I approached this with considerable trepidation - I remember this song from when it came out and I disliked it intensely back then. When listening to it as an adult for the first time in over half a century, I only made it through 32 seconds before hitting Pause. Some things never change, I suppose.
Clint Holmes (born 1946) was born in England but was raised in Farnham, New York, southwest of Buffalo. He served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969 as part of the United States Army Chorus and then began singing in nightclubs in Washington, D.C.
"Playground In My Mind" was originally recorded by Billy Lawrence in 1971; this version has a children's chorus singing in French. Holmes's version was released in June 1972 but did not make it into the Billboard Hot 100 chart until the following March. It eventually reached #2 and sold over half a million copies. It was co-written and produced by Paul Vance, whose seven-year-old son, Philip, sings on the record. (Vance also co-wrote "Tracy", which appears on this website.)
Holmes went on to establish a residency in Las Vegas, where Harrah's casino named their main showroom after him. He was also the announcer for The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers from 1986 to 1988. In 1996, Holmes wrote and starred in a show about his life, "Comfortable Shoes". The New York Times review of this show was not exactly flattering, to put it mildly. It contained the following:
Whether you choose to endure two and a half hours of Mr. Holmes acting and singing [his story], with the assistance of seven other actors and singers, is up to your tolerance for ego-driven show-biz excursions into the orbit of the vanities. It is also dependent on your predisposition to Mr. Holmes's talents. And it has a lot to do with your need for an assertiveness-training manual in the guise of musical theater.
Ouch.
Created April 30, 2026.