The Loco-Motion

"The Loco-Motion" is a 1962 pop song written by American songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King. "The Loco-Motion" was originally written for Dee Dee Sharp but Sharp turned the song down. The song is notable for appearing in the American Top 5 three times – each time in a different decade, performed by artists from three different cultures: originally African American pop singer Little Eva in 1962 (U.S. No. 1); then American band Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 (U.S. No. 1); and finally Australian singer Kylie Minogue in 1988 (U.S. No. 3).

The song is a popular and enduring example of the dance-song genre: much of the lyrics are devoted to a description of the dance itself, usually done as a type of line dance. However, the song came before the dance.

"The Loco-Motion" was also the second song to reach No. 1 by two different musical acts. The earlier song to do this was "Go Away Little Girl", also written by Goffin and King. It is one of only nine songs to achieve this feat.

Little Eva version

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE (/ˈkaɪliː mᵻˈnoʊɡ/; born 28 May 1968), often known simply as Kylie, is an Australian-born singer, songwriter, and actress. She achieved recognition starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, where she played tomboy mechanic Charlene Robinson. Appearing in the series for two years, Minogue's character married Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) in an episode viewed by nearly 20 million people in the United Kingdom making it one of the most watched Australian TV episodes ever. Since then, Minogue has been a recording artist and has achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the entertainment industry. Minogue has been recognised with several honorific nicknames including "Princess of Pop" and "Goddess of Pop". She is recognised as the highest-selling Australian artist of all time by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Minogue has for many years worked and lived in London. She signed to PWL in 1987 and released her first studio album Kylie the next year. In 1992, she left PWL and signed with Deconstruction Records and where she created her self-titled studio album and Impossible Princess, both of which received positive reviews from critics. Returning to more mainstream dance-oriented music, Minogue signed to Parlophone and released "Spinning Around". Her 2001 single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became one of the most successful singles during the 2000s, selling over ten million units. It is recognised as her "signature song" and was named "...the catchiest song ever" by Yahoo! Music. Her album Fever (2001) was a hit in many countries, including the United States. Throughout her career, Minogue has released many successful singles, including "The Loco-Motion", "Especially for You", "Hand on Your Heart", "Better the Devil You Know", "Confide in Me", "Spinning Around", "Slow", "2 Hearts" and "All The Lovers".

Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad (also known as Grand Funk) is an American blues rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s, touring extensively and playing to packed arenas worldwide. David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine once said, "You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!" Known for their crowd-pleasing arena rock style, the band was well-regarded by audiences despite a relative lack of critical acclaim. The band's name is a play on words of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a railroad line that ran through the band's home town of Flint, Michigan.

History

Formation (1969)

Originally a trio, the band was formed in 1969 by Mark Farner (guitar, vocals) and Don Brewer (drums, vocals) from Terry Knight and the Pack, and Mel Schacher (bass) from Question Mark & the Mysterians; Knight soon became the band's manager, as well as naming the band as a play on words for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a well-known rail line in Michigan. First achieving recognition at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival, the band was signed by Capitol Records. After a raucous, well-received set on the first day of the festival, the group was asked back to play at the Second Atlanta Pop Festival the following year. Patterned after hard rock power trios such as Cream, the band, with Terry Knight's marketing savvy, developed its own popular style. In August 1969 the band released its first album titled On Time, which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record in 1970.

Little Eva

Eva Narcissus Boyd (June 29, 1943 – April 10, 2003), known by the stage name of Little Eva, was an American pop singer. Although some sources claim that her stage name was inspired by a character from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, she stated in an interview that she was named after her aunt, which prompted her family to call her "Little Eva."

Biography

Born in Belhaven, North Carolina, she moved to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York, at a young age. As a teenager, she worked as a maid and earned extra money as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin. It is often claimed that Goffin and King were amused by Boyd's particular dancing style, so they wrote "The Loco-Motion" for her and had her record it as a demo (the record was intended for Dee Dee Sharp).

However, as King said in an interview with NPR and in her "One to One" concert video, they knew she could sing when they met her, and it would be just a matter of time before they would have her record songs they wrote, the most successful being "The Loco-Motion".