Doris Troy RIP
I've just found out that American soul singer Doris Troy died a few days ago aged 67, I'm familiar with her through Kirsty MacColl's cover of 'Just One look', which Doris Troy had a big hit with, and I once heard another song which she did called, 'What ya gonna do about it' or something like that.
Anyone more familiar with her work ?
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> I've just found out that American soul singer Doris Troy died a few days
> ago aged 67, I'm familiar with her through Kirsty MacColl's cover of 'Just
> One look', which Doris Troy had a big hit with, and I once heard another
> song which she did called, 'What ya gonna do about it' or something like
> that.
> Anyone more familiar with her work ?
She was a great singer Radar and a gem of a person. This obituary appeared on one of the Northern Soul wesites a few days ago:-
Doris passed away yesterday, 16th June 2004, in her Las Vegas home. I’m not sure
of the causes but she had suffered from breathing problems for a long while.
Born Doris Payne in New York City in 1937, she was a truly great soul singer and songwriter
who shot to fame in 1963 with her top ten Atlantic smash ‘Just One Look’. She cut more
soulful sides for the label; ‘He Don’t Belong To Me’ and ‘Tomorrow Is Another Day’ are
personal favourites. By 1964 she had visited the UK and enjoyed the Swinging London scene
so much that she stayed (she recorded here frequently over the next ten years). In that year her
‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It’ single was a hit in the UK only and that as well as ‘Just One
Look’ were covered to great commercial success by the Hollies.
She then moved on to Capitol records for a great double sider, ‘Face Up To The Truth’ / ‘He’s
Qualified’, and then on to Calla for the Philly produced Northern Soul classic ‘I’ll Do Anything’.
Lack of commercial success Stateside saw her return to the UK where she signed for the
Beatles’ Apple label for whom she cut an album and several singles. Her signing was down to
the group themselves who had been big fans of hers for years, in fact the whole of the UK pop
scene seemed to be captivated by her talent and unaffected charm. After Apple she cut for the
UK People label and staged concerts with gospel choirs that she had worked with throughout
her music business career.
In the early 90s she wrote and performed in an autobiographical play about her career called
"Mama I Want To Sing". When the show came to the West End she acted her own mother’s
role and Chaka Khan, Deniece Williams and Mica Paris acted her part at different times. The
show ran for several months, and stars such as Prince and Stevie Wonder turned up to see it
and meet the legend.
At this time I was running my fourth Cleethorpes Northern Soul weekender and had been let
down by an act I had booked for it. I rang Doris cold and asked her if she could come up and
help me out with a PA at the event. She agreed to straight away (and very reasonably), even if it
was on the only day she had off from the show. Her presence was tremendous and of course
she was great with the fans. The meeting lead to me working as her agent, when she decided to
stay on in London after her show closed. She performed many jazz and supper clubs and did a
full soul show at the 100 Club where Van Morrison came down to see her as a fan,
remembering her fondly from the 60s. She then appeared at another Cleethorpes weekender
with full backing band and this was filmed by Channel 4 for a documentary they did about the
event.
Bad health forced her to return to the States where she lived in New York with her sister Vi, a
top DJ over there. Eventually her health worries forced her to live in Las Vegas where the
climate helped her breathing.
Doris was one of the most understanding and kind hearted people you could ever wish to meet.
Her approachability often made you forget what a talented artist she was. She would treat each
fan as graciously as each megastar who came to see her. And when she referred to her friends
as "Baby, Baby, Baby", they always felt very special.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
Thanks for that Johnny, I have to confess I haven't got much of a northern soul collection, so I think I need to investigate the likes of Doris Troy a bit more.
The date she passed away should read 19th Feb 2004.
> She was a great singer Radar and a gem of a person. This obituary appeared
> on one of the Northern Soul wesites a few days ago:-
> Doris passed away yesterday, 16th June 2004, in her Las Vegas home. I’m
> not sure
> of the causes but she had suffered from breathing problems for a long
> while.
> Born Doris Payne in New York City in 1937, she was a truly great soul
> singer and songwriter
> who shot to fame in 1963 with her top ten Atlantic smash ‘Just One Look’.
> She cut more
> soulful sides for the label; ‘He Don’t Belong To Me’ and ‘Tomorrow Is
> Another Day’ are
> personal favourites. By 1964 she had visited the UK and enjoyed the
> Swinging London scene
> so much that she stayed (she recorded here frequently over the next ten
> years). In that year her
> ‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It’ single was a hit in the UK only and that as
> well as ‘Just One
> Look’ were covered to great commercial success by the Hollies.
