The "See You In September" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking my email and I happened upon a story about a song I remembered from the Summer of 1959.  Song was titled "See You in September" and was recorded by a group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called "The Tempos."  

The Tempos

For those reading this story and are senior citizens, I'm absolutely sure, by now, that you are humming the song to yourself.  In 1959 I was just beginning to appreciate Rock & Roll music and would hurry home from school to turn on the black & white TV to watch Dick Clark on "Bandstand" which came from nearby Philadelphia. "See You in September" peaked at #23 in the summer of 1959, but a second version of the song came along seven years later and was recorded by "The Happenings."  

The Happenings

This time it reached #3 on the music charts.  The song was written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edward.  It was on a Friday in June of 1959 that Sid met up with Sherman in a record publisher's office on Long Island, New York at 11:00 a.m.  One said to the other, "What do you want to write today?  A hit or a standard?"  Sherman replied, "What do you want to do?"  So Sid said, "I'd like to write a song called 'See You in September.'"  They talked back and forth and before long Sid had contributed part of the opening music and Sherman had thrown back half of the lyrics.  By 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon the song was finished.  Sid claims, "The song had to be written; it was like boiling inside of us." A couple of hours later they had reworked the composition, making it more simple so it would appeal to teenagers like myself.  They took the song to a publisher who rejected it, but the next publisher, Jack Gold, quickly telephoned the Tempos in their hometown of Pittsburgh and the next day they were in New York City.  Two days after that the record was cut and a few days later it was playing on WNEW in New York.  The record took off like wildfire according to Sid.  But, by the end of the summer it had topped out at #23 on the charts.  Bob Miranda of "The Happenings" remembered the song in the mid-1960s as a slow Cha-Cha.  He said it was a great song, but not a great record.  So, he and his group, "The Happenings," re-recorded the song in the Spring of 1966 and by the third week of August was in the Top Ten on Billboard's Hot 100.  It peaked at #3 the first week of September and the group was awarded a Gold Disc for the song for selling a million records.  In January of the following year it was a big hit in Brazil where it reached #1 in Rio de Janeiro.  And, the entire time I was writing this story I was singing along to the song that I still have floating around in my head somewhere.  Well, September is fast approaching and perhaps I may "see you in September!"  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.