Rock and Roll

Rock and roll, summer, girls, New Jersey. What’s not to like? Bobby Rydell’s song “Wildwood Days” went to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.

Bobby Rydell is the professional name of Robert Louis Ridarelli (b.1942), from Philadelphia, PA. For many decades, he has been is a singer, drummer, and performer. Rydell ‘s good looks helped him to become a teen idol, and he had hits starting in 1959 and into the 1960s and 1970s with songs such as ” Kissin’ Time,” “We Got Love,” “Wild One,” “Volare,” and “Sway.” Rydell was a regular on television, appearing on American Bandstand, The Red Skelton Show, Make Room for Daddy, The Milton Berle Show, and many more. He also starred in the film Bye Bye Birdie as Ann-Margret’s boyfriend. Rydell continues to perform internationally.

Wildwood, New Jersey, has been influential in the history of rock and roll. It is also the doo wop capitol of the country. Many of the top performers in the 1950s and 1960s, from Bill Haley and His Comets to Chubby Checker, appeared there. Rydell summered there as a child and teenager. Wildwood is also considered to be the home of “doo wop” architecture, which is that Post-WWII ’50s style of modern design filled with car-culture, space-age, and exotic-themed optimism and humor. And there’s a doo-wop preservation league (please click here) to promote awareness and appreciation of this culture, music, and architecture.

Here are the lyrics to “Wildwood Days” by Bobby Rydell:

“Spring’ll soon be gone, summer’s comin’ on
I’m-a dreamin’ of lotsa summer love

All I think about (Wildwood days)
After school is out (Wildwood days)
Headin’ down the shore (Wildwood days)
To have a ball once more

Whoa whoa whoa whoa those Wildwood days
Wild, wild Wildwood days, oh baby
Every day’s a holiday and every night is a Saturday night
Oh those Wildwood days, wild, wild, Wildwood days
And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights

Say baby you’ll be mine ’cause it’s kissin’ time
Gonna twist again like remember when

Sleepin’ on the beach (Wildwood days)
Seven days a week (Wildwood days)
Rockin’ every night (Wildwood days)
Till the early bright

Whoa whoa whoa whoa those Wildwood days
Wild, wild Wildwood days, my baby
Every day’s a holiday and every night is a Saturday night
Oh those Wildwood days, wild, wild Wildwood days
And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights

Whoa whoa whoa whoa those Wildwood days
Wild, wild Wildwood days
And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights

Sleepin ‘on the beach (Wildwood days)
Seven days a week (Wildwood days)
Rockin’ every night (Wildwood days)
Till the early bright

Whoa whoa whoa whoa those Wildwood days
Wild, wild Wildwood days, oh baby
Every day’s a holiday and every night is a Saturday night
Oh those Wildwood days, wild, wild Wildwood days
And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights
And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights
Wildwood days”

For other songs by Bobby Rydell: “The Cha-Cha-Cha” and “Wild One.”

If you are interested in reading about an interview where Bobby Rydell talks about his latest book: “Bobby Rydell: Teen Idol on the Rocks.”

For More Golden Oldies Music

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Juke Box Saturday, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

Please click here for the Daily Doo Wop YouTube channel, to which you can subscribe. Thank you for stopping by The Daily Doo Wop. Hope you enjoyed “Wildwood Days” by Bobby Rydell.