Top of the Charts: “Rag Doll” by the Four Seasons

July 18, 1964 - Hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 today is “Rag Doll” by the Four Seasons. The song, written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, was released as a single last month.

According to Gaudio, the song was inspired by the phenomenon of homeless children who, at stop lights in New York City, run into the street and clean windshields for spare change.

In one incident in the Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan neighborhood, a young girl with a dirty face and wearing ragged clothes approached Gaudio’s automobile. When he reached into his wallet to pay her, he found that none of the notes were smaller than $10. He gave the girl a $10 bill. “The image of her stuck in my head until I wrote ‘Rag Doll,’” Gaudio recalled.

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s