New York–based songwriter Albert Peterson finds himself in trouble when his client, hip-thrusting rock and roll superstar and teen idol Conrad Birdie, is drafted into the Army, leaving his heavily indebted firm in jeopardy. Albert's secretary, Rose "Rosie" Alvarez, comes up with a last-ditch publicity stunt to have Birdie record and perform a song before he is sent overseas. Having long been stuck in a sort of romantic limbo for eight years, she longs for the Albert she once knew, an aspiring English teacher, before he wrote Birdie's first hit and abandoned those plans to pursue the seedier music industry ("An English Teacher"). Rose's plan is to have Birdie sing "One Last Kiss" (a song she assigns Albert to write on the spot) and give one lucky girl, chosen randomly from his fan club, a real "last kiss" on "The Ed Sullivan Show" before going into the Army.