| "Short Shorts" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Royal Teens | ||||
| B-side | "Planet Rock" | |||
| Released | January 1958 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:12 | |||
| Label | ABC-Paramount | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Tom Austin, Bill Crandell, Bill Dalton, Bob Gaudio | |||
| The Royal Teens singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Short Shorts" is a song written and performed by Tom Austin, Bill Crandell, Bill Dalton, and Bob Gaudio, members of The Royal Teens. It reached #2 on the U.S. R&B chart and #3 on the U.S. pop chart in 1958.[1] The group originally released the track on the small New York label Power Records in 1957.
In an interview with Newsweek, Dalton explained how the song came to be written: "We were practicing one night at my house, and one guy started putting some notes together. Another guy picked it up and added some more. Before we knew it we had a tune. During the next three weeks we added and changed and polished until we had it the way we wanted it. Later, the four of us were riding down the street in Bergenfield ... It was a warm day and we saw this girl in shorts walking down the street. That gave us the idea for the lyrics."[2]
The record ranked #35 on Billboard's Year-End top 50 singles of 1958.[3]
- ^ "The Royal Teens, "Short Shorts" Chart Positions". Musicvf.com. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ "To the Tune of Millions," Newsweek, March 31, 1958
- ^ "Chart Toppers of 1958" Billboard December 15, 1958: p. 44