> She then moved on to Capitol records for a great double sider, ‘Face Up To
> The Truth’ / ‘He’s
> Qualified’, and then on to Calla for the Philly produced Northern Soul
> classic ‘I’ll Do Anything’.
> Lack of commercial success Stateside saw her return to the UK where she
> signed for the
> Beatles’ Apple label for whom she cut an album and several singles. Her
> signing was down to
> the group themselves who had been big fans of hers for years, in fact the
> whole of the UK pop
> scene seemed to be captivated by her talent and unaffected charm. After
> Apple she cut for the
> UK People label and staged concerts with gospel choirs that she had worked
> with throughout
> her music business career.
> In the early 90s she wrote and performed in an autobiographical play about
> her career called
> "Mama I Want To Sing". When the show came to the West End she
> acted her own mother’s
> role and Chaka Khan, Deniece Williams and Mica Paris acted her part at
> different times. The
> show ran for several months, and stars such as Prince and Stevie Wonder
> turned up to see it
> and meet the legend.
> At this time I was running my fourth Cleethorpes Northern Soul weekender
> and had been let
> down by an act I had booked for it. I rang Doris cold and asked her if she
> could come up and
> help me out with a PA at the event. She agreed to straight away (and very
> reasonably), even if it
> was on the only day she had off from the show. Her presence was tremendous
> and of course
> she was great with the fans. The meeting lead to me working as her agent,
> when she decided to
> stay on in London after her show closed. She performed many jazz and
> supper clubs and did a
> full soul show at the 100 Club where Van Morrison came down to see her as
> a fan,
> remembering her fondly from the 60s. She then appeared at another
> Cleethorpes weekender
> with full backing band and this was filmed by Channel 4 for a documentary
> they did about the
> event.
> Bad health forced her to return to the States where she lived in New York
> with her sister Vi, a
> top DJ over there. Eventually her health worries forced her to live in Las
> Vegas where the
> climate helped her breathing.
> Doris was one of the most understanding and kind hearted people you could
> ever wish to meet.
> Her approachability often made you forget what a talented artist she was.
> She would treat each
> fan as graciously as each megastar who came to see her. And when she
> referred to her friends
> as "Baby, Baby, Baby", they always felt very special.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> Thanks for that Johnny, I have to confess I haven't got much of a northern
> soul collection, so I think I need to investigate the likes of Doris Troy
> a bit more.
> The date she passed away should read 19th Feb 2004.
No problem mate.
Oh and last night.....John Cooper Clark was immense. I have never enjoyed a support slot as much in my life.
He really was THAT good. A brilliant night.
A good way of testing the waters with Northern Soul is via compilations.The Kent record label is particularly good.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> No problem mate.
> Oh and last night.....John Cooper Clark was immense. I have never enjoyed
> a support slot as much in my life.
> He really was THAT good. A brilliant night.
> A good way of testing the waters with Northern Soul is via
> compilations.The Kent record label is particularly good.
I assume he was backed with a band. Can you remember the set list, I take it he did the ever essential 'Beasley Street'.
I saw him in 2001 at this poetry reading event, hardly anyone had a clue who he was and his bad language certainly didn't go down well. Needless to say I thought it was superb.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> I assume he was backed with a band. Can you remember the set list, I take
> it he did the ever essential 'Beasley Street'.
> I saw him in 2001 at this poetry reading event, hardly anyone had a clue
> who he was and his bad language certainly didn't go down well. Needless to
> say I thought it was superb.
He did do Beasley Street. Loads of it was just ad lib.He was getting a fair amount of heckling but he turned the audience around brilliantly to the point where they were pleading for more.
He told lots of jokes.Very funny.A poem about a hire car.Talked a fair bit about his ex-wife.Said he knew he hadn't hired a very good lawyer when he started every sentence with,"Im not an expert on legal matters but if I was you......"
Said they had to split the house in two when the divorce was final...he got the outside.Spoke a about about "that great man Albert Finney".
Laughed at his appearance on GMTV which he called "Give Me The Valium".
Sad he was in Alcoholics Anonymouse...he still drinks....but under a different name..
He did new stuff as he said he had a new record out soon.He played 2 songs with a guy on guitar towards the end.
