Anybody remember Millie Small?

[steerpike2]

Rip Millie.

Millie Small, the Jamaican singer known for her global 1964 hit My Boy Lollipop, has died aged 73.

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who originally produced that song, told the Jamaican Observer that she died from a stroke.

 

[604man]

Jamaican "Ska", I remember it well blasting over my 6 transistor AM radio.

 

[Ds2000]

R.I.P.

 

[spicer]

Rip Millie.

Millie Small, the Jamaican singer known for her global 1964 hit My Boy Lollipop, has died aged 73.

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who originally produced that song, told the Jamaican Observer that she died from a stroke.

The ultimate bubble gum song.... sweet and innocent... she looks the part in the video with the song, she was a basically a 'little' girl when she recorded her hit. Hope she had a good life.

 

[the skipper]

Wow. Talk about a blast TO the past. As soon as I saw that name in the subject, I immediately heard "My Boy Lollipop" in my head.

Bummer she's gone. She was a great memory of my teen years.

 

[Mr Creosote]

When my son was a baby my wife would sing this song to him. Brought a tear to my eye. A wonderful memory. He's 32 now. RIP Millie

 

[ETLS]

Rest in peace.

 

[jntit]

I remember, I have an album of hers, Time Will Tell. RIP Millie

 

[nj pheonix]

I remember the song well but wouldn't have gotten the artist if it were multiple choice.
RIP Millie

 

[steerpike2]

Hope she had a good life.

Apparently not . Like a number of other child stars, she was used by the industry and never saw any of the enormous fortune her talents earned .

 

[reggaenaut]

Rest in peace Millie!

 

[Artie]

Apparently not . Like a number of other child stars, she was used by the industry and never saw any of the enormous fortune her talents earned .

Sadly, I think that was true of most Motown stars.

RIP Millie.

 

[alteclipsch]

Aw, this is sad. That was a really catchy tune. Great memories of my youth back in the 60s. Days gone by.

 

[alteclipsch]

Sadly, I think that was true of most Motown stars.

RIP Millie.

According to Wikipedia, Millie received no royalties from that hit song. And in the 1970s, she was destitute. Ah, the music industry. RIP Millie.

 

[IPADave]

RIP Ms. Small.

 

[JoeESP9]

As soon as I read the thread title I knew who it was referring to.

RIP Millie.

 

[leesonic]

R.I.P. Millie.

Thought I wasn't born in 1964, this song was still popular enough in the UK when I was for me to hear it as a child. My grandmother used to sing it to me. We might even have had the 45 single somewhere, played on our old Peto-Scott radiogram.

This song was probably influential in bringing Jamaican music like Ska into the mainstream. Artists like Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker were always underground, but Millie and "My Boy Lollipop" brought it to the mainstream. This paved the way for the Ska revival with brands like The Specials and Madness.

Lee.

 

[alteclipsch]

Some mean harmonica on My Boy Lollipop! And Millie's vocal is fantastic. Although I listened to it as a teen back then, it was on a transistor radio the size of a pack of smokes. Listening now, it seems well engineered with high quality musicians. What a little treasure she gave us.

 

[theophile]

No My Boy Lollipop, no Bob Marley. Island made enough money from her hit to guarantee they'd be around for the next decade.

 

[nsgn007]

Sadly, I think that was true of most Motown stars.

RIP Millie.

it was true with all teenage singers... most never got a dime ... remember "last Kiss" by J frank Wilson? ... he lived in my hometown, and J Frank Wilson was a pseudonym...it was not his real name .... he drove a truck for most of his life , he got zip on that hit....