Originally aired on Treasure Island Oldies in August 2010
In this day and age, with the information overload that the Internet provides, you would think that it would be pretty simple to find out something about anybody, especially in the music industry.
But that is not the case regarding a young American female recording artist from the late 50s and early 60s who cut her teeth with the likes of legendary songwriters/lyricists duos Leiber & Stoller as well as Burt Bacharach & Hal David.
This Philadelphia-born artist had the looks and talent but failed to get the breaks, being successfully covered by Helen Shapiro in the UK and surpassed by Dionne Warwick Stateside.
Still, she is remembered by a few and her recordings have become sought-after collectibles.
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You would think that by signing with Kapp Records in 1961, and being able to record for Burt Bacharach and Hal David, that an artist would have it “made in the shade” as they would say back then.
But life is not always fair, and our talented artist who was once described as the diminutive gal with the big, big voice failed to achieve national stardom, barely qualifying as a footnote to a footnote in pop music history.
However, she did enjoy some success north of the border in Canada in 1962. That year she made it onto CHUM Radio, the top pop station in Toronto. In fact, her release made it to #9 on the CHUM Charts and remained on those charts for nine straight weeks. She also made it to #6 on the Vancouver charts.
In the U.S., this record peaked at #97 on Cashbox and bubbled under the Billboard Hot 100 at #117. However, she did enjoy some regional success, making it to the #2 position in Springfield, Massachusetts.
It’s too bad that music executives who admired the talents of Philadelphia’s Babs Tino failed to spend more time on her career in order to garner the national recognition she deserved. Any one of them would probably be willing to say the following to her: “Forgive Me (For Giving You Such A Bad Time).”
YouTube listing of the song:
This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.