Best Fall gig I have seen in 15 years.Great night.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
hahahaha some funny stuff in there.
A new record - great news indeed.
Now if only he would venture to my home town.
> He did do Beasley Street. Loads of it was just ad lib.He was getting a
> fair amount of heckling but he turned the audience around brilliantly to
> the point where they were pleading for more.
> He told lots of jokes.Very funny.A poem about a hire car.Talked a fair bit
> about his ex-wife.Said he knew he hadn't hired a very good lawyer when he
> started every sentence with,"Im not an expert on legal matters but if
> I was you......"
> Said they had to split the house in two when the divorce was final...he
> got the outside.Spoke a about about "that great man Albert
> Finney".
> Laughed at his appearance on GMTV which he called "Give Me The
> Valium".
> Sad he was in Alcoholics Anonymouse...he still drinks....but under a
> different name..
> He did new stuff as he said he had a new record out soon.He played 2 songs
> with a guy on guitar towards the end.
> Best Fall gig I have seen in 15 years.Great night.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> hahahaha some funny stuff in there.
> A new record - great news indeed.
> Now if only he would venture to my home town.
You had to be there but he was amazing !
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> You had to be there but he was amazing !
Here's one he did do
I Married A) Monster From Outer Space
The milky way she walks around
All feet firmly off the ground
Two worlds collide, two worlds collide
Here comes the future bride
Gimme a lift to the lunar base
I wanna marry a monster from outer space
I fell in love with an alien being
[She had a head as big as a TV screen]
Whose skin was jelly, whose teeth were green
[A glutinous complexion with a day-glow sheen]
She had the big bug eyes and the death-ray glare
Feet like water-wings, purple hair
I was over the moon, I asked her back to my place
And then I married the monster from outer space
The days were numbered, the nights were spent
In a rent-free furnished oxygen tent
Where a cyborg chef served up moonbeams
Done super-rapid on a laser beam
I needed nutrition to keep up the pace
When I married the monster from outer space
But when we went walking tentacle in hand
You could sense that the earthlings would not understand
They'd go nudge nudge when we got on the bus
Saying "It's extra-terrestial, not like us;
And it's bad enough with another race,
But fuck me... a monster! from outer space?"
In this kind of atmosphere love went lame
She took a flare to from where she came
I read all the papers, looked up the stars
"Uranus is active and so is Mars"
My horoscope was horrible, told me to my face -
Avoid monsters from outer space
In a cybernetic fit of rage
She pissed off to another age
She lives in 1999
With her new boyfriend, a blob of slime
Each time I see a translucent face
I remember Errrrxxzztt from outer space.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
One of the funniest men...ever!!
I remember hearing 'suspended sentence' on the Peel show when it was about to be released. I was gobsmacked!!
Rushed out to buy it the following week, which started (yet) another stand-off between me and the record shop worker who thought I was speaking a different language.
Just as punk kicked-off there was a band called Be-Bop Deluxe who had a hit with 'ships in the night'. They tended to attract crowds who were disco-poser type boys with terrible fringes and who thought they were really cool.
Anyway..John Cooper Clarke was supporting them on tour and, as you can imagine, his stuff didn't go down too well with the disco numbnuts.
He was endlesly jeered and barracked but triumphantly strode off stage saying "Okay - we'll call it a draw."
I wasn't actually at that, but heard or read about it somewhere at the time.
Did see him on a triple bill with Richard Hell&The Voidoids and Elvis Costello&The Attractions. Maybe about 78. (round about the time Ruff was at knebworth seeing led zep).
After a loooooooooooong gap, I finally saw JCC again at a pub called The Enterprise in Chalk Farm , Norf Laaaahndaan. This was in 1999. So , a 21year gap. But even that night, he came out with the classic "cheggers can't be boozers" , which, to my shame, I have used many times and passed it off as my own.
It's fessing up time.
