Soldier Boy
1962 · Scepter 1228 · USA
- Artist
- The Shirelles
- Title
- Soldier Boy
- Release
- Soldier Boy / Love Is a Swingin' Thing
- Year
- 1962
- Label
- Scepter # 1228
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- T Williams/D Jones
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Doo-Wop
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The classic song "Soldier Boy" (Scepter Records # 1228) performed by the doo-wop girl group the Shirelles, from New Jersey, USA, topped the Billboard Hot 100 on 5 May 1962 and stayed there for three weeks. Released in March 1962, it stands as one of the earliest, and certainly the most successful of the dozens of "soldier boy" themed songs to appear in the early 1960s. Whether about Vietnam, Berlin, or the general Cold War, these songs presented soldiering and the draft as a common occurrence in the US. Released in 1962, it is interesting to look into how much people in the US really knew what was going on in Vietnam. President Eisenhower had clearly attached American credibility, financial backing, and a limited military commitment to Vietnam (with around 900 advisers in the later 1950s). But under Kennedy this started to rise drastically - US military personnel in South Vietnam rose to 9,000 by 30 June 1962. While the war received more attention in the media, during the 1964 presidential election 2/3rds of Americans said that they paid little or no attention to Vietnam. So there is the question of whether this was intentionally about Vietnam - in any case, many people…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American girl group formed 1957 in Passaic, New Jersey ('Soldier Boy', 1962). [Source: Wikipedia]