"Rubber Ball" was an early 1961 hit for Bobby Vee on Liberty Records. It was the record which made Vee an international star. The song was recorded on August 12, 1960 in a four-song, three-hour session at United in Hollywood. It was produced by a 19-year-old Texan, Thomas "Snuff" Garrett, arranged by Ernie Freeman, and was co-written at the Brill Building in New York by Gene Pitney, using his mother's maiden name, (Orlowski) and by Aaron Schroeder.
The song was Vee's fifth single release in the US, where it made #6 on the Billboard charts; it was a breakthrough hit for him in the UK, where it reached #4. In Australia, it was Vee's only #1 record, where it stayed for three weeks in early 1961. The record also marked Vee's first use of overdubbing his second vocal.
The song was covered as a single by British singer Marty Wilde, who also had chart success when it went to #9 in 1961.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys revived the song some years later on their Complete Hits album.
Famous quotes containing the words rubber and/or ball:
“First, are you our sort of a person?
Do you wear
A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch,
A brace or a hook,
Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,
Stitches to show something’s missing?”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“‘Throw down the ball, ye Jew’s daughter,
Throw down the ball to me!’
‘Never a bit,’ says the Jew’s daughter,
‘Till up to me come ye.’”
—Unknown. Hugh of Lincoln (l. 13–16)