Robert Thomas Velline was born in Fargo, North Dakota, younger brother to a family of musicians. When his brother formed a combo, Bobby was finally allowed to join as the lead vocalist as he was the only one that knew the words to all the songs. On February 3rd, 1959, they had been practicing regularly for two weeks. After the tragic loss on the day the music died, the organizers of the ‘Winter Dance Party’ tour scrambled to find a local act who could fill in on short notice. 'Bobby Vee and the Shadows' volunteered for and were given the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band at the next tour stop in Moorhead. Their performance there was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee's career as a popular singer. The breakthrough song for Bobby Vee was “Devil Or Angel”, which made it to the top ten late in 1960, when Vee was only seventeen. He followed it a short time later with another top ten tune “Rubber Ball”, which had been co-written by Gene Pitney and made Vee an international star. In 1961 he recorded “Take Good Care Of My Baby”, (a Carole King composition) which went gold and was his only #1 song. His next hit “Run To Him” went to #2 and was also a million seller. He followed this success with hits such as, “More Than I Can Say”, “Run To Him”, “ The Night Has a Thousand Eyes”, and “Come Back When You Grow Up”.AlexBrowne said:
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Bobby Vinton, from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was heard often on Top 40 stations with his nostalgic ballads, starting in 1962 with his biggest hit, "Roses Are Red (My Love)," and continuing through three more #1 singles, "Blue Velvet" and "There! I've Said It Again" in 1963, and "Mr. Lonely" in 1964; he revived his career in the mid-1970s by celebrating his ethnicity with recordings that were particularly popular in the Polish community: "My Melody Of Love" in 1974 (sung partly in Polish), and "Beer Barrel Polka" and "Wooden Heart" in 1975.
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palalwanabe
Guest
"There I've Said It Again"........a #1 hit For Vaughn Monroe in 1945.
"Blue velvet"............#16 hit for Tony Bennett in 1951.
"My Heart Belongs To only You"...............June Christy 1953.
"Tell Me Why"....................#2 hit for the Four Aces 1952.
"Mr Lonely"....................Buddy Greco 1962.
Pal Al Wannabe
"Blue velvet"............#16 hit for Tony Bennett in 1951.
"My Heart Belongs To only You"...............June Christy 1953.
"Tell Me Why"....................#2 hit for the Four Aces 1952.
"Mr Lonely"....................Buddy Greco 1962.
Pal Al Wannabe
Millie Small, Jamaican by birth, was a one-hit wonder in the U.S with her 1964 Billboard Hot 100 #2 recording, “My Boy Lollipop”. Small was the first artist to have a hit that was recorded in the so-called "bluebeat" style (which was quite popular in the UK at the time). This was a music genre that had emerged from Jamaica, and which, as with ska, was the direct ancestor of reggae.AlexBrowne said:
AlexBrowne said:
The Small Faces were an East London group best known in America for their hit, "Itchykoo Park"...
The Darchaes were a white vocal group which began in Asbury Park, NJ. Ray and the Darchaes - Ray Dahrouge (lead), Tony Juliano (falsetto), Louie Scalpati (1st tenor), Sal Capalungo (2nd tenor), Denny Testa (baritone), and Sam Siciliano (bass) recorded numbers such as “Darling Forever”/”There Will Always Be” (Buzzy #202) and “Carol”/”Little Girl So Fine” (Aljon #1249/1250) in 1962. The group released “Gloria”, b/w “Bring Back Your Heart” (Savoy 200) in 1963 with Nick Addeo on lead. Gloria is a selection that so many groups attempted over the years but if you ask people in the know almost everyone agrees that Nicky's version is one of the best if not the best of all time.jimwalsh2001 said:
Among the many stories associated with the classic Richard Berry song "Louie Louie" is the one about Ray Davies, who says he wrote The Kinks' first hit, "You Really Got Me," while trying to work out the chords for "Louie Louie," which had become a big hit for The Kingsmen in November 1963; "You Really Got Me" was released 10 months later, and The Kinks did eventually record "Louie Louie," too, later in 1964, including it on an extended play 45, Kinksize Session.
