The song was covered by the white singer Gale Storm, as the B-side of her single "On Treasure Island", for Dot Records. Storm's recording reached number 77 on the Billboard pop chart.[3] The song was also covered by Dottie Evans for Bell Records.[4] In Britain, it was recorded by Alma Cogan as the B-side of "Whatever Lola Wants", which reached number 26 on the UK singles chart, also in 1957.[5][6]
In 1963 the song was recorded by Cliff Richard, whose version went to number 4 in the UK. It was more successful internationally, reaching number 1 in Belgium, Denmark, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Sweden. His version with German lyrics reached number 1 in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Richard was presented with a Gold disc by EMI Records for one million worldwide sales of "Lucky Lips".
Richard's German version, titled "Rote Lippen soll man küssen" ("Red Lips Should Be Kissed"), with lyrics by Hans Bradtke, stayed at number 1 in West Germany for seven weeks and had sold half a million by the end of 1963.[9][10] The English version also charted in West Germany in its own right before the German version was released in September.
With lyrics in Swedish by Christer Jonasson as "Slit och släng", Siw Malmkvist scored a 9 week long Svensktoppenhit with the song from November 5, 1966 – January 14, 1967, peaking at #2. These lyrics reflects the society of Swedish in the 1950s and 60s.[34] Siw Malmkvist also made a version in Danish, "Slid og slæb".
In 1969, a Catalan version, "Llavis de mel" (Honey lips), was included in "Tots Som Pops", the first LP recorded by the Catalan group La Trinca. The lyrics were translated and adapted by the writer Jaume Picas (1921–1976).
Estonian singer Ivo Linna and his band Rock Hotell recorded an Estonian language version titled Kikilips (Bowtie) about the article of clothing in 1980. His version has become a very well-known song in Estonia.
^ abBillboard. Nielsen Business Media. Israel chart courtesy Kol Israel Broadcasting. 10 August 1963. p. 34. ISSN0006-2510.
^The Official Charts in Ireland began on October 4, 1962. Chart positions before that are taken from the "Evening Herald Chart", a Top Ten singles chart published by the Irish daily newspaper the Evening Herald between February 1959 and December 1962. "Ireland singles charts". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
^Salaverri, Fernando (September 1979). Sólo éxitos: Año a año, 1959–2002. Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN978-84-8048-639-2.
^Hallberg, Eric (1993). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. p. 243. ISBN9163021404.
^Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. p. 313. ISBN919727125X.