Mr.Lee--The Bobbettes

[TheSammaster9]

Jonathan Lee sure likes this song.

[Nixcilak]

@DjDowney2k9

That's how I do it.. T__T

[DjDowney2k9]

are you seriously filming a record lol

[Panbaccha]

To Pacflim ... I was a ten year old kid in his class and indeed witness this scene. Why is it memorable? Not only for the song and the group singing it but for the fact that Mr. Lee, a very rigid conservative, broke down and cried. And to see that as a kid would very likely stick out in one's mind perhaps forever. Much later as an adult I had written a semi-autobiographical book in which Mr. Lee is mentioned. East Harlem was an incubator of raw talent. So to answer your question: Yes.

[WysteriaWhisper]

Love this explanation about Mr Lee, it's very moving! One of the greatest songs I remember so well! And the Bobbettes are Awesome!

[ps100able]

I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A BOBETTE BUT THEY TURNED ME DOWN ONLY BECAUSE I WAS NOT A GIRL. LIFE SUCKS.

[billydeeuk]

Thumbs up if MINISTRY OF MAYHEM brought you here

[FroggerJvids]

Cliff Lee is a Texas Ranger for life =)

[rslitman]

@FroggerJvids Cliff Lee is a Philadelphia Phillie for the next few years.

[danielmkubacki]

WOW Mr. LEE must have been a VERY good teacher to have a song composed about him. Or mady he was a babe magnit.

[Clintizzle32]

Perfect theme song for Cliff Lee. 1. 2. 3. What's new? 

[el8am]

there is FUNNY rendition of this song on the cosby show. High-larious

[WombatKuek]

@el8am i remember that. that was the first time i ever heard this song.

[whatsay2]

Love this song! Thanks for sharing! Fun to read how younger ones love these songs too. :)

[Goldenz36]

I accidentally hit an "oldies" station yesterday and LOVED all the songs. This song specifically I searched for today as I enjoy all their songs and loved this one (and I was born in the 70's) :O)

[healthhaterxx]

doowop rules. i love this song. @megaswenson hey the rolling stones are good

you should save your white bashing for bands that actually suck like american white bands. I think it's funny that brits were better at imitating black music than americans. Americans do it like a bad impersonation with no original style.

[themoshmenace]

@healthhaterxx Mr. Lee is not doowop. Been there. Know it. Not everything pre-Beatles is doowop.

[astrogirlproductions]

there is a teacher at my school named mr. lee and when i first heard this song i cracked up XD

[xnickfriedlx]

Mr. Lee teaches earth science!

[astrogirlproductions]

@xnickfriedlx same at my school!

[ihatetaft]

I have had this song stuck in my head for weeks, LOL

[profling]

Thanks for the right song. The other versions stink.

[d820m]

I Shot Mr. Lee was actually a follw-up to Mr. Lee

[megaswenson]

This is so much better than the fake Black groups like Elvis and the 'Stones'. My Grandmothers say that nobody who was anybody listened to the fakes. The girls with the Lincoln Convertibles listened to nothing but REAL Motown, and the groups out of New Orleans.

[UPALLNITE4U]

megaswenson,

Yo gran mammys spoke with forked tongue.

[bellgardens53]

@megaswenson All I can say is that El was a soul brother. Every black artist that counts in the '50s considered him as that. El of the '50s was NO fake. He was a barrier breaker/a force of nature.

[procfan]

From the liner notes in my "Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974, "it was not complimentary to that harried teacher . . . .judicious changes made it almost a love song."

One of the best..

[ervin6]

My Dad Had this song on a 78 RPM record

[STEVE038564]

thanks for posting this song brings back so many memories keep them coming !

[whiskey6actual]

i was in the sixth grade and the "older" girls would play this on the juke ( 5 fer a qtr) at the candy store and dance ---- egg creams and malts fer all -- and sneaking a kent outside

[Panbaccha]

Wow ... Kent cigarettes and chocolate egg creams! .... LOL ...

[donc1949]

From the history I found, the original song was "I Shot Mr. Lee".Tthey hated their teacher, and when he heard the song, he did cry. Atlantic records was having nothing to do with the lyrics as they stood, so they were changed. The only part remaining of the "I Shot" is in the BGvocals, "Boom Shaddy Waddy. Wop." The "Boom" being the key word to the history. Atlantic records is still vigilant about removing any such original lyric versions from the internet. Great song though!

[Krissws]

but I wanna know something, why there is a different version of this song, called "I shot Mr. Lee"?

[d820m]

because it was a follow-up......they got tired of singing about him...after leaving Atlantic , all of the companies wanted them to make another Mr. Lee record

[Panbaccha]

These girls were my classmates. Live on the same street, went to the same school PS109. Mr. Lee was our sixth grade teacher. He heard this song one day, sat at his desk and cried.

[Krissws]

WOW! very interesting! They're awesome! :D please tell us more about Mr. Lee. and of course The Bobbettes

[Panbaccha]

Mr. Lee taught at PS 109. The Barbettes lived on the corner. I lived on 100th street, the most violent block in NYC's history. My book "The Hierophant Of 100th Street" were about those times. Mr. Lee looked like the tv version of Clark Kent. And of course the young girls fantasized aloud about it. One day he raced into the classroom and played "Mr. Lee." It was the # 1 hit in the country. He was so moved by it that he broke down and cried at his desk. ... I was only ten years old then.

[D1nges]

@Panbaccha

Omg

May I be really rude and ask you how old you are?

Don't get me wrong, it's really cool to know the history of this song

[Panbaccha]

Hi ya' D1nges ... not rude at all. I was 10 yrs old then. I am now 62 and still running the basketball as back then. Those days were different than today's time. It was much more communal and electrifying.

[D1nges]

I trust it was, even though it were hard times for many minorities, I like the fact that many groundbreaking developments when it comes to music and stuff where set back then, I mean Elvis and the Beatles.

Not to mention politics and stuff

love the 50ies and 60ies!

[55Medusa]

@panbaccha...some people think life is over at 25....they'll learn in time.

[helencheddar]

@Panbaccha actually apparently they hated mr. lee. the song "I Shot Mr. Lee" came first. I may be wrong but that's what I heard.

[Panbaccha]

@helencheddar ... Hi ya' Helen ... the Bobbettes couldn't stand an uptight, conservative, robot-like, lookalike Clark Kent who was so rigid and constipated in attitude. I oughta know. He was my teacher too. 'I Shot Mr. Lee' was their second hit. Not their first.

[pacfilm]

@Panbaccha ... Panbaccha: Did you actually witness this? Endlessly fascinating; the era that is. We did the Frankie Lymon doc that ran on PBS in 1983.

[Krissws]

WOW! I can hear those stories aaaaalll day long! I like that kind of stories. THANKS FOR SHARING!

[brownies4you]

WOW! Suddenly I'm swept back to 1957. This song was HUGE at my school's weekend sock hops and at the local soda shop. It got kids jumpin' on the dance floor. I remember that there would always be some kids in the crowd that would try to impersonate the high-pitched "HEY!" (or was it "HO!") at the 1-2-3 refrain. It was a high energy, party song. I hear it and remember the days of girls wearing wide-sweeping circle skirts with crinoline petticoats and sweater sets to school and dances.