Little Eva

Little Eva, born Narcissus Boyd, worked as a babysitter for Carole King and Gerry Goffin, whose observation of the dance moves she performed around their home prompted the pair to create the song "The Loco-Motion." Her voice appeared on the original demo recording, whose quality persuaded Don Kirshner to issue that very version commercially. Recognized as one of the standout girl group successes, the single reached number one in 1962. Goffin-King also supplied the follow-up "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby," which advanced into the Top 20 and earned onstage performances by the Beatles during their early career, even though the band never cut a studio take. Thereafter she became typecast as a dance-craze vocalist and received weaker material that kept her from matching the soulful caliber of her opening pair of releases. Only "Let's Turkey Trot" in 1963 produced another Top 20 entry, although her career continued until October 2001. She died of cervical cancer in April 2003.