Hey Baby! Bruce Channel

In 1962, Bruce Channels song Hey Baby  number-one  hit record.

The harmonica segment in “Hey! Baby” inspired Lennon’s playing on the Beatles’ first single, 1962’s “Love Me Do”, as well as later Beatles records, and the harmonica break on Frank Ifield’s “I Remember You.”

The main appeal of “Hey! Baby” is probably the sustained first note, with a rhythmic pattern in the background.

Channel’s only other top 40 recording in the UK Singles Chart was “Keep On” (June 1968), which reached number 12; it was written by Wayne Carson Thompson and produced by Dale Hawkins. “Keep On” also charted in Australia. Channel disliked touring, so he settled as a songwriter in Nashville,scoring a number of Broadcast Music Incorporated award-winning songs during the 1970s and 1980s – “As Long As I’m Rockin’ with You”, for John Conlee; “Don’t Worry ’bout Me Baby”, for Janie Fricke; “Party Time”, for T. G. Sheppard; “You’re the Best”, for Kieran Kane; and “Stand Up”, for Mel McDaniel. In 1987, “Hey! Baby” was featured in the popular movie Dirty Dancing.

In 1995, Channel recorded his cover of the song “Stand Up” for the Memphis-based record label Ice House. Delbert McClinton reprised his harmonica role on it and several other tracks, including another version of “Hey! Baby”.

Channel then recorded a project in 2002 with the singer-songwriter Larry Henley (ex-Newbeats), billed as Original Copy.

Channel was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.