Jerry Wexler, Atlantic's A&R man, had the Chords cover a Patti Page hit, "Cross Over the Bridge” in 1954 but it was the B-side, "Sh-Boom", which charted #3 R&B and #9 Pop, a nearly unprecedented feat for its time. "Sh-Boom" introduced the white audience to black R&B music for the first time. Despite all their collective efforts, The Chords remain one-hit wonders.AlexBrowne said:
Despite their pleasant, close harmonies and their role in introducing white audiences to R&B and doo-wop songs, the Canadian vocal quartet The Crew-Cuts are not highly regarded today because they were one of the first groups in the rock era to cover and out-sell classic (usually superior) originals by black artists; their copy of the Chords' "Sh-Boom" went to #1 in 1954, and was followed in 1955 by a string of singles which all charted in the Top 20: their copies of The Penguins' "Earth Angel," Gene & Eunice's "Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)," Nappy Brown's "Don't Be Angry," The Danderliers' "Chop Chop Boom," The Nutmegs' "A Story Untold," and Otis Williams & His New Group's "Gum Drop."
‘The Clovers’ formed in 1946 in Washington, D.C . Their very first Atlantic session produced their first big hit, "Don't You Know I Love You"(Atlantic 934), which hit #1 on the national charts in June 1951. “Fool Fool Fool"(Atlantic 944) went #1 in September 1951. The group underwent numerous personnel problems and changes until 1955 when they had moderate success with "Devil or Angel"(Atlantic 1083). The Clovers had their biggest hit, "Love Potion #9", in July of 1959 with Billy Mitchell on lead vocal. They recorded two versions of Love Potion #9 on United Artists Records, and for the album of that name a new final verse was created referring to "love potion #10". This version became played more often on radio than the single at the time.AlexBrowne said:
Speaking with "Crimson and Clover" lyricist Tommy James last week about his new Shondels (original) Christmas CD, the story of "Crystal Blue Persuasion" came up. Tom had originally written for and recorded the song with a full orchestra, three guitars, full horn & reed section, bass, organ. It was to be his "Rhapsody In Blue" or "Since I Don't Have You". A lush masterpiece.
After several live takes, Tom sat at the mixer for playback. He hated it. It was too busy.
One by one, he began pulling out tracks. Strings, then horns, backup vocals. He was left with the congo drum, bass and flamingo guitar. He added in the Hammond B-3 organ and horns only for accents. We agreed, the beauty of "Crystal Blue" is in it's simplicity.
But I'd LOVE to hear the full mix, just once! The new CD is on Sony BMG.
P.S. He's REALLY a nice guy...down to earth.
After several live takes, Tom sat at the mixer for playback. He hated it. It was too busy.
One by one, he began pulling out tracks. Strings, then horns, backup vocals. He was left with the congo drum, bass and flamingo guitar. He added in the Hammond B-3 organ and horns only for accents. We agreed, the beauty of "Crystal Blue" is in it's simplicity.
But I'd LOVE to hear the full mix, just once! The new CD is on Sony BMG.
P.S. He's REALLY a nice guy...down to earth.
Originally recorded in the late 1940s and early 1950s by big bands including Russ Morgan's and country singers including Ernest Tubb, "Blue Christmas," about unrequited love during the holiday, became Elvis Presley's best known song of the season after he included it in 1957 in his Elvis' Christmas Album; it didn't chart, however, until 1964 when it was #1 on Billboard's Christmas Singles chart.
T
Those RRRRs
Guest
In addition to "Blue on Blue" and many other hits, Bobby Vinton had an entire Christmas album entitled "Kissin' Christmas."
