Rag Doll (The Four Seasons song)

"Rag Doll" is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded by the Four Seasons and released as a single in 1964. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 18, 1964, and remained on top for two weeks.[1] The song was also a number one hit in Canada, and reached number two in the UK and number four in Ireland.

"Rag Doll"
Single by The Four Seasons
from the album Rag Doll
B-side"Silence Is Golden" (from the album Born to Wander)
ReleasedJune 1964
Format7"
Recorded1964
GenrePop
Length2:54
LabelPhilips Records
Songwriter(s)Bob Crewe
Bob Gaudio
Producer(s)Bob Crewe
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Alone"
(1964)		 "Rag Doll"
(1964)		 "Save It for Me"
(1964)

According to songwriter Bob Gaudio, the recording was inspired by one of the homeless people cleaning windshields. At stop lights in the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan neighborhood, children would run into the street and clean windshields for spare change, including one little girl with a dirty face and wearing ragged clothes who approached his automobile. When Gaudio reached into his wallet to pay her, he found that none of the notes were smaller than $10. He gave the girl a ten-dollar bill. (Some accounts indicate that it was a five-dollar bill.)[2] "The image of her stuck in my head until I wrote 'Rag Doll'", Gaudio recalled in a 2009 interview.[3]

The B-side was the original version of "Silence Is Golden" which reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and number 11 on the US charts.[4] In 1967, that song was also a number one hit in the UK for the English band the Tremeloes.[5]

In 1989, critic Dave Marsh ranked "Rag Doll" at No. 401 on his list compiled in the book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, being one of five songs by the Four Seasons listed in the book.[6] In 1997, Mojo also listed the song as one of the 'Bubbling Under' singles in its list of 'The 100 Greatest Singles Of All Time'.[7]

In 2010, radio station WCBS-FM in New York City ranked the Four Seasons' "Rag Doll" as the number-one song of all time, as voted on by its listeners.[8]

Chart history

References
  1. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 152. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. Who Wrote The Book Of Love?
  3. We're all ears: 'Jersey Boys' Bob Gaudio talks about what inspired his Four Seasons hits
  4. An Avid's Guide to Sixties Songwriters
  5. Rag Doll Songfacts
  8. "CBS-FM's Top 1,001 Countdown". Wcbsfm.cbslocal.com. CBS Radio Inc. 2012. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  9. RPM Top 45s, August 4, 1964
  10. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Rag Doll". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  11. Flavour of New Zealand, 23 July 1964
  12. 2 September 1964
  13. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  14. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 18, 1964". Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  15. http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1964.shtml
  16. Musicoutfitters.com
  17. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1964". Archived from the original on June 1, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2017.


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