Rubber Ball

This bouncy hit sounds a lot like Buddy Holly, complete with his signature "you-oh-oh," but it's by Bobby Vee, a singer from North Dakota who was just 17 when it was released. Holly was a huge influence on Vee and many other young singers around this time. And like many songs of the era, it's very compact, running just 2:17 and getting right to the chorus to maximize hit potential. It's also very repetitive, with Vee stretching the rubber ball metaphor to show how much he digs this girl. At the end of the song, we find out that he's merely a glutton when the backing singers deliver the line, "She calls you by some other guy's name."

Gene Pitney wrote this song with Musicor Records boss Aaron Schroeder. For some unknown reason the otherwise unknown "Ann Orlowski," rather than Gene Pitney, was given the official co-composer credit. Schroeder also co-wrote several of Elvis' hits, including "I Got Stung," "A Big Hunk O' Love," "Stuck on You," and "It's Now or Never."

Bobby Vee was originally with the Shadows (not the Shadows who were Cliff Richard's backing group). Their big break came in tragic circumstances: they filled in at Fargo for Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens the night after the fatal plane crash. Later, Bobby Vee went solo and landed a hit with "Devil Or Angel" in 1960, followed by "Rubber Ball." His biggest hit came in 1961 with the #1 "Take Good Care Of My Baby."