2017-09-24 13:56:58流浪阿狗
老歌亂談(755) Heather Honey
美國流行歌手Tommy Roe於1942出生於美國喬治亞州的亞特蘭大,高中畢業後進入通用電子公司 ( General Electric ) 工作。Tommy Roe的出道也是從「試唱」開始,他曾寫了一首關於高中女同學的歌---《Frita》,試唱結果,Judd唱片的製作人認為OK,但條件是必須改歌名。說來也巧,某日Tommy Roe的aunt ( 姑、姨?) Sheila造訪,唱片公司因此得到靈感,將《Frita》改為《Sheila》。1960,Judd唱片發行此曲,卻未能成功入榜。而當人的運氣要來時,真的是連城牆也擋不住。由於Tommy Roe的歌聲與1959因飛機失事身亡的當紅歌手Buddy Holly有些相似,另家ABC唱片公司就將Tommy Roe的歌曲,重新打造為趨近Holly的曲風 ( 所謂的Lubbock Sound )。1962,《Sheila》再次發行,竟然登上了告示牌Hot 100排行榜的冠軍寶座。
歌曲紅了,唱片公司要求Tommy Roe參與巡演促銷,但Tommy Roe有些捨不得放棄看來頗有保障的工作,但在唱片公司提供5000美元的情況下還是離開了GE。然而,依據英國音樂雜誌NME在1963的刊載,說Tommy Roe和Chris Montez ( 最知名的代表作為1962的《Let's Dance》) 在英國巡演的21天,風采全被The Beatles和他們的「粉絲」給搶光了。
而Tommy Roe真正的大紅,是因1969所推出的《Dizzy》,此曲在英、美排行榜均拿下了冠軍,也讓Roe紅遍了國際 ( 唯也因此首《Dizzy》,使得Roe被定位為Bubblegum 的歌手。)。或許是沾了《Dizzy》的光,隨後發行的這首《Heather Honey》成績也不差 ( #24 ),卻是Roe在英國排行榜6首入榜歌曲的最後一首。
查Heather的中文翻譯是「石南屬的植物」,而石南花是會開紫色小花的灌木或小喬木。Heather的中文名字則是譯為「海瑟」,不知何故,此名字非常討喜,有許多人在聽了這首歌後,竟然就替自己的女兒取名Heather。以下是幾位名為Heather的在所貼YouTube影音中的回應:
Heather Mendoza:my mom named me, presumably because of this song, her inspiration. I was born June 1970...
Heather Emerson:I'm fairly sure that I was named for this song - my parents had the 45 LP tucked in my baby book and always said they really weren't sure why they had picked the name! It was floating around on the US charts early in 1969 and I'm a April baby :-)
Heather Anderson:I was named after this song! Born 5/30/69. :)
Heather
自70年代起,Tommy Roe的歌唱事業一路下滑,但他還是陸續在一些音樂會的場合演出,算是一位形象頗佳的歌手。
Oh Heather honey
Warm as the sunshine
Oh Heather honey
Your love is so fine
I've been here, I've been there
I've been all around
And I fell in and out of love
In most every town
But the girls I knew were not like you
You're a different kind
Heather honey, now can't you see
You're blowing my mind
Every day my friends say
I'm just a fool to fall in love
To them it seems ain't very cool
But I don't care what they say
I just can't resist
Heather, I fell head over heels
First time we kissed
Heather, honey I bet money
We'll never split cause
Loving you is so easy to do
And I'll never quit
So build your plans around this man
'Cause I love you so
Don't you forget my pretty pet
I'll never let you go