Brian Hyland

Brian Hyland (b. November 12, 1943) was a moderately successful pop artist from Queens, New York during the 1960s. Although not known as a major force in the history of rock and roll, Hyland did record two notable songs before his pop music success declined in the late 1960s.

In 1960, Hyland scored his first and biggest hit, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", a song that was as much about the 60s beach and surf culture as it was about scantier female swimwear and the males who appreciated it. The song was a smash hit as it managed to hit #1 on the American charts for one week and remained on the charts a total of 13 weeks. Hyland's other well-known hit was 1962's "Sealed With A Kiss", an eventual oldies radio standard that reached #3 on the American charts and remained on the charts for 11 weeks.

From 1963 through 1966, Hyland failed to repeat his earlier success, with several minor hits but none reaching higher than #20 ("The Joker Went Wild") on the U.S. pop charts. 1967 and the so-called "Summer of Love" radically altered the musical climate for short, cutesy pop songs and Hyland would not have any song chart again with the notable exception being "Gypsy Woman", a song he wrote in 1970 that was produced by Del Shannon.