
in August 1966 and fell short of UK Singles Chart
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 ...
, "See You in September" was recorded the same month by The Symbols
The Symbols
The Symbols were an English pop music band, who were founded in 1965 and lasted until 1972. They had two hits on the UK Singles Chart with "Bye Bye Baby" , and " Breaking Up" .-Career:...
, a male quartet from East London signed by Edward Kassner
Edward Kassner
Edward Kassner was an Austrian-born music industry executive and songwriter who was responsible for establishing the music publisher Kassner Music and the President record label. He lived and worked in both Britain and the United States.-Life and career:He was born in Vienna to Jewish parents,...
of President Records specifically to cover the Happenings' hit. Featuring Keith Mansfield
Keith Mansfield
Keith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
on orchestral arrangement/conducting duties, the Symbols' version of "See You in September" reached #19 on the Radio London
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
Fab 40, without ranking on the UK Singles Chart. Distribution problems reportedly also factoring into its lack of chart impact, although the Symbols remained with President providing the label with successful covers of older American hits "Bye Bye Baby" and "The Best Part of Breaking Up"; and their guitarist, Mick Clarke, would be a founding member of The Rubettes
The Rubettes
The Rubettes were an English pop band assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts...
. "See You in September" was also recorded by Gerry and the Pacemakers.
In November 1966, Olivier Despax recorded a French language version of "See You in September" in London for release on Barclay Records
Barclay Records
Barclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
. That same year the Spanish rendering "Te veré en septiembre" was recorded by both Marta Baizán and Kinita.
Also in 1966, in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, this song was covered by local pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group Teddy Robin and the Playboys
Teddy Robin and the Playboys
Teddy Robin and the Playboys was a 1960s HK English pop band. The most notable members were Teddy Robin , who has a successful career as a singer/songwriter and as actor/filmmaker; and Norman Cheng , who later in the 1970s went on to become a top executive in charge of the Southeast Asian...
on their LP album Not All Lies!.
In 1972 a remake of "See You in September" by the Mike Curb Congregation
Mike Curb
Michael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, NASCAR and IRL race car owner. A Republican, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr...
reached #15 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Easy Listening chart
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...
. Julie Budd also remade the song that year, with her version successful enough in Argentina to justify a South American tour in the spring of 1973.
In August 1979 a version of "See You in September" by Debby Boone
Debby Boone
Deborah Anne Boone is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life," which spent a then record ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year...
was issued as a single to coincide with the release of the Debby Boone
Debby Boone (album)
Debby Boone's eponymous 1979 album was her third solo studio album for Warner Bros./Curb. Unlike Boone's previous two albums, 1977's "You Light Up My Life" and 1978's "Midstream" , this album did not reach any Billboard album chart.The album featured two singles, "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own"...
album (which did not feature "See You in September"). This version charted at #41 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...
and #45 Adult Contemporary
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...
.
- 1John Milton (vocals), Mick Clarke (bass guitar), Shaun Corrigan (lead guitar) and Clive Graham (drums); Clarke - who'd briefly played for the TremeloesThe TremeloesThe Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.-Career:They formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes influenced by Buddy Holly and The Crickets...
- would be a founding member of the RubettesThe RubettesThe Rubettes were an English pop band assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts...
.