Song:Hey There Lonely Girl
Album:Music For Groovin'
The 1970 top five hit Hey There Lonely Girl was the biggest hit for R & B singer Eddie Holman. It's perceived as a one hit wonder but some of his other songs charted so it's technically not a one hit wonder. It's certainly a Philly Soul classic though the source of the recording is somewhat surprising. He was born June 3, 1946 in Norfolk, VA and he grew up in New York City. At age 10, he won the famous Apollo Theatre Amateur Night. He studied at the Victoria School Of Music in Harlem and was first recorded in 1962. His family moved to Philadelphia and Holman graduated from Cheyney State University with a degree in music. He had some minor hits in the mid-60s but hit the jackpot when he signed with ABC Records and Hey There Lonely Girl reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. The song was originally recorded by Ruby & The Romantics in 1963 and was written by the veteran songwriting team of Leon Carr & Earl Shuman. They usually wrote for movies and TV and Carr was the go to guy in the 60s for jingles like See The USA In Your Chevrolet. Hey There Lonely Girl was their biggest chart hit. So you might think that Hey There Lonely Girl was produced by a legendary Philly Soul producer like Gamble & Huff or Thom Bell. But no, the song was produced by Peter DeAngelis. He was the co-founder of Chancellor Records and produced Frankie Avalon and Fabian. How's that for a twist? It looks like Holman only recorded one album for ABC. The album is available on CD but you probably only want Hey There Lonely Girl and this various artists comp from Universal in England has plenty of 70s soul hits. Eddie Holman had some success on the R & B and dance charts when he recorded for Salsoul in 1977. But then he quit secular music and became a Baptist minister. He has his own company Agape Records and still tours and records occasionally. Here's Eddie Holman performing Hey There Lonely Girl on one of those PBS oldies shows. He still sounds great.
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