Thread by @TheWrongtom

Ok, seeing as no one asked, let's check out the evolution of doo-wop standard I Only Have Eyes For You.

It began in 1934 as a lush orchestral number written by jazzers Eddy Duchin & Jane Froman for a classic Busby Berkley dance scene in Dames

It was a hit that same year when NYC band leader Ben Selvin recruited Howard Philips for a faithful big band rendition

It quickly became a jazz standard, and was still going strong when Coleman Hawkins recorded this swing version a decade later in 1944

By the end of the 40s jazz trends were evolving, and as proof, here's Battersea greatest pianist (my Grandad was it's 2nd greatest obvs 😉) George Shearing, with a downbeat, walking rendition from 1949

By the turn of the 50s, vocal groups had adopted the song, and in '52 a doo-wop act recorded a lullaby-like version for the King label. No not THAT doo-wop act, here's The Swallows...

Then, in '54, film composer Walter Schumann kept the ballad tempo but referenced the song's cinematic debut 20 years earlier with this version (also featuring the creepy Haunted House on the flip)

Then, finally, after various 50s versions from everyone from Slim Gaillard to Jackie Gleason, The Flamingos' version hit the charts in the summer of 1959, which doesn't explain why they're dressed for skiing in this clip

So, The Flamingos gave I Only Have Eyes For You a new lease of life 25 years after it debuted. They weren't 1st to give it a doo-wop spin but that "SHA-BOP SHA-BOP" hook became a motif running therough countless cover versions, leading many to assume theirs was the original

For example, here's latinx garage band The Ambertones from LA's east side, who released a scruffy but faithful version of The Flamingos arrangement in '66

Not so good but worth noting. It made it's way to Barbados in the 70s when calypso pop group The Merriboys recorded their version of The Flamingos' arrangement

But let's skip back to 1959 and listen to this novelty record which opens with a menacing take on the Flamingos' bass riff played on timpani, before Dracula asks Vampira "are the bats out tonight? Let's forget them while we have a bite..."

And it wasn't all about The Flamingos for everyone. The jazz versions continued, like this cool-bopping cover by Baltimore's first lady of jazz Ethel Ennis

And our own Dame Cleo recorded a nice version in '61 featuring some hot jazz fiddle

And of course old blue eyes gave it a bash too. In fact he first recorded a version back in the 40s, but here he is performing it live at the Sands in Vegas in the 60s with Count Basie and Quincy Jones!

As the 60s progressed, funk groups and soul revues added it to their repertoire. Here's another B-more group, The Persians, who released this version in '69. Oddly it's UK release was on reggae label (and Trojan's main rival) Pama

And the soul versions continued into the 70s. Quincy Jones' protegé Mel Carter released this stunning take on it in '74 with the essential spoken word intro of any self respecting slow jam, and it just keeps getting better by the second. Check the strings!

But let's quickly look at 1972 because The Flamingos found a new audience when George Lucas included them in American Graffiti, a film which revolutionised the soundtrack LP. Here's Toad attempting to woo Debbie in the back of a 58 Impala

And that same year Kenneth Anger included The Flamingos in his re-release of his short fantasy film Rabbit's Moon (this won't be for everyone but John Waters is a fan so what the hell do you know anyway)

In fact American Graffiti led The Flamingos' version to become a film and TV motif, almost to the point of cliché. Since then it's appeared in My Girl, The Wonder Years, Buffy, The Sopranos, and even Star Trek: Voyager.

Another significant version came in '75 when Art Garfunkel included it on his 2nd solo LP Breakaway. It hit number 1 in the UK in October that year and the album went platinum (it's no Bright Eyes though, is it)

And then came the disco! A few gave it a bash including Michigan Avenue, Hokis Pokis and my favourite of the bunch by The Energy Commission

Speaking of which, Bobbie Orlando gave the song a Hi NRG spin when he produced this single for Bonnie Forman in '84

Around the same time as that last one, Zapp released this squelchy and frankly ridiculous version, with the late great Roger Troutman on vocoder, naturally

Now let's take a quick musical detour because in '85, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago's free-jazz physician Lester Bowie gave the song an avant-garde meets New Orleans spin. Here he is performing it live with his Brass Fantasy band

It'll come as no surprise that in the 90s, the song found another new audience amongst RnB, swing beat, and slow jams fans. Funky Poets closed out their 1993 album True To Life with this rendition

And there's a great a capella version performed by The Complexions in Robert DeNiro's A Bronx Tale

Of course The Flamingos version has been sampled repeatedly, and never better than by The Fugees. I love how when the drums drop it feels like the rhythm changes. Added bonus of Wyclef referencing Armagideon Time on the chorus

And I have to leave this thread here with a recent version by Oneohtrix Point Never (thanks for the heads up @nubient!) which is, well, give it a listen. Bye