 None-too-successful songwriter Albert Peterson hatches a plot with his secretary - and long-suffering girlfriend - to get rock-and-roll phenomenon Conrad Birdie to sing one of his songs on the Ed Sullivan show. The pop star would then symbolically kiss goodbye to a young lady chosen at random from the country s womanhood, this being his last appearance before being drafted. Complicated to start with, things get more tricky as everyone including Albert s clinging mother descend on the small town where the chosen girl lives. Even Albert s chemical inventions come in useful.