Jimmy Cross (17 November 1938 - 8 October 1978) was an American radio producer
and singer who attained a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit with the novelty song "I Want My Baby Back" in 1965.
He was born in Philadelphia, and became the producer of the syndicated radio series Country Concert.
"I Want My Baby Back" was originally issued on the Tollie label and reached # 92 on the Hot 100 in February 1965.
The song is a parody of teenage death records of that period, and has since become a cult classic as a result of frequent
airplay on the Dr. Demento show.
There is some confusion about this artist.
Dr Demento's 30th Anniversary Collection sleeve-notes says the following:
" ... Cross wore many hats in his showbiz career, working as a singer, actor and
record and radio producer before dying of a heart attack in 1978 at age 39"
(thus born around 1939).
To try and resolve matters I contact Perry Botkin Jr. directly and
got the following directly from him:
I don't know Jimmy Cross's exact birth date but I guarentee it wasn't
1907 (as indicated in one site).
My father was born in 1907 and I was born in 1933. Jimmy was much
younger than me so 1939 sounds more like it. Jimmy was definatly not
Harry Nilsson. Harry was hanging around when Gil Garfield and I put
together "Baby Back" but he had nothing to do with it creatively.
Jimmy worked in some non-creative capacity in Television. I can't
remember where we met him but he had a true southern accent and a decent
enough voice to do our satire. We cut one more record with him ("The
Ballad of James Bong") and as far as I know, that was the end of his
recording career.
Jimmy Cross is definately not Harry Nilssen (as many claim).
What is certain is that "I Want My Baby Back" (Tollie 9039, 1965)
reached #92 in the Billboard "Hot 100" and was not limited "to just one copy"
which Kenny claimed (this claim derived from a fellow Capital Radio DJ called
Roger Scott who owned the original and was the source of this erroneous information).
The song was written by Perry Botkin, Jr. and Gilbert Garfield.
Earlier the writers formed a rock and roll group called "The Cheers".
After a year of spending their own
money cutting demo records Capitol Records signed
them and their first single, "Bazoom, I Need Your Lovin'" became a gold record.
Another hit followed with "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots."
One year later the band were no more.
Perry Botkin Jr. today is a well-known arranger and film
scorer (see link below) and Gil Garfield is an independent record producer.
Perry's father (Perry Sr.) was Bing Crosby's guitar and banjo player.
