Who Did It Better? Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye)

Who Did It Better? 

Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye)

For today's Who Did It Better? entry, we have a song that did much better on the charts the second time around... at least in the UK. But does chart success necessarily translate into a superior version? 

Let's find out!

Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye) was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, a member of The Four Seasons. The pair is responsible for most of The Four Seasons' songbook and is responsible for co-writing and produced a string of Top 10 singles for the group.

The Four Seasons were the first to record it and it was released as a single in December of 1964. It would eventually appear on their 1965 album, The 4 Seasons Entertain You.

Their version of the song made it to #1 in Canada and  #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1965.

The song is deceptively simple. In actuality (and I will let Wikipedia do the heavy lifting here):

"After a winding seven-bar introduction in D major, featuring Frankie Valli's spoken recitation, the song settles into a triplet-swing beat and thereafter alternates between two keys, F-sharp major (in the chorus) and A major (in the verse and final chorus), bridging the gap with a five-step chromatic pivot-modulation (D-D♯-E-F-F♯ over the line "She's got me and I'm not free")."

Ten years later, The Bay City Rollers sold a million copies and hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks starting in March of 1975. It would eventually appear on their album, Once Upon A Star. Their version ended up being the top-selling single that year in the UK. In addition (and this demonstrates just how much the music industry had changed in terms of global reach in ten years) it went to #1 in Australia and Ireland, #6 in South Africa, #7 in Norway,#10 in West Germany, #11 in the Netherlands, #13 in Austria, #15 in Belgium and #32 in New Zealand.

Note: A version by British group The Symbols reached #44 in the UK Singles Chart in 1967. And a version by Hiromi Go hit #9 in Japan in December of 1975.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye)

The Competitors: The Four Seasons vs. The Bay City Rollers

Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye) - The Four Seasons

Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye) - The Bay City Rollers

The Four Seasons

Dramatic opening. Great harmonies. Warm? It is not. Those ooo's are a little pitchy. Could be the vinyl.

But Frankie Valli... he could tear through a box of cereal and I'd listen. The man's voice simply cuts straight through and sounded great on the radio. The Four Season's songs were fun, but it's his voice which sold all those records, gave the group their focus and made them a cut above the rest.

He's in great form here.

The production work is perfectly period - those drums sound like cardboard boxes. But those ha

The verse is fun. Sassy and swings.

It's a very noisy environment. That's part of its charm. The remastered version does a great job of cleaning it up, but leaves the recording sounding thinner and less lively.

As we go on, the strings get a bit shrill, but they also sort of mirror the piercing tone of Valli's vocals.

It certainly does not wear out its welcome.

Hard not to like. It's such a perfect pop confection.

The Bay City Rollers

Great job on the intro. Notice how far recording technology had come in ten years. This is a much smoother ride.

But then Les takes the lead and.... he's no Frankie Vallie. Adequate... even good, but not the force of nature Valli was on the original.

That said, this is top notch stuff. Polished pop. I think the Rollers were incredibly underrated. Had they been given the opportunity to work with better producers, Jimmy Iovine comes to mind, I think they could have overcome their teenybop roots and become a more credible band.

I don't miss the strings.

The band is tight. Great sound. Great energy. I can see why people responded to this.

I do think The Four Seasons brought a bit more heft and weight to the verses. For some reason this feels rushed. I miss the space in the mix which was used to such great advantage in the original version.

The backing harmonies are spot on.

Is that... a kazoo? What the? Huh.

No. It's a very badly modulated fuzz guitar, I believe. Oh, dear. Who thought this a good idea?

I love what they do at the 2:10 mark. Super fun. Great vocals.

From that moment on, it's like a rugby sing-along.

Very fun.

The Verdict

The Rollers do a great job. It's super fun and tight. I still hold them in the highest of regard. 

But...

C'mon. Frankie Valli! 

The original simply feels and sounds more authentic, even with all the static. I love the verses in their version - they have such a heavy bottom; the Rollers seem to rush through it a bit too quickly. It felt dismissive. Like being served a piece of lemon méringue and only digging in deep enough to taste the méringue.  

So, it's The Four Seasons for me!

Sometimes you can't argue with the authenticity of a true original. 

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn: you know what to do! Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I love to hear a differing opinion.

That's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye) - The Four Seasons

Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Good-bye) - The Bay City Rollers