Come back soon, boy

Boy, come back soon is the title of a slow waltz composed by the German composer Lotar Olias . With the text by Walter Rothenburg and sung by Freddy Quinn , the hit became a number one hit in Germany.

prehistory

After the musical My Fair Lady had achieved the breakthrough for the musical genre in Germany in 1961, Lotar Olias had the idea of rewriting his revue operetta Heimweh nach St. Pauli, composed in 1954, into a musical. As a permanent composer for Freddy Quinn, Germany's most popular pop singer in the 1950s and 1960s, he made sure that he got the leading role in the musical. In addition to several other songs, Freddy also sang the song Junge, come again soon, composed by Olias . Walter Rothenburg, who had already worked with Lotar Olias for a long time and who wrote the text for the evergreen Such a day, so beautiful as today , among other things, had provided the text .

content

The lyrics of the song are about the worries of a mother whose son has secretly gone to sea: “I'm worried, worried about you. Think about tomorrow too, think about me too. ”The text consists of the six-part chorus, starting with the title line. It is initially at the beginning and is repeated twice, the second time a choir sings, and at the end Freddy speaks part of the chorus. The rest of the content is dealt with in two four-line verses, in which the son's point of view is described: "I still know today what mother wrote to me ... I secretly crept away when mother was sleeping."

production

Since Freddy Quinn was contractually bound to the record company Polydor , the company planned two songs from the musical for the release on a single record : Boy, come back soon (A-side) and This is only available on the Reeperbahn . Even before the premiere of the musical Heimweh nach St. Pauli , which took place in Hamburg on October 18, 1962, the recording work for the planned single was carried out on September 3 in the Hamburg studio Rahlstedt. The orchestra Hans Last provided the background music for the title Junge, komm soon . As was still common at the time, the recording was made using the mono method. The single was only delivered by Polydor under catalog number 24981 in November 1962, a few weeks after the premiere of Heimweh nach St. Pauli . The record label bore the imprint "ad Musical Heimweh nach St. Pauli".

successes

Freddy's version of Boy, Come Back Soon was first included in its Top 50 hit list by the German music magazine Musikmarkt on December 15, 1962. Just a week later, the title had reached number three and on December 29th was already at the top of the hit list. He was able to stay there for 14 weeks, and he was in the top 50 for a total of 23 weeks. Only Manuela was able to outdo him with her title Schuld was only the Bossa Nova at 27 weeks. So Freddy only came second in the annual evaluation of the music market. Boy, come back soon in the youth magazine Bravo was rated better . It led Freddy in his hit evaluation Musicbox for 30 weeks and noted him 16 times in first place. This also earned the title first place in the 1963 annual music box. The music industry distinguished Junge, come again soon due to the high sales of the single with a double platinum record . Radio Luxemburg , the only German-language music broadcaster at the time , awarded the title the Golden Lion . The song Boy, Come Back Soon , sung by Freddy, also featured again in the 1963 film Heimweh nach St. Pauli .

Cover versions

After Freddy with his song Junge, come soon again both on record and in the musical Heimweh nach St. Pauli , and finally in the film Heimweh nach St. Pauli , other record companies also released this song. Ariola brought out a cover version with Bruce Low , and the low-cost label Tempo , which specializes in follow-ups with unknown singers, also produced the track with an artist named Jonny. Later singers like Ralf Paulsen , Peter Sebastian and Sven Jenssen as well as the group Wind took him into their music albums . There were also cover versions in Swedish and Finnish.

literature

Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet German chart singles 1956–1980. Taurus Press 1987, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 .
Christian Müller: The BRAVO - musicbox , Volume I 1956–1969, self-published 2000