Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)

"Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)" is a song that was a hit for the Louisiana-based John Fred and his Playboy Band in early 1968. The song was co-written by Fred with bandmate Andrew Bernard.

The song was inspired by Fred's listening to The Beatles' hit, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". He mistakenly believed the lyrics were "Lucy in disguise with diamonds," and was disappointed when he read the liner notes.[citation needed]  It was also said that the song was inspired by the band's trip to Fort Lauderdale, where they noticed the girls on the beach wearing large sunglasses.[1]  The song features strings, brass, a sitar, piano, bass, guitar, drums, breathing sounds, and unusual dissonant string sounds.

The other members of the Playboy band did not like the unusual slow abrupt ending with Fred intoning the final line: "I guess I'll just take your glasses."[2]  However, Fred was the band leader and insisted on that ending. "Judy in Disguise" went on to knock "Hello, Goodbye", a Beatles tune, off the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1968.

The song also reached #1 in Germany[3]  and Switzerland, and [4]  #3 in Great Britain.[5]

Gary Lewis and the Playboys released a cover version on their 1968 album, Gary Lewis Now! Silicon Teens, the virtual British electronic new wave pop group created by Mute Records founder Daniel Miller, released a radically different electropop version in 1979.