Little Pattie - He’s My Blonde-Headed Stompie-Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy (1963)

(Joe Halford - Jay Justin)
 Australia
Original version
#2 Sydney #6 Brisbane

Teenager Little Pattie (b.1940, Patricia Amphlett) kicked off her career with He’s My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy backed with another surf craze song by the same writers, Stompin’ At Maroubra. She later moved on from the surf novelty with a number of well-chosen and well-produced songs: see, for example, Pushin’ A Good Thing Too Far, Little Things Like That and Dance Puppet Dance. 

He’s My Blonde-Headed Stompie-Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy was written by Sydney EMI house producer Joe Halford, who had signed Little Pattie at her audition, and Jay Justin (born Jay Justin McCarthy), a singer-songwriter whose Proud Of You had been a hit earlier in the same year.

Little Pattie is a cousin of Chrissie Amphlett of The Divinyls.

Given its sentimental status as a classic oldie, it is surprising that Blonde-Headed Stompie-Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy did not chart in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest market. The song owes its worldwide fame in part to its title, which is in a similar vein to an earlier beachside hit, Bryan Hyland’s Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (1960).

Further reading: 1. The definitive source on Little Pattie is Graeme Browne’s booklet on her career, available through OzMusicBooks. 2. Little Pattie: Stories and Highlights at Long Way to the Top [archived]. 3. Little Pattie entry at Wikipedia. 4. Patricia Thelma ‘Little Pattie’ Amphlett, OAM at Australian War Memorial’s Who’s Who in Australian Military History. 5. Citation for OAM for services to the entertainment industry, 2003.