(29th January 1960)
A Fifties pop simp whose time was fast receding, Holliday’s second shot at glory is gloopy but pleasant. The lullaby pace brings out the best in Holliday’s slow and low croon, but really this song belongs to the doo-wop girls backing him up: their immediately appealing “baa-bum-bum-bum” seesaw riff is the first sound you hear, the main hook, and surely the major reason anyone bought it. 5
Written by Tom on Monday, April 19th, 2004 | 1,130 views |
The UK's 1000+ Number One Hits since 1952, reviewed, in order, irregularly, for as long as I can bear to keep doing it. A history of pop in the shape of a chart.
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Tom invented Freaky Trigger on a bus journey in the mid-90s. Typically, it took him 5 years to do anything about it.
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wichita lineman on May 14th, 2008
For me, this is the perfect link between pre-rock and the Brill Building. Which, in retrospect, often seems closer to the Jerome Kern school of writing than Lennon/McCartney - Neil Sedaka, for one, would be grinning at the comparison (anyone remember his guest hosting of Sounds Of The Sixties? Yuk).
Certainly Holliday wears better than saps like Mark Wynter and singing milkman Craig Douglas. He has integrity and belief, no matter how MOR the product. Let’s not forget The Runaway Train, a staple for the Junior Choice generation which is impossible to imagine without that sonorous delivery.
The word I’m looking for is innocence. Nothing sounds forced on Starry Eyed, and the melody and delivery are so much caramel. A 7 for me.