Robert James Byrd (July 1, 1928 – July 27, 1990), known by the stage name Bobby Day, was an American rock and roll and R&B musician.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of 15. As a member of the R&B group, The Hollywood Flames, he used the stage name Bobby Day to perform and record. He went several years with minor musical success limited to the West Coast, including being the original "Bob" in the duo Bob & Earl. In 1957, Day formed his own band called the "Satellites" following which he recorded three songs that are seen today as rock and roll classics.
Day's best known songwriting efforts were "Over and Over" made popular by the Dave Clark Five in 1965 and "Little Bitty Pretty One" popularized by Thurston Harris in 1957, Clyde McPhatter in 1962 and the Jackson Five in 1972. However, Day is most remembered for his 1958 solo recording of the Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit, "Rockin' Robin", written by Leon Rene under the pseudonym Jimmie Thomas. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. "Rockin' Robin" was a song covered by Bob Luman at Town Hall Party on 28 October 1958, The Hollies in 1964, Gene Vincent in 1969, Michael Jackson in 1972, and by McFly in 2006.
Sometimes referred to as a one-hit wonder, because despite numerous recordings with a variety of record labels, Day never achieved another Top 40 hit apart from "Rockin' Robin".
Day died of cancer in 1990, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Famous quotes containing the word day:
“Half-opening her lips to the frost’s morning sigh, how strangely the rose has smiled on a swift-fleeting day of September!
How audacious it is to advance in stately manner before the blue-tit fluttering in the shrubs that have long lost their leaves, like a queen with the spring’s greeting on her lips;
to bloom with steadfast hope that, parted from the cold flower-bed, she may be the last to cling, intoxicated, to a young hostess’s breast.”
—Afanasi Fet (1820–1892)