Andrew Lloyd Webber was delighted and the song went into secret production as Carpet Records first release through Polygram.

Timmy went off on a five week filming trip to Crete, Russia and Norway taking with him a cassette version of the song. In fact the first play of the song was in a nightclub in Malia on Crete where it brought the house down, and the DJ begged to be allowed to keep it.
"You might have a hit on your hands here, Timmy" said the director.

In Mid July the record hit the charts, Princess Diana was photographed in a bikini and the subsequent Sun headline was "Itsy Bitsy Di's a dream in her bikini!"

That and a front page TV Times did wonders for the record's promotion. It caught the public mood, was heavily played across Europe and at the end of July Timmy appeared on Top of the Pops as the first act in a then rare live show.

The two Itsy bitsy girls Dawn and Annie were the best session dancers around and were chosen by the choreographer Arlene Phillips. Madonna's Vogue was the style for the dance routine and Timmy and the girls spent busy days rehearsing at London's Pineapple studios. (Dawn was later to marry Take That's Gary Barlow and Annie appeared as the blonde in the Thelma and Lousie car ads)

The video was shot in a garage in North london were they recreated a fake beach and were made the front cover of Smash Hits.

Watch the video here....

Itsy bitsy entered the charts at 25, up to 13, then to 3 and finally number 1 on August 19th 1990.

Promotions followed on the Radio 1 roadshow, and around the country. The day they hit No.1 Andrew threw a huge party at his Berkshire mansion and they all listened to Bruno Brookes Radio 1 chart rundown. The following morning Chris Evans turned up on Timmy's doorstep with a bottle of champage at dawn as Timmy was leaving for the Wacaday studio....

The Top of the Pops was a massive celebration. Jealous looks from the Human League and Beats International couldn't spoil the moment. "No one can take away from you the fact you are Number 1" said Duran Duran's Simon le Bon.

But the best was still to come. On September 8th at Wye in Kent, still top of the charts, Timmy married Lynda Bingham.

"I may be number 1" said Timmy "But it's nothing compared to being married to the number 1 girl in the world!"

And the wedding had been planned months before any of the Itsy Bitsy whirlwind had even been thought of....

There was a specially recorded version of the chorus done for Timmy's pantomime song sheet. Listen to it here.

panto Itsy Bitsy chorus

HUGGIN' AN A KISSIN ALBUM

£6.99

Always a big favourite, this album includes Timmy's hits Itsy Bitsy and Seven Little Girls. Great for parties or to sing along to in the car. Oh yeah!

The album is available in three versions:

Standard Album: cassette.

Vinyl Album: Non-Stop Party Mix:

Karaoke Vinyl Album:

cassette/vinyl

standard - cassettenonstop party mix - vinylkaraoke - vinyl

ITSY BITSY IDENTITY!

Itsy Bitsy songwriter hasn't died! Timmy talks about mistaken identity and the trouble it causes !!!

3 mins