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ERNIE SIGLEY & DENISE DRYSDALE
Hey Paula (Ray Hildebrand) Australia 1974 #1 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Adelaide Popular Melbourne-based co-hosts of TV variety and comedy shows, each with long and varied careers in several entertainment media. Presumably there was an element of tongue-in-cheek when Ernie, then in his mid-30s, and "Ding-Dong", in her mid-20s, revived this starry-eyed young lovers' duet. See also: Ernie Sigley - Love Is A Golden Ring.
JOOST EN TINEKE
He Tineke, He Joost (Ray Hildebrand + Dutch translator/lyricist) Netherlands 1963 Hé Tineke, Hé Joost is a Dutch language version of Hey Paula by Joost den Draayer and Tineke de Nooy, presenters on pirate station Radio Veronica. B-side of single Turkse Koffie. Thanks to Kees van der Hoeven for this information.
PAUL & PAULA
Hey Paula (Ray Hildebrand) USA 1962 #1 USA #8 UK #2 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #1 Adelaide #1 Perth Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson. Single on Mercury label, reissue of their single on the Le Cam label as 'Jill & Ray'. Maddeningly cute young love duet with lines like Hey, hey Paula, I wanna marry you... Hey, hey, hey Paul, I wanna marry you, too.. A follow-up, Young Lovers, was also a Top 10 hit in USA, UK and Melbourne, and also charted in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. The next two in the series, First Quarrel and Flipped Over You both charted in some parts of Australia, though less spectacularly. Ray Hildebrand is now better known as a gospel singer and composer, notably with Paul Land. Their website is at Land-Hildebrand.com. Hey Jean, Hey Dean, the minor 1964 hit by Jean & Dean, is not another version of this song... in case that's what you were thinking. 
Further reading: Interview with Ray Hildebrand at ClassicBands.com.
JILL & RAY
Hey Paula (Ray Hildebrand) USA 1962 Original version Single on the Le Cam label, Fort Worth, Texas. Recorded in Le Cam's basement studio at radio station KFJZ. The release was picked up by Mercury after it became popular in Atlanta, and the artists' names were changed to fit the lyrics. Bruce Channel's #1 hit Hey, Baby had been recorded at Le Cam the previous year. Reference: Brian Lee's Color Radio website, which has the full story, as well as label shots of both issues. Corrections or comments? Contact the writer. |