Album: Just One Look
I have always loved this song, but based solely on the Linda Ronstadt version. Which is one of my favorites of hers. I didn't have the original, and saw Doris Troy mentioned somewhere recently so I got a compilation. Of course... she's amazing.
I did know the original from a Cindy Crawford starring Pepsi ad from ages ago, and Troy's version (which she co-wrote) bubbles with that girl group sound and charm that was there a bit in Ronstadt's version, though 70s rock-a-fied. It's obviously a song that's resonated with a lot of musicians and vocalists as it's been covered by a slew and wide range of artists...
Klaus Nomi has got to have the oddest version... I'm not a fan so it sort of borders on a joke for me. Also altering the structure, but transcending the song vs. reducing it to caricature, is Bryan Ferry's version from his covers album Taxi from 1993. I wasn't familiar with this version, and while it lacks the bounce of the original, it's got a magical quality to it that I quite dig. It's soooo Ferry. Anne Murray has a nice faithful version, and Harry Nilson goes full-on 70s cheesy grandeur with his string-laden version. The Hollies went to #2 in the U.K. with their version just a year after Troy's, and even the Bee Gee's recorded a version in the mid-60s. (And there are more.)
Doris Troy grew up in the Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal Minister. Her parents were against the "subversive" R&B she was getting involved in, but things started when she was discovered by James Brown as an usherette at the Apollo Theater. Over her career she worked with such varied artists as The Drifters, Dionne Warwick, The Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Dusty Springfield, Carly Simon, and George Harrison to name a few.
She'll best be known for "Just One Look," and what a legacy.
Enjoy.
Just One Look
Stormy Weather I'll Do Anything (He Wants Me To)
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