Stay (Maurice Williams song)

"Stay"
Single by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
B-side	"Do You Believe"
Released	1960
Genre	Doo-wop
Length	1:38
Label	Herald Records
Writer(s)	Maurice Williams

"Stay"
Single by The Four Seasons
B-side	"Goodnight My Love" (from the album Big Girls Don't Cry and 12 Others) (second release)
Released	February 1964
Genre	Rock
Length	1:52
Label	Vee Jay
Writer(s)	Maurice Williams
Producer	Bob Crewe
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Dawn (Go Away)" (1963) "Stay" (1964) "Ronnie" (1964)

"Stay"
Single by Jackson Browne
from the album Running on Empty
B-side	"Rosie"
Released	1978
Recorded	Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, 1977
Length	3:28
Label	Asylum
Writer(s)	Maurice Williams
Producer	Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne singles chronology
"Running on Empty" (1978) "Stay" (1978) "You Love the Thunder" (1978)

"Stay"
Single by Cyndi Lauper
from the album At Last
Released	2004
Genre	Pop
Length	3:15
Label	Sony
Writer(s)	Maurice Williams
Cyndi Lauper singles chronology
"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (2004) "Stay" (2004) "Time After Time" (2005)

"Stay" is a doo-wop song recorded by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. The song was written by Williams in 1953 when he was 15 years old. He had been trying to convince his date not to go home at 10 o'clock as she was supposed to. He lost the argument, but as he was to relate years later, "Like a flood, the words just came to me."

In 1960, the song was put on a demo by Williams and his band, the Zodiacs, but it attracted no interest until a ten-year-old heard it and impressed the band members with her positive reaction to the tune.^{[citation needed]} The band's producers took it along with some other demos to New York City and played them for all the major record producers that they could access. Finally, Al Silvers of Herald Records became interested, but insisted that the song be re-recorded as the demo's recording levels were too low. They also said that one line, "Let's have another smoke" would have to be removed in order for the song to be played on commercial radio. After the group recorded the tune again, it was released by Herald Records and was picked up by CKLW. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on October 9, 1960 and reached the number one spot on November 21, 1960. It was dislodged a week later by Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?".

The original recording of "Stay" remains the shortest single ever to reach the top of the American record charts, being only 1 minute and 37 seconds long. By 1990, it had sold more than 8 million copies.

It received a new lease of popularity after being featured on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

Cover versions

• A Swedish text (not a translation) Säj mej hur du vill ha det sung by Barbro Skinnar made it to 2nd place on the top charts of Radio Nord in April 1962.
• The Hollies: In August 1963 the song was released by the Hollies, who took it to number eight in the UK Singles Chart.
• The Four Seasons: In 1964, the song was covered by the Four Seasons, whose version peaked at number sixteen in the U.S. Vee Jay originally released the latter as the B-side of "Peanuts" in January, but when disc jockeys started to "turn the single over" to play "Stay" on the air, the record company superseded the single with a new one with "Stay" as the A-side and "Goodnight My Love" as the new B-side.
• The Virginia Wolves: The song was also covered in 1966 by the Virginia Wolves (Amy Records AMY966 in the USA, Stateside Records SS563 in the UK) augmented by a brass punch that has seen it become a staple tune on the UK Northern Soul scene.
• Singer-songwriter Andrew Gold recorded a version of "Stay" for his 1976 album What's Wrong with This Picture?
• Jackson Browne: A version of the song with revised lyrics is the last track on Jackson Browne's 1977 album Running on Empty. The song, which follows on the heels of Browne's "The Load-Out" begs the audience to stay for an encore and includes an extensive playout. It includes backing contributions from David Lindley and from Rosemary Butler. Browne, Butler, and Lindley each contribute a similar verse in turn in ascending vocal ranges. It was released as a single and reached number twenty in the U.S.
• Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band recorded a version for the No Nukes album in September 1979.
• Cyndi Lauper: "Stay" was the third and final single from Cyndi Lauper's 2003 cover album At Last. It was a promo-only single, released only in the U.S. and Australia. The video that accompanied it is rarely seen but is commercially available as a special feature on the DVD, Live at Last.
• Georg Danzer: In 1980 Austrian singer Georg Danzer wrote a German text to the Jackson Browne medley The Load Out/Stay. It was performed live on the album Direkt as “Roadie Song“.
• Lyrics from the song were interpolated on reggae artist Buju Banton's song "Hush Baby Hush" on his 1995 album 'Til Shiloh.
• Dreamhouse: British pop group Dreamhouse covered the song, first released as a single in 1995, then again in 1998.
• Italo disco duo Marx & Spencer released their version in 1983.

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1960 (U.S.)

References

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