Doris Day: “Oo-Wee Baby”
Columbia Records UK single, 1964 | BUY

Gerry Goffin/Carole King may have been the most innovative and Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich were most attuned to teenaged trendiness, but it’s Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil who have proven to be the most durable of the Brill Building’s power songwriting couples. The duo have 40-plus years of huge hits to prove it, but here I’m sharing a couple of their more overlooked songs. Cher sung the winsome ballad “Make the Man Love Me” on her Dark Lady LP, but listeners would have to wait nearly 30 years for Dusty Springfield’s subtler version to surface (recorded for her stillborn ABC-Dunhill LP Longing). “Oo-Wee Baby” was more typical Mann-Weil, only instead of a faceless girl group we have a frisky-sounding Doris Day singing the praises of her imperfect guy (gee, I wish Doris recorded more of this kind of stuff). Barry and Cynthia’s official site has a lot more info on this incredible duo.

By the way, I will be retiring Gruesome Twosome after a year with this post. I might double-post album reviews here with my Rate Your Music account.