Eddie Holman, Hey There Lonely Girl | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 137^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2022), we recollect and reflect on “Hey There Lonely Girl” by Eddie Holman. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome – we don’t discriminate ‘round here! In the 137^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2022), we recollect and reflect on “Hey There Lonely Girl”, performed by Eddie Holman. 

“Hey there, lonely girl

Lonely girl

Let me make your broken heart like new

Hey there, lonely girl

Lonely girl

Don’t you know this lonely boy loves you?”

Remember, sometimes, it only takes one hit to solidify your musical legacy. For Eddie Holman, the one song that solidified his legacy is “Hey There Lonely Girl”. It was written by Earl Shuman and Leon Carr. Interestingly, it is a COVER! Before there was lonely girl, there was “Hey There Lonely Boy” courtesy of Ruby and The Romantics. While Ruby and The Romantics earned success with “Lonely Boy,” “Hey There Lonely Girl” courtesy of Holman made a bigger slash, peaking at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 14 weeks on the chart. It marks the sole top-10 hit of his career (three other songs charted on the pop charts with less success).

On “Hey There Lonely Girl,” the incredibly talented singer wows with one of the sweetest tenor vocals you’ll ever hear.  Holman’s voice alone is a big reason why “Hey There Lonely Girl” ranks among the truly great songs from the soul catalog. It appears as the seventh track on his 1969 album, I Love You. Peter De Angelis is responsible for the production. Like so many soul cuts from the late 1960s entering the 1970s, the orchestration and overall sound is lush, with symphonic cues.  This is the perfect fuel for Holman’s fire, as he woos this lonely girl with his angelic pipes. “Oh how I long to take your hand,” he sings to his brokenhearted prosect, adding, “And say, ‘Don’t cry’ / I’ll kiss your tears away.” Later, in the second verse, Holman adds, “No one can kiss your lips the way I will.” It’s worth noting that he gets some help from some superb background vocalists, beginning with the second verse.  All told, “Hey There Lonely Girl” is simply magnificent.

🎙 Eddie Holman • 💿 I Love You • 🏷 Geffen • 🗓 1969

Eddie Holman, “Hey There Lonely Girl”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 137 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Geffen, John Alan Sperry, PIRO, The Musical Hype, Pixabay]