For brevity, I left out Sue Thompson’s last hits, "James (Hold the Ladder Steady)" (#17 Hot 100 in 1962) and "Paper Tiger" (#23 on Hot 100 in 1964). Both these tunes were penned by John D. Loudermilk, as were her previous hits.amfmsw said:
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"Hanky Panky" was written as an afterthought by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich in 1963 and recorded by them as a B-side under their studio name the Raindrops, but here's how it led to the success of Tommy James And The Shondells: the original Shondells, Tommy James' teenage Michigan pop group, recorded it on the regional (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois) Snap label in 1963, but it was forgotten until a Pittsburgh deejay found a copy in a bargain bin and started playing it on the air, and it quickly became a regional hit in western Pennsylvania; James sold the original master to Roulette Records, which re-released it, and it would become a #1 national hit; the original Shondells were no more, but James, who had moved to Pittsburgh to promote the record, recruited the local group The Raconteurs to take the Shondells' name; and the new Tommy James And The Shondells would wind up charting six more Top 10 songs, from 1967 ("I Think We're Alone Now") through 1969 ("Crystal Blue Persuasion").
What a great guy. I interviewed Tommy james a few months back for a local event. He is soley dedicated to his music, with a new Christmas release (I Love Christmas) with The Shondells, and his wife, fighting MS.
Tommy spent his whole pop career with Roulette, including his extracurricular projects like "Tighter and Tighter" by Alive and Kicking. His only hit I know of that was not with that label was on Mellinium in 1979-80 with the forgotten "Three Times In Love". A "Classic Hit" waiting to be re-discovered.
Tommy spent his whole pop career with Roulette, including his extracurricular projects like "Tighter and Tighter" by Alive and Kicking. His only hit I know of that was not with that label was on Mellinium in 1979-80 with the forgotten "Three Times In Love". A "Classic Hit" waiting to be re-discovered.
Love was the theme for so much of the 50s/60s R&R and DooWop music. With research, I’m sure one could fill numerous pages of song titles using that theme.amfmsw said:
That being said, I will only list these few by my favorite artist of the era:
“Don’t You Know I Love You”, “Fell In Love On Monday”, “I Still Love You”, “I’m In Love Again”, “It’s You I Love”, “Love Me”, “Tell Me That You Love Me”, ”The Girl I Love”, ”It Must Be Love”, “You Always Hurt The One You Love”, “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” . . .
all on the Imperial label by Fats Domino.
Talk about a performer with diverse talents and you've got the great Della Reese, who has been known for her gospel and jazz recordings, her acting (including her memorable role as Tess on CBS-TV's Touched By an Angel), and her work today as an ordained minister; her signature song on the R&B (a #1 hit) and pop (peaked at #2) charts was the 1959 recording "Don't You Know," which was adapted from "Musetta's Waltz" in the Puccini opera La Boheme, and has the same melody as "You," the 1952 hit for Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra.
The Casinos, a nine-member doo-wop group from Cincinnati, Ohio recorded “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” b/w ” I Still Love You” (Fraternity 977), a #6 Hot 100 hit in 1967, well after the end of the doo-wop era.AlexBrowne said:
Vocalist/composer/keyboardist Billy Stewart was discovered by Bo Diddley and began recording for Chess records in the mid-1950s, but he didn't really catch on until the mid-1960s with a series of appealing R&B songs he wrote, including "I Do Love You" and "Sitting In The Park," and his biggest hit, a unique take on George Gershwin's "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess, which featured his wild vocal trills and scatting.
“Sittin’ In The Balcony”/”Dark Lonely Street” by Eddie Cochran was released on the Liberty label (#55056) in 1957. It was cut one on the “Sing To My Baby” album released in 1958.AlexBrowne said:
Video of Eddie lip-syncing "Sittin' In The Balcony" on Dick Clark's show at the Little Theater (year unknown):
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/e/eddie_cochran/sittin_in_the_balcony.html
The line "bust you in the lip" limited airplay on many stations for The Orlons "Not Me" on Cameo. Too violent and crude.
By the way, ya gotta include Billy Stewarts' "Cross My Heart" in that list. Available in true stereo on the 20th Century Masters collection, you can plainly hear double drumming, especially with headphones. It was Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire on skins.
By the way, ya gotta include Billy Stewarts' "Cross My Heart" in that list. Available in true stereo on the 20th Century Masters collection, you can plainly hear double drumming, especially with headphones. It was Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire on skins.
