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Sherry (song)

"Sherry" is a song written by Bob Gaudio and recorded by The Four Seasons.

This article is about the song by The Four Seasons. For the song by Steve Perry, see Oh Sherrie. For the Broadway musical song, see Sherry! (song).

"Sherry"

"I've Cried Before"

August 1962[1]

July 1962

2:32

Vee-Jay

Bob Gaudio

Bob Crewe

Song information[edit]

According to Gaudio, the song took about 15 minutes to write and was originally titled "Jackie Baby" (in honor of then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy).[4] In a 1968 interview, Gaudio said that the song was inspired by the 1961 Bruce Channel hit "Hey! Baby".[5]


At the studio, the name was changed to "Terri Baby", and eventually to "Sherry", the name of the daughter of Gaudio's best friend, New York DJ Jack Spector. One of the names that Gaudio pondered for the song was "Peri Baby", which was the name of the record label for which Bob Crewe worked, named after the label owner's daughter.


The single's B-side was "I've Cried Before". Both tracks were included in the group's subsequent album release, Golden Hits of the 4 Seasons (1963).[6]


In 2023, "Sherry" was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." .[7]

Reception[edit]

"Sherry" drew the attention of WPOP in Hartford, Connecticut, a radio station known for its aggressive seeking out of new hit records; WPOP overnight host Joey Reynolds soon placed the record into heavy rotation.[15] Shortly thereafter, "Sherry" became the band's first nationally released single and their first number one hit, reaching the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 15, 1962. It remained at number one for five consecutive weeks, and number one on the R&B charts for one week.[16] "Sherry" became the first single by The Four Seasons to go to number one on the R&B charts.

A version of the song was later recorded and released by British singer/songwriter . It was released in July 1975 along with "I Was Only Fooling" on the Magnet Records label (MAG 34).

Adrian Baker

A version by entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position number 82 on October 25, 1980;[17] it spent five weeks on the Top 100, peaking at number 70 on November 8, 1980.[18]

Robert John

One version of the song was recorded by British pop group , which appears on their debut album, and was released in 1998.

Dreamhouse

Song in popular culture[edit]

The song appears on the soundtrack album of the films; Stealing Home (1988) and The Help (2011),[19] as well as a television episode of Two and a Half Men.


In The Marvelous Wonderettes, Missy takes the lead on the song with the Wonderettes singing backup. At the climax of the song, Missy hits a Phantom of the Opera-esque high note.


As with most of the Four Seasons' hit records, "Sherry" is included in the Four Seasons musical biopic Jersey Boys, with Reynolds's stunt being used to lead into the song. (Reynolds went uncredited in the musical and was replaced by the fictional disc jockey Barry Belson, a fact that Reynolds resented.[20])