Bob Esty Month Continues ~~ with Raquel Welch

Fur -- but not on a bikini.

Raquel Welch, disco diva? For sure!

"This Girl's Back in Town" is a clever, camp production that has quite the cult following. There's even a Facebook Page dedicated to it. Unfortunately, there are only two posts on that Page since 2010, so I won't bother to link it. Maybe I should just go there & load it up with Bob Esty and Raquel info! I'm certainly going to share this very blog link on that Page, for what it's worth, to any interested parties who wish to visit.

But the song, the song! Let's talk about the song! I adored "This Girl's Back" since its release on a vinyl maxi-single back in 1987! (I was 5 years old.) It was the first time I bought anything at Rebel Rebel on Bleecker Street. (I still shop there!) There was also a single, 7" release available. The sound would have been a huge hit at Studio 54 had the disco not closed in 1981. Even The Mud Club had closed by 1987! I know Ms Welch incorporated this number into her Vegas act. And I definitely recall hearing it at NYC's legendary The Saint, and my friends and I dancing to it amidst the elaborate light show, very into the song!

Bob Esty and Paul Jabara wrote "This Girl's Back in Town" and I understand that Raquel is credited with writing "additional lyrics." (Presumably the ecstatic groans and moans.) Bob produced with Michael ("Let's All Chant") Zager! It was released on the Columbia label, and produced and arranged for Raquel Welch Productions, Inc. Apparently, it was originally written by Esty & Jabara for Donna Summer.

It's arranged beautifully, too, so that, when Raquel hits those high notes and goes flat with great bravada (much like Ann-Margret does), there's an orchestral swirl with back-up girls there to enthrall us. But that only adds to the camp factor and the fun.

By the way, "Precious Jewels by The House of Harry Winston, Necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels" were credited for the album jacket image above. That means Raquel only borrowed them. Can we get any more diva-esque than that? Hollywood royalty, honeys! When Raquel came back to town, it wasn't in a fur bikini or in a wet suit covered in enormous, clinging white blood cells, let me tell you that! But what I'd like to know is who did the sunglasses and the hair?

Too late for the disco heyday, yet ahead of its time? You decide. Here, then, Bob Esty Month on Leave It to Beaverhausen continues with "This Girl's Back in Town." Get your weekend (and your wet suit) on -- Bob Esty style!