"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" is a novelty song telling the story of a shy girl wearing a revealing polka dot bikini at the beach. It was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and first released in June 1960 by Brian Hyland, with an orchestra conducted by John Dixon. The Hyland version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, selling a million copies in the US, and was a worldwide hit. The song has been adapted into French as "Itsy bitsy petit bikini" and into German as "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Honolulu-Strand-Bikini", reaching number one on national charts in both languages. Several versions of the song have proved successful in various European countries. In 1990 a version by British pop band Bombalurina, titled "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and in Ireland.

History and lyrics

The story told through the three verses of the song is as follows: (1) the young lady is too afraid to leave the locker where she has changed into her bikini; (2) she has made it to the beach but sits on the sand wrapped in a blanket; (3) she has finally gone into the ocean, but is too afraid to come out, and stays immersed in the water – despite the fact she's "turning blue" – to hide herself from view. Trudy Packer recited the phrases "...two, three, four / Tell the people what she wore", heard at the end of each verse before the chorus; and "Stick around, we'll tell you more", heard after the first chorus and before the start of the second verse. In an interview and article by Greg Ehrbar in The Cartoon Music Book, edited by Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor, Rankin-Bass musical director Maury Laws said he 'ghosted' the arrangement of the song for John Dixon, as Dixon had taken on more work than he could handle at that time. At a time when bikini bathing suits were still seen as too risqué to be mainstream, the song prompted a sudden takeoff in bikini sales. It is credited as being one of the earliest contributors to the acceptance of the bikini in society. The early 1960s saw a slew of surf movies and other film and television productions that rapidly built on the song's momentum. Hyland's version hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 8, 1960, and sold over a million copies in the US. It also made the top 10 in other countries, including #8 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached #1 in New Zealand.

Ownership controversy

In September 2006, Paul Vance, the song's co-writer, saw his own mistaken obituary on TV, as a consequence of the death of another man, Paul Van Valkenburgh, who claimed to have written "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" under the name Paul Vance. The impostor had explained his lack of royalty payments for the song by claiming that he had sold the rights as a teenager. Vance, the song's true co-author, earned several million dollars from the song from 1960 until his own death in 2022, describing it as "a money machine."

In other media

The song was featured in the 1961 Billy Wilder film comedy One, Two, Three – in a key scene, the character Otto (Horst Buchholz), suspected of being a spy, is being tortured by the East German police playing the song to him repetitively, eventually with the record off-center to create a weird howling variation of pitch. The actual recording was re-released in 1962 to capitalize on the film's success, but it did not rechart. The song also spawned an answer record by Connecticut singer Jeri Lynn Fraser titled 'Poor Begonia (Got Pneumonia)'. The song is also used in the films Aparna Sen film 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Sister Act 2 and Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. In early 2005, the song was used in a TV ad for Yoplait Light in the United States. It was going to be one of the tracks for Just Dance 2017, but was removed for an unknown reason. However, it has made an appearance in its sequel Just Dance 2018, performed by The Sunlight Shakers. The Bombalurina version of the song features in the 2024 Doctor Who episode "Dot and Bubble".

Charts

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Italian versions

The song was adapted into Italian under the title "Pezzettini di Bikini" by Giancarlo Testoni and recorded by Dalida in 1960. Then was recorded by Marino Marini.

French versions

The song was adapted into French under the title "Itsy bitsy petit bikini" by André Salvet and Lucien Morisse. The French version was recorded in 1960 first by Dalida and then by Johnny Hallyday and Richard Anthony. Sales of all three French versions, as well as Brian Hyland's English version, were combined and reached number one in Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium), charting for nine months from September 1, 1960, to May 1, 1961. A version by the animated character Funny Bear also reached the top 30 in France in 2007. Richard Anthony's version of "Itsy bitsy petit bikini" appears in the 2006 film A Good Year.

Track listings

Dalida version 7-inch single Barclay 70345 (1960) Johnny Hallyday version 7-inch single Vogue V. 45-775 (1960)

Charts

Johnny Hallyday version

Funny Bear version

German versions

In Germany, the song was renamed "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Honolulu-Strand-Bikini" and with German lyrics written by Rudolf Günter Loose. It was recorded by Club Honolulu, an alias for French-born Italian singer Caterina Valente and her brother Silvio Francesco, and reached number one on the West German charts. The teenage Danish brothers Jan & Kjeld also recorded a version in German, but although the duo were popular in West Germany, having already had several hits there, their version failed to chart in that country, and its only chart appearance was in the Netherlands.

Charts

Club Honolulu version

Jan & Kjeld version

Albert West versions

Dutch singer Albert West collaborated with original singer Hyland on an updated version in 1988, which reached number 43 on the Dutch singles chart. In 2003 West recorded another version of the song with Band Zonder Banaan which reached number 36.

Charts

Albert West & Brian Hyland version

Band Zonder Banaan & Albert West version

Bombalurina version

In July 1990, a version was released by Bombalurina, titled "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", which featured Timmy Mallett, star of Wacaday, a popular UK children's television show of the time, along with two dancers, Dawn Andrews and Annie Dunkley. Andrews later married Gary Barlow of the group Take That. Mallett told the British pop magazine Smash Hits that the composer of popular theatre musicals Andrew Lloyd Webber had come up with the idea for making the single, and had asked Mallett to sing on it. The day after recording the song, Mallett took a copy of it on a tour of European clubs where he was making personal appearances, and asked the clubs' DJs to play the song, raising public awareness of the record. In November 2008, schoolteacher and former singer Everton Barnes claimed that he was the real singer on the record, as Mallett had been unable to hit the right notes and sang flat. The song was released on Carpet Records, a subsidiary of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. Lloyd Webber later admitted that he had produced the song because his wife had bet him that as a composer of musical theatre, he would not be able to make a pop song that was a big hit. The band name "Bombalurina" was taken from the name of one of the characters in Lloyd Webber's musical Cats. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on August 19, 1990, and was certified silver for sales of 200,000 copies. The single also reached number one in Ireland and the top ten in Austria, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, and Norway.

Charts

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Certifications

Other cover versions and parodies

There have been cover versions in many languages.