My Baby Just Cares for Me

"My Baby Just Cares for Me" is a jazz standard written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Written for the film version of the musical comedy Whoopee! (1930), the song became a signature tune for Eddie Cantor who sang it in the movie.[1][2] A stylized version of the song by Nina Simone,[2] recorded in 1958, was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom after it was used in a 1987 perfume commercial and resulted in a renaissance for Simone.[3]

Contents 1 Nina Simone recording 1.1 Music video 1.2 Chart performance 2 References 3 External links

Nina Simone recording
"My Baby Just Cares for Me"

Cover of Nina Simone's 1987 single release

Single by Nina Simone

from the album Little Girl Blue

Released 1958

Recorded 1958

Genre Jazz

Length 3:20

Writer(s) Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn

Simone recorded the song in 1958 for her debut album, Little Girl Blue. The track remained relatively obscure until 1987, when it was used in a UK television commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume. To follow up this exposure, the track was released as a single by Charly Records,[4] entering the UK Singles Chart on October 31, 1987 and becoming, after a peak at number 5,[5] one of Simone's biggest hits almost 19 years after her previous chart entry. This single also made the top 10 in several European single charts and peaked at number one in the Dutch Top 40.[6]

The Simone version of the song was featured on the soundtrack for the 1994 film Shallow Grave.[7]

Music video

In 1987 a claymation music video was produced by Aardman Animations[8] and directed by Peter Lord. The video features cat characters, including a black female cat singer, and a white cat who’s in love with her. It also features some live action footage showing details of a piano, brushes on a snare drum, and a double bass.

Chart performance

Chart (1958)

Peak position

UK Singles Chart[9] 82

Chart (1987/1988)

Peak position

Austrian Singles Chart[10] 8 Dutch Top 40[6] 1 French SNEP Singles Chart[11] 9 Swiss Singles Chart[12] 5 UK Singles Chart[5] 5

Preceded by "Faith" by George Michael[13] Dutch Top 40 number-one single [6] December 26, 1987 – January 8, 1988 (2 weeks) Succeeded by "China in Your Hand" by T'Pau[14]

Also recorded by Ted Weems 1930, Harry James 1946, Nat King Cole 1949, Dean Martin 1952, Jane Powell 1957, Tommy Dorsey 1958, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, Pat Boone, Ann-Margaret, Gene Kelly, Marlene Dietrich 1961, Julie London 1964, Frank Sinatra 1966, Vic Damone, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole 2002, George Michael 1999, Cyndi Lauper 2003, and by Michael Buble