Arguments can rage for hours about which was better – the current state of music and older music. While I love some current music – mostly electronic – my heart will always be with bands from the 1980’s. That was the best era, for me. There are people who would probably want to physically fight me over their own era, whatever the decade. They all would probably agree that this song, which is nearly 60 years old, is fantastic in its own right.
The video starts in the grainy black and white of the television of that time. Hi-definition was a LONG way off. At that point, people were just happy to be able to have a reasonably clear image. Dick Clark, who didn’t age between the ages of 20-80, introduces the song as an old one and ushers on The Flamingos. The group come out in two waves. Three men sit in front of a log fire and sing the beginning of “I Only Have Eyes For You” and then three more join them.
Clark is so smooth at the end of the video. He’s just sitting there on the step with the audience and is like, “Yeah, that’s the Flamingos” as they all walk off. I think millions of people aspired to be like him when they were growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s. Overall, this song is really cool and the winter setting is perfect for their performance. This one was a classic for a reason. I wasn’t even alive then and I still think it’s better than today’s music.
The ironic thing about this video is that it was filmed in July of ‘59. I hope those band members didn’t have to go outside in that winter get-up. Secondly, I wonder what kind of entryway they had to go through. This was still during the time of Jim Crow laws. I’d think that Dick Clark and his crew members would be a lot more progressive, but you never know. The fight for equality still rages on.
This was a great version of the song. What did you think? Have you heard any other versions of it?
