Robin Luke w/The Lawrence Bros. Combo & The Uniques, "Won't You Please Be Mine" c/w "Five Minutes More," Bertram International 45-212 [Hawaii; rel. early 1959]

 

Among the least-viewed posts here since the relo to this site was this February item: https://franksjookbox.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-flames-crazy-cw-ill-never-let-you.html 

This 1957 Hawaii-made sorta-kinda-rock 'n' roll effort deserves a second chance; perhaps today's record will accord it some long-overdue views. We're back in Hawaii for a rare single by Honolulu's teen pop-rock star Robin Luke, whose "Suzie Darlin'," recorded in producer Bob Bertram's bedroom in 1957, became a global pop hit the next year and branded its performer and composer a one-hit wonder once subsequent singles failed to chart.

Luke's family moved often, due to his father's job with Douglas aircraft. The LA-born teen moved to Honolulu in 1953. The 11-year-old soon took up the ukulele and guitar and began performing in high-school talent shows and revues. News traveled fast on the island of Oahu, and Luke soon met Bob Bertram, who'd run a country label, Lariat Records, in the Southwest US. He moved to Honolulu to be with his mother after his father died in 1956. Bertram was open to creating a Hawaiian pop star and this clean-cut, well-presenting youth filled the bill. 

"Susie Darlin'" and its supremely haunting flip "Livin's Lovin' You" were taped in Bertram's parent's house, with Islanders The Jolly Drifters on backup vocals, a role they repeated for the follow-up, "Chicka-Chicka-Honey," which stalled on the pop charts when issued by Dot Records. (It was technically illegal for Dot to issue these two singles, as they weren't recorded with union musicians or technicians. An attempt to re-record "Susie" in LA led label owner Randy Wood to realize the bedroom version had that certain something that couldn't be replicated. Without notice of its violation of law, the original "Susie" became the big hit.)

Today's single was only issued in Hawaii. How a copy ended up in Longview, Washington is a mystery, but there I found it a few weeks back. By this time, Bob Bertram had moved to an island facility, International Recorders in Honolulu. He achieved a similar lo-fi, eerie sound: perhaps that was his preferred approach. A cover of a song penned for a B-movie musical, coupled with an appealing original by the 16-year-old Luke, comprised this release, which is quite scarce; there are perhaps a dozen copies here on the main continent. Its lone pressing might not have exceeded 500 copies. My copy was unplayed and I'm glad to have it, and to share it with you today.

As a vocalist, Luke's enthusiasm outshines technique. "Won't You Please Be Mine" placed him in an earthy bed of ukuleles, guitars, Islander vocal group The Uniques and a minimal rhythm section. It still sounds like it was recorded in a bedroom or a large closet. That muddiness creates a dreamy feeling that enhances this sweet, bashful song. It shows the influence of Buddy Holly (as do many a teen rock 'n' roll single of this year) and the vocal group works to the record's favor. 

Luke's adenoidal voice exudes glee and The Uniques' dense tones add warmth to a most pleasing degree. When they sing together, it's captivating. The innocence of it all is a tiny bit heart-breaking. I'm sure it registered well with Honolulu teens. Dot Records saved this track for a 1960 EP release and opted for the other side as another possible pop hit-though not in its original version.

"Five Minutes More," penned by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, came from the Monogram Pictures musical Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1946). Frank Sinatra recorded it and had a #1 pop hit for Columbia Records. The song lends itself well to the Bob Bertram touch. With a touch of reverb on Luke's voice, upfront rhythm guitar and minimal percussion, it's Robin's show for most of the way. The Uniques join in late into the record and sing for a few seconds. Their presence is enough to make the listener realize this side would have been too cutesy with them all the way through.

Rescued from sappiness, this side shows the clear ceiling of Luke's vocal range, but his spirited reading has a certain charm. Dot re-recorded the song in LA and stuck to the original's arrangement in a version that runs about 15 seconds longer than this 1958 version.

Dot kept Robin Luke on their roster into 1962--a long time for a kid with only one real hit single. Academic studies forced Luke to give up on performing at that point. Some time in the mid-1960s, he demoed a new batch of songs, perhaps in the hope of getting them covered by other artists. Among these seven demos is the haunting, eerie "Wide Wide World," a song that became an instant favorite when I first heard it in 1991. Never issued on vinyl, and not on YouTube, "Wide Wide World" is well worth two minutes of your time.

Perhaps the most bemused member of The Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Luke focused on an academic's life as professor of marketing at Southwest Missouri University. He retired from teaching in 2011 and is still with us. His interviews for the 1991 Bear Family Records CD "Susie Darlin'" reflect his relief that he left the entertainment world before it had the chance to chew him up and spit him out.

Tomorrow: R&B's finest bass singer, Jimmy Ricks, in an excellent 1962 single for Fury Records, arranged by Chicago's fine soul musician Horace Ott.