Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop singer dies aged 73

BBC ^ | May 6 2020 | Mark Savage

[Kriggerel]

Jamaican singer Millie Small has died at the age of 73 after suffering a stroke.

The star was most famous for her hit single My Boy Lollipop, which reached number two in both the US and the UK in 1964.

It remains one of the biggest-selling ska songs of all time, with more than seven million sales.

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell announced her death and remembered her as "a sweet person... really special".

It was Blackwell who brought Small to London in 1963 and produced her version of My Boy Lollipop, showcasing her childlike, high-pitched vocals.

"I would say she's the person who took ska international because it was her first hit record," he told the Jamaica Observer.

[Kriggerel]

I always thought she had quite a unique voice. I also didn't know that Ms. Small was only 17 when she recorded "My Boy Lollipop".

[PGalt]

Condolences to family and friends of Millie Small. Thanks Millie. R.I.P. love (prayer)

[SkyDancer]

Did she also do: "My Baby Thinks He's A Train"?

[albie]

I guess her heart went “giddy up”

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Rush will play “Lollypop” on his show in her honor.

[Kriggerel]

(just did the google-fu)... If Millie Small did that song, I can’t find any mention of it. Only of the Rosanne Cash version.

[MuttTheHoople]

Another Coronavirus-related death.[/sarc]

[Stosh]

Where’s the picture of Barney Frank ? (not that I really want to see it)

[Beagle8U]

https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/video/1964/Millie-Small-My-Boy-Lollipop

[Beagle8U]

I was surprised when I first saw her, her looks don’t match her voice.

[originalbuckeye]

Always liked that song.....too young at the time to consider the implications of the words. IIRC, Peter Asher dated her for a while. RIP Ms Small.

[null and void]

Well, that sucks...

[pookie18]

The original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1OYZ1PZtV0

[Buckeye McFrog]

Clarence “Frogman” Henry sill alive and kickin’ at age 83.

[cyclotic]

I was in a store and Ain’t got no Home came on the loudspeaker.

I’m walking through the store singing along with the Frogman.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

All these decades and I thought it was an innocent song...until I read your remark. Now it makes sense.

Of course, being only seven years old when it came out, I didn’t have a clue.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Egads, I’d forgotten how annoying her voice was.

[lodi90]

Bobby Lewis of “Tossin’ and Turnin’” fame passed away last week. He was 95.

[Kriggerel]

“Egads, I’d forgotten how annoying her voice was....”

Not even *half* as annoying as Cyndi Lauper hiccuping her way through “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, IMO, or (shudder), Gayla Peevey.

One reason I dread December each year is that I know that at some point, I’m going to have to listen to “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

[pookie18]

Barbie or Millie?