Falling Out of Love b/w Eloise

Buster Brown was the name Canadian singer and songwriter Timothy Eaton took up in 1974, for his records and for the four-piece band he took on the road across the south-western United States. RPM introduced him that October as the artist formerly known as Timothy, of 'Riverboat Ladies'.

Eaton had been recording for RCA since 1969, when he joined the Marshmallow Soup Group as lead singer. He wrote their single 'I Love Candy', a No. 3 hit on RPM's Canadian Content Chart, and travelled with the band to the International Trade Fair in Lima, Peru, as a Goodwill Ambassador for Canada. When the group dissolved in 1971 he stayed with the label as Timothy. 'Riverboat Ladies', his own song, produced by Shel Safran, came out in Canada and went to American radio on an RCA promo in the summer of 1972. 'Rock & Roll Music' b/w 'Tammy Tease' followed.

'Riverboat Ladies' was published in part through Dunbar, in RCA's Sunbury-Dunbar publishing group, and John Lombardo had been Sunbury-Dunbar's Professional Manager in Canada. By 1974 Lombardo was RCA's West Coast A&R director in Los Angeles. He produced and arranged the Buster Brown sessions in Los Angeles for Pedal Point Productions, operated by American music manager Nick Grillo.

Eaton wrote 'Falling Out of Love' and Lombardo wrote the flip side, 'Eloise'. RCA issued the single as PB-10023 in both Canada and the United States. Record World made it a Single Pick on August 31, 1974, taking care to separate the newcomer from the Buster Brown of 'Fannie Mae' and hearing the lush soul production of Barry White in the record.

'Falling Out of Love' entered the RPM 100 at No. 100 on October 12, 1974. By November, RCA's Canadian publishers were reporting airplay at about 30 stations across the country. The single also entered the American trade charts, appearing on the Record World Singles Chart and Cash Box's Looking Ahead listings. RPM was still listing Buster Brown among RCA's artists in 1976, but no later recording under that name has been confirmed.

-Robert Williston