On today’s episode: I Only Have Eyes for You I was listening to Spotify, playing classic Lode Runner online (yes, I am played-the-original-Lode Runner-on-an-Apple IIe-years-old) and falling down Spotify holes, when a song by Timothy Bloom came on. I liked the sound of his voice and went to his artist page to find that I was already following him and had even “clicked the heart button” on one of his songs it’s called The Beginning (Work it Out). I began playing it to refresh my memory and heard the haunting first notes of I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos sampled in the background.
On today’s episode:
I Only Have Eyes for You
I was listening to Spotify, playing classic Lode Runner online (yes, I am played-the-original-Lode Runner-on-an-Apple IIe-years-old) and falling down Spotify holes, when a song by Timothy Bloom came on. I liked the sound of his voice and went to his artist page to find that I was already following him and had even “clicked the heart button” on one of his songs it’s called The Beginning (Work it Out).
I began playing it to refresh my memory and heard the haunting first notes of I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos sampled in the background.
SONG CREDITS:
I Only Have Eyes for You
Composer: Harry Warren
Lyricist: Al Dubin
Ben Selvin, 1934
Oscar Peterson and Billie Holiday, 1955
The Flamingos, 1959
Corrine Bailey Rae, 2010
The Beginning (Work it Out)
Timothy Bloom
2016
LINKS:
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Spotify
Email: spacetimemusicpodcast@gmail.com
The SpaceTimeMusic theme is a sample of the Ana-Tole x Jonah Christian Remix of Ready or Not by the Fugees.
Hey y’all, I’m Lyd the Small Black Woman and you’re listening to SpaceTimeMusic, a podcast exploring the roots, shoots and branches of some of my favorite songs through samples and covers.
On today’s episode:
I Only Have Eyes for You
I like to begin with the song that set me off the sample and cover rabbit hole. In this case.
I was listening to Spotify, playing classic Lode Runner online (yes, I am played-the-original-Lode Runner-on-an-Apple IIe-years-old) and falling down Spotify holes, when a song by Timothy Bloom came on. I liked the sound of his voice and went to his artist page to find that I was already following him and had even “clicked the heart button” on one of his songs it’s called The Beginning (Work it Out).
I began playing it to refresh my memory and heard the haunting first notes of I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos sampled in the background.
And I thought, this one has got to go on my A Sample, A Cover playlist. If you want to check out this playlist, there’s a link in the show notes.
The Flamingos version always brings to mind iconic imagery of young love in the 1950s: drive-ins, parking at scenic lookouts, cruising the local strip and slow dancing at school dances like George McFly and Lorraine Baines. That’s a Back to the Future reference, kids. Possibly one the best big studio films of the 1980s.
Here’s their 1959 recording.
After drifting down a lane of nostalgia that never really existed with The Flamingos, I did a little research and discovered that even though The Flamingos version is arguably the most popular, the song was first published by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin and recorded in 1934 for a film called Dames. I’ve never heard of this film so I can’t give a thumbs up or down. What I can tell you, is that according to The Interwebs, there are more than 200 versions of I Only Have Eyes for You. Which seems a little excessive.
But in case you were curious, here’s one of the earliest recordings of the song by Ben Selvin with Howard Phillips on vocals in 1934 in the classic early jazz-age style of the time.
In my internet travels, I discovered there’s also an Oscar Peterson and Billie Holiday version which is worth the listen. Oscar Peterson always sounds like he’s playing piano with five hands and add on top of that Billie Holiday’s tortured soul vocals and you’ve got a winner. Check it out.
Billie Holiday hid nothing when she sang. Not a damn thing. If you’ve never heard of her, you should do some googling and see the movie, Lady Sings the Blues. Diana Ross looks and sounds nothing like Billie Holiday but it’s the story you want and it’s a piece of black cinema worth seeing. While you’re at it, check out Mahogany and The Wiz both 1970s films starring Ms. Ross. I’m not saying she’s a great actress but if you want a real sense of the era on multiple levels these films will take you there.
And of course our West Indian brothers and sisters always come out with reggae versions and I found this one by Corrine Bailey Rae. Yes, I know she’s English but her father is from St. Kitts. It’s a live version so the audio isn’t great but I hope she releases it on an album at some point.
That’s all for this episode. Make sure to give Timothy Bloom, Corinne Bailey Rae, Diana Ross, The Flamingos, Oscar Peterson and Billie Holiday a listen, you will not be disappointed. This has been Space Time Music with Lyd the SBW. Bye y’all.