Artist

Little Eva

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Little Eva Narcissus Boyd was a babysitter for <a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6">Carole King</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:09KTuJGTA2nISzHxnmYzRv">Gerry Goffin</a> when the songwriting team was inspired to write "The Loco-Motion," a song based on a dance that Eva would do around the house. Eva also got to sing on their demo, which impressed <a href="spotify:artist:0QZHkwI139kzn81WAFeDXT">Don Kirshner</a> enough to release it as it was. One of the greatest girl group hits, "The Loco-Motion" hit number one in 1962; the follow-up, "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby," was also written by <a href="spotify:artist:09KTuJGTA2nISzHxnmYzRv">Goffin</a>-<a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6">King</a>. Almost as good as her debut, it reached the Top 20, and was even covered by <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> on-stage in their early days (though they never recorded it in the studio). Unfortunately, Eva was then pigeonholed as a dance-craze singer and given inferior material. She never again reached the soulful heights of her first two singles; "Let's Turkey Trot" (1963) was her only other Top 20 hit, although she continued working until October 2001. She succumbed to cervical cancer in April of 2003. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

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