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is a Christmas song recorded by many artists over the years. The original recording by Jimmy Boyd on Columbia Records reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1952, and on the Cash Box magazine chart early in 1963. Jimmy was but was 12 years and 11 months old at the time. Jimmy Boyd's record was actually banned by the Catholic Church in Boston when it was first released on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd made world wide news at thirteen years old when he went to Boston and met with the the leaders of the Church to explain the song to them. The following Christmas the ban was lifted by the Catholic Church. Boyd's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" went number-one on the charts again the following year at Christmas, and went on to sell again and again every Christmas. Today with the internet it sells worldwide to new generations, and has reportedly sold over 60,000,000 records since its initial release.Those RRRRs said:
Oops, typo. Should have read "...Cash Box magazine chart early in 1953."GridLeakBias said:
Sorry.
In today's news, Neil Diamond reveals a secret he's kept for 38 years: that the inspiration for his 1969 platinum hit "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)" was a photo of a young Caroline Kennedy, the president's daughter -- and he just told Ms. Kennedy Schlossberg the story when he performed the song at her 50th birthday party; "Sweet Caroline" recently reappeared on the charts thanks to its popularity in Boston where Red Sox fans sing along with it for good luck at every home game.
Coming from a doo wop background, yet classically trained, Neil Sedaka composed more than a 1,000 tunes, including a dozen major pop hits he recorded between 1959 to 1963 that were co-authored with Howard Greenfield, his lyrist until 1972. At the age of 8, Neil began playing the piano for five hours a day. While on a two year scholarship to Julliard School in New York, Sedaka sold his first song, "Stupid Cupid", a hit for Connie Francis in 1958, as was his "Where the Boys Are”, (which Francis sang in the hit teen movie of the same name) in 1961.AlexBrowne said:
Signed at Melba Records Sedaka was asked to help out on another group's session and played chimes on "Church Bells May Ring" by the Willows. Then while on a two year scholarship to Julliard School in New York, Sedaka sold his first song, "Stupid Cupid," a hit for Connie Francis in 1958, as was his "Where the Boys Are”, (which Francis sang in the hit teen movie of the same name) in 1961. After signing a recording contract with RCA Records in 1959 he had two hits, "The Diary" (#14) and "I Go Ape" (#42). More hits followed - "Oh! Carol" (#9) in 1959; "Stairway To Heaven" (#9) in 1960, "Calendar Girl" (#4), "Little Devil (#11), ”Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (#6) in 1961, "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (#1) and "Next Door to an Angel" (#5) in 1962.
Well gang, am I getting too old for this game? I just proofed my last, and I find I repeated myself within. That makes two blunders in a row. Damn, I hate when that happens. 
OK, that said, I'll just take this time to wish everyone who has posted on this thread a happy and safe Thanksgiving Day.
OK, that said, I'll just take this time to wish everyone who has posted on this thread a happy and safe Thanksgiving Day.
The Tokens, whose biggest hit by far was the 1961 million-seller "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- from the South African Zulu song "Mbube" which had been adapted previously by the Weavers, in 1952, as "Wimoweh" -- began in 1955 as the Linc-Tones, a vocal quartet of students from Brooklyn's Lincoln High School, and re-formed as The Tokens in 1960 after many personnel changes; one of the Linc-Tones' original members was Neil Sedaka, who left the group in 1958 for a solo career and to continue songwriting with fellow Lincoln alumnus Howard Greenfield.
Oh... and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Oh... and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Following his graduation from Fairfax high school in Los Angeles, California, Phil Spector became obsessed with a song, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", he had written for his group, The Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records who offered to finance a studio session, The Teddy Bears - Spector, Marshall Leib, lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit, drummer Sandy Nelson - recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a total cost of $75. Released on ERA's Dore label in August 1958, it took a full two months before "To Know Him Is to Love Him" began to get airplay.AlexBrowne said:
The record eventually stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for twenty three weeks, resided in the Top Ten for eleven of those weeks, and commanded the #1 chart position for three weeks. At age seventeen, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. within a year of their impressive debut, Spector had disbanded the group. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and eventually changed her name to Carol Connors. Among her songwriting credits are the Rip Chords hit "Hey Little Cobra".
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