For all the prom-queen sheen and chunky-ribbed homeliness, Thompson had already weathered three marriages, domestic abuse and a Hollywood TV show by the time she scored big with "Norman" in 1961. Hitching the diminutive sass of Brenda Lee to the popstomp of Jackie Wilson (and notwithstanding friend...
For all the prom-queen sheen and chunky-ribbed homeliness, Thompson had already weathered three marriages, domestic abuse and a Hollywood TV show by the time she scored big with “Norman” in 1961.
Hitching the diminutive sass of Brenda Lee to the popstomp of Jackie Wilson (and notwithstanding friend Roy Orbison’s “Suzie”, written especially for her), her best moments here are sub-Supremes hip-wiggler “Sweet Hunk Of Misery” and brassy belter “Walkin’ My Baby”.