On this day (October 25) in 1975, Art Garfunkel topped the UK singles chart with “I Only Have Eyes For You”. Alongside Paul Simon, Garfunkel formed one half of the most successful pop duos of the 1960s. A sampling of their biggest hits includes “Sound of Silence”, “Mrs. Robinson”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, and “The Boxer”. However, cracks had begun appearing in their professional partnership by the end of the decade. creative tensions and Garfunkel’s budding acting career were driving a wedge between the two men. The strain finally became too much in 1970, and Simon and Garfunkel decided to go their separate ways.
Art Garfunkel’s Solo Career
In the years following the split, Art Garfunkel starred in the films Catch-22 (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971).
Following a short-lived stint as a math teacher in Connecticut, he made his solo debut with 1973’s Angel Clare. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the LP reached number five on the Billboard 200 and yielded Garfunkel’s only top 10 U.S. pop single in “All I Know”.
In October 1975, Garfunkel released his sophomore solo album, Breakway, which saw him reunite with Paul Simon on the album’s second single, “My Little Town”. The lead single, “I Only Have Eyes For You”, spent two weeks atop the UK singles chart and reached the top 20 of the U.S. pop chart.
In a 2023 interview with Mojo magazine, Garfunkel, now 84, listed “I Only Have Eyes For You” among the top five vocal performances of his career.
“I remember playing it for James [Taylor] and Carly [Simon] in their Martha’s Vineyard house, and when I went, ‘I only have eyes…’ Carly goes, ‘Mmm, nice eyes!’” recalled the eight-time Grammy winner. “I’m holding my notes nicely. I wanted to make it cushy and sexy. It’s seductive. It takes you from the dance floor to the bedroom.”
The Origins of “I Only Have Eyes For You”
By the time Art Garfunkel put his spin on “I Only Have Eyes For You”, the song had been in the public consciousness for four decades.
Composed by 11-time Academy Award nominee Harry Warren with lyrics by Al Durbin, singer-actor Dick Powell first performed the song in the 1934 musical comedy Dames.
A quarter of a century later, Chicago doo-wop group The Flamingos just missed the U.S. pop top 10 with their 1959 rendition of “I Only Have Eyes For You’. It also reached number three on the R&B chart.
In an interview with Gary James, Flamingos high tenor Terry “Buzzy” Johnson said that the group wanted to put their own unique spin on “I Only Have Eyes For You”. He recalled the song’s final version coming to him in his sleep.
“I heard the whole song and when I woke up I grabbed my guitar and played it,” said Johnson, who died in October 2025 at age 86. “Everything was there, the beautiful harmonies, the echo of it, the way the chord structure went. I called the guys. We were all in the same hotel in New York and they came to my room and they laughed at it. It was kind of weird.
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“Nobody thought anything was going to happen with that song,” he continued. “Matter of fact, it was just on the album. It wasn’t even a release. The disc jockeys heard it and called it off. I re-arranged it and produced it with George Goldner and Richard Barrett. But, I arranged it, turned the chords around, plus it’s me playing the guitar on all the stuff we did on those three albums.”
Featured image by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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