Millie Small performing "My Boy Lollipop", released originally in 1964.
"My Boy Lollipop" was originally an R&B hit in late 1956 for a white American singer named Barbie Gaye. Millie Small's rendition has more of a reggae feel and features a harmonica solo. This is one of the best-selling hits with a reggae influence, and depending on your definition of ska, could be considered the first hit in that genre. Ska developed in Jamaica as a hybrid of American R&B and Caribbean music, and Small's producer Chris Blackwell helped bring the sound to England and America with his Island label.
Millie Small was just 17 when the song was released. The harmonica player was not Rod Stewart but Pete Hogman of The Pete Hogman Blues Band and Hoggie & The Sharpetones.
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