B-side "(Love Me) Now" Format 7" Genre Pop | Released July 1963 Recorded 1963 | |
Length 02:14 (45 version)
02:42 (album cut) | ||
"My Boyfriend's Back" was a hit song in 1963 for the Angels, an American girl group. It was written by the songwriting team of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer (a.k.a. FGG Productions who later formed the group The Strangeloves). The recording, employing the services of drummer Gary Chester, was originally intended as a demo for The Shirelles, but ended up being released as recorded. The single spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and reached number two on the R&B Billboard.
The song is a word of warning to a would-be suitor who, after the narrator of the song rebuffed his advances, went on to spread nasty rumors accusing the narrator of romantic indiscretions. Now, the narrator declares, her boyfriend is back in town and ready to settle the score, and she tells the rebuffed would-be suitor to watch his back.
Other musicians on the record included Herbie Lovelle on drums, Billy Butler, Bobby Comstock, and Al Gorgoni on guitar, and Bob Bushnell overdubbing on an electric and an upright bass. This song also features a brass section as well.
The song begins with a spoken recitation from the lead singer that goes: "He went away, and you hung around, and followed me every night. And when I wouldn't go out with you, you said things that weren't very nice."
The album version features the line: "Hey. I can see him comin'/ Now you better start a runnin'". before the instrumental repeat of the bridge section and a repeat of one stanza from the refrain, before the coda section.
The inspiration for the song was when co-writer Bob Feldman overheard a conversation between a high school girl and the boy she was rebuffing.