> Here's one he did do
> I Married A) Monster From Outer Space
> The milky way she walks around
> All feet firmly off the ground
> Two worlds collide, two worlds collide
> Here comes the future bride
> Gimme a lift to the lunar base
> I wanna marry a monster from outer space
> I fell in love with an alien being
> [She had a head as big as a TV screen]
> Whose skin was jelly, whose teeth were green
> [A glutinous complexion with a day-glow sheen]
> She had the big bug eyes and the death-ray glare
> Feet like water-wings, purple hair
> I was over the moon, I asked her back to my place
> And then I married the monster from outer space
> The days were numbered, the nights were spent
> In a rent-free furnished oxygen tent
> Where a cyborg chef served up moonbeams
> Done super-rapid on a laser beam
> I needed nutrition to keep up the pace
> When I married the monster from outer space
> But when we went walking tentacle in hand
> You could sense that the earthlings would not understand
> They'd go nudge nudge when we got on the bus
> Saying "It's extra-terrestial, not like us;
> And it's bad enough with another race,
> But fuck me... a monster! from outer space?"
> In this kind of atmosphere love went lame
> She took a flare to from where she came
> I read all the papers, looked up the stars
> "Uranus is active and so is Mars"
> My horoscope was horrible, told me to my face -
> Avoid monsters from outer space
> In a cybernetic fit of rage
> She pissed off to another age
> She lives in 1999
> With her new boyfriend, a blob of slime
> Each time I see a translucent face
> I remember Errrrxxzztt from outer space.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> One of the funniest men...ever!!
> I remember hearing 'suspended sentence' on the Peel show when it was about
> to be released. I was gobsmacked!!
> Rushed out to buy it the following week, which started (yet) another
> stand-off between me and the record shop worker who thought I was speaking
> a different language.
> Just as punk kicked-off there was a band called Be-Bop Deluxe who had a
> hit with 'ships in the night'. They tended to attract crowds who were
> disco-poser type boys with terrible fringes and who thought they were
> really cool.
> Anyway..John Cooper Clarke was supporting them on tour and, as you can
> imagine, his stuff didn't go down too well with the disco numbnuts.
> He was endlesly jeered and barracked but triumphantly strode off stage
> saying "Okay - we'll call it a draw."
> I wasn't actually at that, but heard or read about it somewhere at the
> time.
> Did see him on a triple bill with Richard Hell&The Voidoids and Elvis
> Costello&The Attractions. Maybe about 78. (round about the time Ruff was
> at knebworth seeing led zep).
> After a loooooooooooong gap, I finally saw JCC again at a pub called The
> Enterprise in Chalk Farm , Norf Laaaahndaan. This was in 1999. So , a
> 21year gap. But even that night, he came out with the classic
> "cheggers can't be boozers" , which, to my shame, I have used
> many times and passed it off as my own.
> It's fessing up time.
It was great Patrick. It was like being in the presence of a God.
Even MES was sober....ish. Did The Smiths not support Be Bo Deluxe once or am I getting confused again ? I've only had 3 hours kip
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> It was great Patrick. It was like being in the presence of a God.
> Even MES was sober....ish. Did The Smiths not support Be Bo Deluxe once or
> am I getting confused again ? I've only had 3 hours kip
Do any of you remember John Cooper Clarke appearing in a few sugar puff commercials - I married a monster from outer space indeed.
I suppose that's what happens when you socialise a bit too much with that absolute headcase Nico.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> Do any of you remember John Cooper Clarke appearing in a few sugar puff
> commercials - I married a monster from outer space indeed.
That rings a bell, R. For some reason, though, I can't really recall it for definite. Must have been one of those things I wanted to forget. It's really vague in the old McCann memory bank.
Maybe someone else has clearer memories of it
> I suppose that's what happens when you socialise a bit too much with that
> absolute headcase Nico.
Re: Doris Troy RIP
I have a few Northern Soul compilations and she is on at least one of them. I definitley have a track called 'I'll Do Anything', which was recorded in 1966. At least Johnny has come up with the goods on this one - he does have an occasional use
Didn't realise she did the original of 'Just One Look', though. You are a mine of information.
> I've just found out that American soul singer Doris Troy died a few days
> ago aged 67, I'm familiar with her through Kirsty MacColl's cover of 'Just
> One look', which Doris Troy had a big hit with, and I once heard another
> song which she did called, 'What ya gonna do about it' or something like
> that.
> Anyone more familiar with her work ?
Re: Doris Troy RIP
> Didn't realise she did the original of 'Just One Look', though. You are a
> mine of information.
You might have noticed that 'Just One Look' is credited as being written by Payne/Carroll.
When she first started writing music she did it under the name of Doris Payne, rather than Doris Troy.
It's not quite up there with 'Miss Otis Regrets' or 'Please help me I'm falling' as one of Kirsty's best cover versions, but it's a really fun track all the same.
Posting Permissions
