Search - Robin Luke :: Susie Darlin'

Buddy Holly by way of Rick Nelson

Dennis Petticoffer | Orange, CA United States | 01/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rockabilly Lite--that's the best way to describe it. Robin Luke was a "one-hit wonder" who had a #5 bestseller called "Susie Darlin'" in 1958. It was primitive stuff, recorded in the bathroom of a local rockabilly band, using ball point pens for percussion. The charm of those early sessions is beautifully preserved on this collection. Later recordings, backed by the likes of Glen Campbell, jazz ace Barney Kessell, and the Johnny Mann Singers, were glossier but far less compelling. This CD, issued by West Germany's renowned Bear Family label, contains the complete recordings of Robin Luke and also includes a half dozen previously unreleased tunes. One of the juiciest finds is "Foggin' Up the Windows," a duet with ex-Mouseketeer Roberta Shore. It sounds like a cross between "Short Shorts" and "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini." All in all, this is a generous anthology, chronicling rock's period of teen romance from 1958 to 1961."

Another Bit Of Bear Family Overkill

David R. Templeton | 07/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Bear couldn't very well have called this Robin Luke's Greatest Hits since, having just the one, that would have been a misnomer. And to call it Robin Luke's Greatest Hit would have been ludicrous for a 31-track compilation. Indeed, I'm surprised they were even able to FIND 31 tracks to release.



Luke, born on March 20, 1942 in Los Angeles, but whose family moved to Hawaii when he was 11 years old, became proficient on both guitar and ukelele and was discovered by a local entertainer by the name of Kimo McVay who thought he sounded a lot like Ricky Nelson [he did]. He, in turn, convinced friend Bob Bertram to give him a shot at his small Bertram International recording studio.



The rockabilly tune that appeared as Bertram International 206 in 1958 - Susie Darlin' b/w Living's Loving You - was named in honour of Robin's younger sister, and, according to Betram, it took something like 75 takes to get it right as it involved echo effects, background vocal by Bertram, and the unique sound created by clacking two pens in a box.



Part way through distribution, and following considerable local attention, it was grabbed by the much larger Dot Records and before it ran its course it had reached # 5 on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 by early fall, as well as crossing over to the R&B charts at # 6. Hoping to capitalize on its success, Bertram also released three more singles, each of which was picked up by Dot in progress. These were Chicka Chicka Honey/My Girl in 1958 and, in 1959, You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming/Strollin' Blues and Who's Gonna Hold Your Hand/Five Minutes More. None could crack the Billboard Hot 100 charts.



That didn't stop Dot from trying, however, as they attempted to boost sales by releasing an EP containing his hit along with Bad Boy, Won't You Please Be Mine, and Chicka Chicka Honey. But that did nothing to push his singles back into hit single status, although they persisted right through to 1962. Failed singles in this period include Walkin' In The Moonlight/Make Me A Dreamer, Bad Boy/School Bus Love Affair, a cover of Ricky Nelson's Everlovin'/Well Oh Well Oh (Don't You Know), So Alone/All Because Of You, Part Of A Fool/Poor Little Rich Boy, and Foggin' Up The Windows/Time. Only that last side is not in this compilation.



As mentioned above, Robin sounded a lot like Nelson and perhaps that was part of the problem. Ricky was much better. I find it hard to believe that Bear Family can find markets for the many multi-track CDs they release covering one- or two-hit wonders. The thing is, you can never find fault with the quality."