The Teddy Bears - "To Know Him Is to Love Him"
Hit Number 1: December 1, 1958
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
It's too bad that Phil Spector turned into a murderer, because he was about as good as it gets in the music industry. He was a genius in knowing how to produce songs, and what makes a song good and bad. Well here's a fun fact for you: Phil Spector got his start with an obscure group in the late 50s called "The Teddy Bears".
Spector was not the front man of the group however. Instead he was a backing vocalist and guitarist, and of course, the main writer of their songs. The vocalist was a girl Spector went to high school with named Annette Kleinbard, who went by the stage name of Carol Connors. After graduation, Spector grew to be very impressed with a song he wrote for the group called "To Know Him Is to Love Him" with the idea that it would be a great song to showcase Connors' voice. The name of the song was inspired by words on Spector's father's tombstone that read: "To Know Him Was to Love Him".
The song is a pretty lovely piece of work, but kind of like "It's All In the Game" before it, is kind of bland in my eyes. Those of you that will be following along in this series (which by the way I appreciate greatly if you will) will come to know that I'm a sucker for fun songs that get you moving, and we will have plenty of those. But "To Know Him Is to Love Him" just isn't one of them. It isn't a bad song, but I think the best way for me to describe it, is that it's pretty forgettable. Like, I listen to this song, and then about a half hour later, I'm off doing something else, completely forgetting that this song even exists. I do respect the work that was put into it, but that doesn't mean I have to be in love with the song.
The Teddy Bears did not go on to do anything else, and they disbanded just a year after the success of "To Know Him Is to Love Him". Of course, that wasn't the last of Spector. He would go on to become a music legend behind the scenes in producing songs for several artists. And that was something he did for YEARS. But unfortunately, it all came to a screeching halt for Spector, after he was convicted of second-degree murder of actress Lana Clarkson. All good things really do come to an end. But at least "To Know Him Is to Love Him" will always be the start of a brilliant music career for Spector. Not my cup of tea, but it could of been worse for his musical start.
GRADE: 5/10
THE TWOS:
The Everly Brothers' "Problems" peaked at #2 behind "To Know Him Is to Love Him". It's a 7. (The Everly Brothers will eventually show up in this blog with their own entry)
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