#1 for weeks of July 18, 25th, and August 1, 1960.
When you, or I for that matter, think of teen pop, most minds will gravitate towards any of today's modern teen pop stars. To me, this is the nadir of pop music: Similar sounding, formulaic, auto-tuned 120 BPM dance music. Well, back in the early 1960's, being a teenage singer and having pop hits could mean your voice was unique and stood out. Brenda Lee, who was another new artist for me, is one of the latter examples.
First off, I was very surprised to find out Brenda Lee was only 15 when she recorded this song. I was surprised because her vocal performance sounds very mature, adult, and most importantly, unique. She's certainly a nice change of pace from today's teen pop singers and/or trainwrecks. Put poor Brenda in today's time period and who knows what our tabloid obsessed society would have reduced her to.
This song is apparently considered part of the Country genre, but I fail to hear any elements unique to Country. Brenda's vocals are more pop, and the very orchestrated music arrangement has a 3/4 time slow dance feel. Before the vocals came in, I was expecting this to be a sleeper number, but then once Brenda started singing, and her she got vocally powerful, I could see why this was a hit.
However, I find the spoken word bridge to be a bit on the cheesy side and I find throughout the song, the backing vocals are a bit too poppy. Still, I like this song a bit better than Connie Francis', "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", mostly due to, "I'm Sorry", having a far more melancholic and mature feel to it.
Final Verdict - Perhaps due to the powerful, well-performed vocal and the sheer fact that someone that young could sing like that, I have to give a thumbs up to this song. Even if it's not your cup of tea, and even though it is a bit dated, it's worth a listen.
Coming Up Next - "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland.
Until Next Time - Dr. Rock -
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