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There’s a lot to think about in all of that. I hadn’t listened to Barbie Gaye’s version in a long time. The rhythm is Jamaican ska, even though there wasn’t anything called ska yet in 1956. It seems only natural that the song would be covered by a Jamaican artist. Reading wikipedia it seems that pioneering producer Chris Blackwell decided to use the song and produced Millie Small’s version that is acknowledged to be the first successful ska single ever.

The original “My boy lollipop” would have to be considered rhythm and blues – and black r&b often needed assistance in being culturally translated to white audiences – all the Elvis, Pat Boone covers, etc… Or some times it just never translated at all – how many James Brown covers can you think of in Germany, Hong Kong or Singapore?

Barbie Gaye’s version never charted – not even on the U.S. R&B charts. So, in essence, Millie Small and Chris Blackwell introduced the song to world. It’s possible that the world was better primed for r&b in 1964 than it was in 1956 owing to all of the British invasion bands who at the beginning did a lot of r&b covers.

Of course in 1964 the tempo slows and reverb is added. But there are two interesting transformations that take place between the earlier and later versions – first the crisp counter-melody in the horns that is added that makes the song sound more polished and professional and “hooky.” Second is the change of from the word “hippety hop” to the word “giddy up.” In both cases the word is also a kind of hook, a percussive use of language common in American song and expressive of the stimulated heartbeat of the young woman. The former crams 4 syllables into a beat, while the latter crams only 3, slightly diminishing the percussiveness. The German version, because of the German language, retains this percussiveness – but the other languages less so.

These migrations are interesting. I think part of it is meme related – there is a kernel of cultural material that proves to be highly attractive to people in another culture and will thrive when transplanted. But often, as I noted above, some “translation” helps. The importance of translators and business people is essential. Chris Blackwell in essence did this – Singapore would not have been grooving to this song if Chris Blackwell had not intervened, and Blackwell did so for commercial reasons, although I sense that someone like him also really liked the music and thought he could do something nice with it.

There were obviously other people on the way in France, Germany, Hong Kong, etc. who believed that they could both translate (in a literal and cultural sense) the song to their own financial benefit. And then again, the audiences are part of it – something about the melody, the arrangement the snappy beat became incorporated into the experience of being a certain kind of young person in these societies. For whatever reason, this song did not “take” in Vietnam. I don’t know if it’s because the music itself didn’t appeal, or because there wasn’t an entrepreneur / translator ready to tackle the project.