Expert: Bong Santos - 7/14/2006

Question
HELP HELP HELP ME PPPPLLEASE!

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE GROUP AND SONG THAT STARTS LIKE THIS....

"I WANNA (or want to ) BE WHERE THE BOYS ARE, BUT I'M NOT ALLOWED"

Answer
Dear Lisette,

No problem! Help is coming. Lol! Guess I know what you're talking about. That song is BOY by BOOK OF LOVE. In case, you are interested, BOOK OF LOVE is a synth pop group who were dance club staples in the 80's. BOOK OF LOVE was formed in Philadelphia by SUSAN OTTAVIANO, TED OTTAVIANO (not related to Susan), JADE LEE & LAUREN ROSELLI in 1984. In 1985, they recorded BOY, a toe-tapping tale of teen-girl angst. The song was given to DJ IVAN IVAN, who then forwarded it to Sire Records president SEYMOUR STEIN, who signed the group. Their debut album, BOOK OF LOVE came out in 1986. Although the song did not hit the Hot 100 Charts, it was big on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart peaking at #7 on April 13, 1985 as double-A side of BOOK OF LOVE. A remix version of BOY became a hit again peaking at #2 on the same chart on February 10, 2001. It is from their album I TOUCH ROSES: THE BEST OF BOOK OF LOVE (2001). Their only Hot 100 hit came in 1988 with PRETTY BOYS AND PRETTY GIRLS, peaking at #90 on September 3, 1988 out of their 1988 set LULLABY.

Here is BOY by BOOK OF LOVE:

I want to be where the boys are
but I'm not allowed
I wait outside of the boy's bar
I wait for them to all come out

I'm not a
boy

It's not my fault
that I'm not a boy
it's not my fault
I don't have those toys

I'm not a
boy

And now it's alright
without those boys
I stay at home at night
and I play with my toys

I'm not a
boy

Maraming salamat po!

BONG M. SANTOS
Manila, Philippines