The Judge
RAVES!
Date: 26/03/11
Barry Ryan - "Eloise" (1968)
Sometimes there's no such thing as going too far over the top. This one is a case in point.
I don't remember hearing this one at the time it came out, despite it nearly making the No.1 slot. I came across it some years later, and found the sheer verve of it fair took my breath away.
Barry Ryan came from a musical family, his mother Marion being a big singing star in the fifties and his father being a producer. Barry and his twin brother Paul started out as a duo until Paul found the stress of performing too much to handle. He instead concentrated on songwriting. This was his - and Barry's - biggest hit, reaching the top in seventeen countries and just missing out on the same in the UK.
It has probably achieved its 'classic' status due to the high bombast not only of Barry Ryan's performance but of Johnny Arthey's orchestration.
