From:   "Dik de Heer"  
Date:  Sat Jun 29, 2002  1:19 am - UPDATED 6 JANUARY 2004
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Little Eva
 
LITTLE EVA

Born Eva Narcissus Boyd, 29 June 1943, Bellhaven, North Carolina
Died 10 April 2003, Kinston, NC

Little Eva was discovered by songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin,
for whom she was babysitting. The husband and wife team wrote a driving
dance-based song for her, "The Loco-Motion", with which she shot to inter-
national fame in the summer of 1962 (# 1 USA, # 2 UK), at the height of
the dance craze fashion. It even inspired an answer song, "Little Eva" by
the Locomotions. On the follow-up single, "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby"
(# 12), Goffin and King steered her away from dance mania. Although further
releases from 1963, "Let's Turkey Trot" and "Old Smokey Locomotion",
revived the novelty appeal of "The Loco-Motion", they lacked its basic
excitement. Eva continued to record until 1965, but her only other
substantial hit came with "Swinging On A Star", a duet with Big Dee Irwin,
on which she was, unfortunately, uncredited. She made a UK chart comeback
in 1972 with a reissue of "The Loco-Motion", which peaked at number 11, and
the song's lasting appeal was reaffirmed in 1988 when Kylie Minogue emulated
Eva's original UK chart position. The following year, Little Eva returned to
the recording scene with an album on the Malibu label.

CD: The Complete Dimension Recordings (Westside). 29 tracks.