"A Little Bit of Soap"
Single by the Jarmels
B-side	" The Way You Look Tonight (Swing Time)"
Released	July 3, 1961
Recorded	1961
Genre	Doo-wop
Length	2:13
Label	Laurie
Songwriter(s)	Bert Berns (aka Bert Russell)

"A Little Bit of Soap", written by Bert Berns (aka Bert Russell), was a song, first sung in a bluesy soul style by the Jarmels, who reached number 12 with it in September 1961 and number 7 on the R&B charts. ^[1] The song has been covered by many other artists.

Reception

The song was a major hit in the United States when it was first released. It reached the Top Ten on the Canadian charts, and Top Twenty in Australia in 1970 for Paul Davis. ^[2] It was his first charting single release. "A Little Bit of Soap" was a huge hit in southeast Asia when the Hong Kong-based group Cliff Foenander and the Fabulous Echoes released it as a single. It spent 25 weeks at number 1 in top ten charts in 1963 in southeast Asia. ^[3] Foenander and the Fabulous Echoes also sang the hit in Las Vegas, USA, in 1964. It made Cliff Foenander a household name in South Asia: Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia, played the number one hit across the Indian subcontinent. ^[3]

Remakes

• Garnet Mimms' 1964 remake of "A Little Bit of Soap" - produced by Jerry Ragovoy - reached number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1965
• The song's composer Bert Berns produced a 1965 remake by the Exciters which reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1966.
• Paul Davis remade the song in 1970: recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio this version - co-produced by Davis with Bert Berns' widow Ilene Berns - reached number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1970 ^[4]
• The Pioneers released a reggae version of "A Little Bit of Soap" in 1973 on Trojan Records. ^[5]
• Nigel Olsson's version hit number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart in June 1979. ^[6] The versions by the Exciters, Paul Davis and Nigel Olsson were all recorded for Bang Records, the label which Bert Berns had founded in 1965.
• Showaddywaddy released a version of "A Little Bit of Soap" in 1978, affording the song its sole appearance on the UK Singles Chart as it reached No. 5 in July 1978. ^[7]
• Daniel Johnston also covered it.^{[ citation needed]}

Samples

• De La Soul sampled it for a different song with the same name, featured on their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising.^{[ citation needed]}

Popular culture

• The song was featured in the 2019 Netflix film El Camino: A Breaking Bad movie.

References