About The Song
“The Loco-Motion” is a pop song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, recorded by Little Eva (Eva Narcissus Boyd) for Dimension Records. Released in June 1962 as her debut single, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 25, 1962, for one week, and topped the Cash Box Top 100 and R&B Singles charts. It reached No. 2 in the UK, No. 1 in Canada, and No. 3 in Norway, spending 16 weeks on the Billboard chart. The song was not part of an album at release but appeared on Little Eva’s 1962 LP, Llllloco-Motion, which peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200. The B-side, “He Is the Boy,” did not chart.
Recorded at Dick Charles Recording Services in New York in spring 1962, the track was produced by Goffin with King on piano and backing vocals. The Cookies provided harmonies, and the session featured Art Kaplan on sax and Buddy Saltzman on drums. Eva, a 17-year-old babysitter for Goffin and King in Queens, was discovered when King overheard her singing while working for their daughter, Louise. Goffin, inspired by Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time,” wrote the song with King in 1961, initially intending it for Sharp, who declined. Eva’s demo, meant for another artist, impressed Dimension’s Don Kirshner, who released it as is, per a 1991 Billboard retrospective. Her untrained voice and dance, mimicking a train, gave it raw charm, as noted in Songfacts.
The song’s creation stemmed from Goffin and King’s Brill Building work, where they churned out hits like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” Eva, born in North Carolina and raised in Brooklyn, earned $50 for the session and a $15,000 advance, though mismanagement and label disputes limited her earnings, as detailed in Rhino’s Goffin-King archives. The dance, taught to audiences on American Bandstand, fueled its popularity, with Eva performing it at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1962. The track’s success led to her touring with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, though her follow-up, “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby,” only reached No. 12.
Covers include Grand Funk Railroad’s 1974 version (No. 1 Billboard Hot 100), Sylvie Vartan’s 1962 French take (“Le Locomotion”), and Kylie Minogue’s 1987 hit (No. 3 Billboard, No. 2 UK), which revived interest in Eva’s original. The song appeared in films like Innerspace (1987) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). Little Eva, who left music in 1971 for family, returned briefly in the 1980s, performing it at oldies shows, including a 1989 Myrtle Beach concert. She died in 2003, and the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016, per American Songwriter. Its simple chord progression and infectious rhythm, analyzed in Medium, made it a pop standard.
Video
Lyric
Everybody’s doin’ a brand new dance now
(Come on baby, do the Loco-Motion)
I know you’ll get to like it if you give it a chance now
(Come on baby, do the Loco-Motion)
My little baby sister can do it with ease
It’s easier than learnin’ your A-B-C’s
So come on, come on, do the Loco-Motion with meYou gotta swing your hips now
Come on baby, jump up, jump back
Well, I think you got the knack, ohNow that you can do it, let’s make a chain now
(Come on baby, do the Loco-Motion)
A chug-a-chug-a motion like a railroad train now
(Come on baby, do the Loco-Motion)
Do it nice and easy now, don’t lose control
A little bit of rhythm and a whole lot of soul
So come on, come on, do the Loco-Motion with meMove around the floor in a Loco-Motion
(Come on baby, do the Loco-Motion)
Do it holdin’ hands if you get the notion
(Come on baby, do the Loco-Motion)
There’s never been a dance that’s so easy to do
It even makes you happy when you’re feelin’ blue
So come on, come on, do the Loco-Motion with meCome on, do the Loco-Motion
Come on, do the Loco-Motion
Come on, do the Loco-Motion with me