Old Cape Cod

"Old Cape Cod"
Sheet music front cover
Single by Patti Page
B-side	"Wondering"
Released	April 23, 1957 (1957-04-23)
Format	45 rpm single
Genre	Traditional (classic) pop
Length	2:14
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Claire Rothrock Milton Yakus Allan Jeffrey
Producer(s)	Vic Schoen
Patti Page singles chronology
"A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" (1957) "Old Cape Cod" (1957) "Wondering" "I'll Remember Today" (1957)
Music sample "Old Cape Cod"

"Old Cape Cod" is a song, written by Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus, and Allan Jeffrey, and published in 1957. The single, as recorded by Patti Page, became a gold record, having sold over a million copies. Having been hailed by "Cape Codders" as the "unofficial Cape Cod Anthem, if ever there was one", the song has been credited with "putting the Cape on the map" and helping to establish Cape Cod as a major tourist destination.

The song extols the virtues of Cape Cod as a leisure destination with each verse ending with the line "You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod." The nucleus of the song was a poem written by Boston-area housewife Claire Rothrock, for whom Cape Cod was a favorite vacation spot. "Old Cape Cod" and its derivatives would be Rothrock's sole evident songwriting credit. She brought her poem to Ace Studios, a Boston recording studio owned by Milton Yakus. The demo for "Old Cape Cod" was recorded at Ace, after Yakus adapted Rothrock's poem into the song's lyrics, and Yakus' associate Allan Jeffrey put it to music.

Patti Page had previously had a hit with a Milton Yakus composition, "Go on with the Wedding", in 1956. However, according to Page, Claire Rothrock herself brought "Old Cape Cod" to her, approaching Page at a Boston nightclub where the singer was performing. Page says of the song: "I just fell in love with it", and recorded "Old Cape Cod" during a day-trip to New York City, enabling her return to Boston in time for that evening's nightclub performance. As "Wondering" had already been set to be Page's next release, "Old Cape Cod" was recorded with the intent of serving as "Wondering"'s B-side.

The "Wondering"/"Old Cape Cod" record was released by Mercury Records on April 23, 1957, as catalog number 71101. Both tracks debuted on the Billboard magazine charts for the week ending June 3, and "Old Cape Cod" quickly became the dominant track, peaking at #3 on Billboard's Most Played by Jockeys chart, #8 on the Best Sellers In Stores chart, and #7 on The Top 100 composite chart for 1957. "Old Cape Cod" spent 18 weeks on the Cash Box magazine Best Selling Singles list, peaking at #8 and holding that same slot for three consecutive weeks. Additionally, "Old Cape Cod" was a hit in Australia, peaking at #14.