It’s summer at the Jersey Shore, time for the favorite male pastime on the beach, girl watching! Most people know the song “The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” but do you know the inspiration for the song?

As an aside, my friends and I always had a debate over the song title’s wording. Was it a yellow bikini with polka dots of an unknown color? Or did the bikini have yellow polka dots on a bathing suit of unknown color? It’s really not clear based on how the song was written.

The song was sung in 1960 by Brian Hyland. I really didn’t know how to contact him to get an answer to our question. How about the songwriter?