1961 Johnny Tillotson: Poetry In Motion

Despite being the work of a stellar cast of country players (including Floyd Cramer, Boots Randolph and producer Bill Porter), 'Poetry In Motion' is less the sound of the farm and more the sound of American pop of yesteryear tarted up with a go faster rock & roll beat. Allegedly inspired by the sight of schoolgirls walking home from class every day, 'Poetry In Motion' opens with a slow, scene setting prologue that it never quite manages to live up to.

Despite the thick layering of a yakking saxophone, swooning backing vocals and an almost Mariachi beat of a middle eight, it's not enough to disguise the fact that 'Poetry In Motion' is over reliantly on the hook of the title which Tillotson returns to time and again. Yet despite it's dubious origins, the song is more a respectful celebratory of the female form ("Poetry in motion, see her gentle sway. A wave out on the ocean, could never move that way") than anything sleazy or voyeuristic. It's a lot more subtle than "I see you baby, shakin' that ass" anyway, and though it's obviously a song from another time, the simile of that title is a good one and it more than papers over some of its other shortcomings to sell the song to me.