Frankie Ervin is most widely known as the tormented lead of the Shields, in the 1958 ballad of betrayal, “You Cheated, You Lied” with “That's The Way It's Gonna Be” on the flip side (Tender 513). “You Cheated, You Lied” was a national hit that netted its lead singer only $37.50 in advance royalties. The recording session at the Electrovox Studios included (vocals) - Frankie Ervin, lead; Johnny “Guitar” Watson, bass; and Tommy Williams, baritone; with Ernie Freeman’s band laying down the instrumental track.amfmsw said:
Kansas City's "Big Joe" Turner was one of the top blues shouters since the early '40s before he reached a new audience in 1954 by introducing the rock classic "Shake, Rattle, And Roll"; the song's writer, Jesse Stone (also known as Charles Calhoun), wrote some 40 verses for the song, including the phrase "flip, flop and fly" which appeared in the first draft, and when those lines were cut, they became available for the 1955 follow-up to "Shake": "Flip, Flop and Fly" by Joe Turner and His Blues Kings.
Wilbert Harrison, singer/pianist/guitarist/harmonica player had a Billboard No.1 record in 1959 with the song "Kansas City", penned by Leiber and Stoller. Harrison recorded for the Fire and Fury record labels. His records are especially notable for the presence of the brilliant guitarist Wild Jimmy Spruill, whose solo on "Kansas City" is one of the most memorable in the history of rock and roll.AlexBrowne said:
Theatrical British rock singer Arthur Wilton was a one-hit wonder: as The Crazy World of Arthur Brown he and his backup trio gave us the 1968 hit "Fire," which began with the heated lyrics, "I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you fire, I'll take you to burn!"; Wilton influenced American shock-rockers of the '70s including Alice Cooper and Kiss.
Jack Scott, an Italian (nee Giovanni Dominico Scafone Jr.) hillbilly who worshipped Hank Williams, was born in Canada and raised in Detroit. He became a rock and roll star, favoring rockabilly music. He had regional hits in 1957 and had his first national hit in 1958 with “My True Love” on the Carlton label. His best year was 1960 when “What In The World’s Come Over You” (Top Rank 2028) reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts followed a few months later by a #3 hit with “Burning Bridges” (Top Rank 2041).AlexBrowne said:
See and listen to “What In The World’s Come Over You” on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iksyruTrYZc
The legendary Hank Williams charted his biggest hits from 1949-1953: "Lovesick Blues" was the #1 country hit of 1949; "Cold, Cold Heart" spent 44 weeks on the country chart in 1951 and was a #1 pop hit for Tony Bennett later that year; "Hey, Good Lookin'" was a million-seller in 1951; "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" was #1 on the country chart for 14 weeks in 1952; and the two-sided "Kaw-Liga"/"Your Cheatin' Heart" both charted shortly after Williams died in January 1953 at the age of just 29.
“Heart Of My Heart” (the music and lyrics written in 1926 about a song from1899) is a standard among barbershop quartets the world over. It's one of the most popular songs sung on Valentine's Day, as quartets deliver Singing Valentines to unsuspecting recipients in their homes, offices, classrooms, shops and other likely and unlikely places. A version of the popular 1926 song was recorded by The Four Aces in 1953 and was issued by Decca Records. It reached #7 on Billboard.AlexBrowne said:
Vocalist Sammy Turner, whose biggest hit, in 1959, was "Lavender-Blue," specialized in re-recording songs that had been popularized by the big bands in earlier decades: "Lavender-Blue" had been a hit for Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra in 1946; the Irving Berlin classic "Always" had first been a #1 in 1926 for George Olsen & His Orchestra; "Paradise" had been a #1 record in 1932 for both Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians and Leo Reisman & His Orchestra; and "Symphony" was #1 for Freddy Martin & His Orchestra in 1945.
Sammi Smith, a country music singer and songwriter, is best known for her 1971 country/pop crossover hit, "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. The song immediately became a #1 hit on the country charts and #8 on the Billboard U.S. pop chart. At first, record companies were uncomfortable with the song's honest sexuality, which was new for country music, but DJs tested the song and the response from listeners was enormous.AlexBrowne said:
Sorry, can I be forgiven for stretching the rules with an obvious different spelling...it is pronounced the same! :
???One of the most memorable whistling songs of the rock era was "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" by mythical one-hit wonder Whistling Jack Smith (there had been a popular British singer in the 1920s named "Whispering" Jack Smith whose biggest hit, in 1927, was "Me And My Shadow"); the 1967 instrumental was actually a studio session featuring the Mike Sammes Singers, and an Englishman, Billy Moeller, was later hired to tour as Smith.
"Whispering" Bill Anderson, C/W singer and songwriter, has seen more than 80 hits climb the country charts since the late 1950s. This Grand Ole Opry member has seen his own recordings hit the top spot on the charts more than once with classics like "Still" and "Po' Folks". Other hits penned by Anderson include Connie Smith' "Once a Day," Ray Price's "City Lights," Conway Twitty's "I May Never Get to Heaven," and Kenny Chesney's "A Lot of Things Different." Bill Anderson is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.AlexBrowne said:
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