Flashback Friday: "Just One Look" - Doris Troy (1963)

Rhythm & blues in the early 1960's was funky, sweet, and all-around good music. One of the artists of that era was Doris Troy, whose biggest and only hit was "Just One Look". While it is truly a great song, indicative of the era, why was it her only hit? Did Doris Troy have anything else to offer? Let's take a look.

Doris Troy was discovered by James Brown while working as an usherette at the Apollo. She then worked with such highlighting stars as Cissy Houston, The Drifters, and Dionne Warwick before her biggest hit.

"Just One Look" was a modest hit in 1963, peaking at #10 on the Billboard charts. As I said, it's very indicative of the era: catchy, with a simple melody to complement and contrast the powerhouse voice of Doris Troy, much like a lot of melodies in R&B around that era. But this was Doris Troy's first and only hit, and she seemed to have the chops to produce more. So what happened?

Well, after one more hit in the UK, Doris Troy changed her tune to singing backup, most notably for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album. She also had a stage musical based around her life called Mama, I Want to Sing. So, she was still fairly successful and well-known, just not for Billboard hits. Which is perfectly okay, it's how she wanted to live out her career, and I can't condemn anybody for that. It's just a shame that she has the label "one-hit wonder" attached to her, a label most commonly associated with a pejorative attitude. She died from emphysema in 2004, but her legacy still lives on. So rest in peace Doris Troy, and may your work in the music industry entertain many generations to come.