Songwriting duo Carole King and Gerry Goffin were churning out tracks in the 1960s when “The Loco-Motion” became a chart-topping hit thanks to their young babysitter Eva Narcissus Boyd.
The dance/pop song would cement itself as one of the biggest hits of the era that unexpectedly launched 17-year-old Boyd’s career as a singer, which was never actually the goal. In the early ’60s, Carole was around 19 years old, with her husband Goffin being 22 at the time, and they had just started their career as songwriters. They were both working for legendary Don Kirshner as salaried songwriters at Aldon Music and creating tracks in the hopes of landing a hit.
According to This Day in History, the duo found their surprise inspiration in their very home. Boyd had just arrived in New York City when the couple needed help taking care of their daughter Louise and ended up becoming their babysitter/nanny. SongFacts reports that Boyd was being paid $35 a week for the job, but it would lead to so much more.
King was reportedly home when she came up with the melody for “The Loco-Motion,” and Goffin had spotted Boyd and his daughter dancing to the tune. He soon came up with the rest of the song, with Boyd having developed the hit dance. The duo originally thought the song should be recorded by R&B singer Dee Dee Sharp, who had hits like “Mashed Potato Time,” but the singer ended up rejecting it.
Some reports claim that King and Goffin wanted to reward her for her hard work and let her pick up a few bucks by recording and singing the demo for “The Loco-Motion.” Despite Sharp having rejected the track, Aldon boss Don Kirshner heard Boyd’s vocals on the demo and thought it would be an immediate hit. So much so that he made it the first official release on his new label, Dimension.
“The Loco-Motion” launched Boyd’s career and landed at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Cash Box. It also became an international No. 1 hit across Sweden, Norway, South Africa, and even Canada. The song landed in the Top 5 in multiple countries in Europe.
Soon, Boyd had a stage name under Little Eva, and King told NPR that she and Goffin “knew she could sing and had a really great voice.” It was only a matter of time until they would ask her to record their songs. When it came to the impression Boyd’s voice had on King, she explains, “Real honesty. There was nothing phony or insincere about Eva and her voice.”
Boyd would go on to release other known hits like “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby”, “Let’s Turkey Trot”, and a remake of the Bing Crosby standard “Swinging on a Star.”
Related: 1968 Folk Song, Produced by Paul McCartney, Launched an 18-Year-Old Singer’s Career
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