Articles by John Twang

Bucks Fizz is a cocktail like mimosa made of champagne and orange Juice. In 1981 the group Bucks Fizz, (Bobby G who is still with the group, Sheryl Baker, Jay Aston and Mike Nolan), top selling UK group of the eighties, won the Eurovision song contest with "Making Up You Mind". The group was formed specifically for that purpose. In 1984, a few months before Tina Turner, Buck Fizz planned for their album I Hear Talk. But once Tina's single was released and hit the top of charts almost everywhe…

Buddy Clark (Samuel Goldberg) died at 37 when his plane crashed on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. Five other passengers survived the 1947 accident. Buddy hit the top ten with songs like "I'll Dance at Your Wedding", "How Are Things in Glocca Mora", "Peg O'My Heart" and "Linda". Jack Lawrence composed the song at the request of lawyer Lee Eastman for his daughter. Linda Eastman became a noted photographer and wife of Paul McCartney. When growing up Jan and Dean's buddies included…

Rumour has it that John Lennon wrote "Bad To Me" specifically for Billy J. Kramer (William Ashton) and the Dakotas, also managed by Brian Epstein, while John was vacationing in Spain. According to Wikipedia the John Lennon demo was recorded May 31 of 1963. That same year it became the first Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas chart topper in the UK and top ten in the U.S. the next year.

Petula Clark entertained the troops as a child during World War Two and even appeared in "experimental" television in the forties. Her British and European recording career shone in the fifties. She is still classified as a French chanteuse in many countries and also sang in German and Italian. Her American recording success happened with "Downtown" in 1964. She and Tony Hatch composed "You're the One" for the 1965 album "I Know a Place". Petula's version hit the top thirty in the U.K. but didn'…

Nella Dodds first released "Come See About Me" (Holland-Dozier-Holland) as a single on the Wand label in 1964 and it reached #74 on Billboard's Top 100. This triggered the release of the Supremes (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) single from the album "Where Did Our Love Go" and it hit the top of the charts in America.

Jan Berry and Dean Torrence attended University High School in West L.A. After football practise they would get together and sing do-wop. This eventually led to a lucrative recording career which included "Surf City", "Deadman's Curve", "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" and in 1966 "Yellow Balloon". When Jan & Dean recorded "Surf City" in 1963, Gary Zekley was in the studio. When Jan Berry was seriously injured in a car accident Dean turned to Gary Zekley for material. This resulted in the…

John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen" was released in 1948 and is rightly considered to be one the most influential sounds R&B to rock and roll recorded. Just listen to Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top's "La Grange" and of course Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" which sold two million singles in 1970. Norman is Jewish. Doctor (Clive Jackson) and the Medics (Steve McGuire, Steve Ritchie, Richard Searle, Weny West and Colette Appleby) covered "Spirit In the Sky" on their 1986 album "Laughing At the P…

P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri composed "You Baby". This the the P.F. Sloan demo take. It was first issued by The Vogues (high school friends Hugh Geyer, who is still with the touring group, Bill Burkette, Don Miller and Chuck Blasko) in 1965. The Turtles (Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman were later known as Flo & Eddie) hit the top twenty with "You Baby" in 1966. It was also the title of their second album.

The group that gave us the original version of "Walk Right In" (Rooftop Singers) Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers (Gus Cannon, Ashley Thompson, Noah Lewis) recorded "Prison Wall Blues" for Victor in 1930. John Sebastian's "Younger Girl" is remarkably similar. Warmest Spring first released "Younger Girl" on Parkway Records in 1964. In 1965 the John Sebastian composition was released on the Lovin' Spoonful (John Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler) debut album "Do You Believe…

Sam the Sham (Domingo Samudio) and the Pharaohs (Dave Martin, Butch Gibson, Ray Stinnet and Jerry Patterson, the name inspired by the movie "The Ten Commandments") hit with "Wooly Bully" and "Little Red Riding Hood". Maurice Irby composed "Ready or Not" and it was released on the 1967 lp "The Best of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs". Jay (Proctor) & the Techniques (Ronny Goosley, John Walsh, Karl Landis, George Lloyd, Dante Dancho and Chuck Crowl) titled the tune "Apples, Peaches and Pumpkin…

The Dovells (Len Borisoff aka Len Barry was lead) sang "Wildwood Days" (Kal Mann-Dave Appell) about Wildwood, a town in New Jersey. It was on the flip side of the top ten "You Can't Sit Down" in 1963. Bobby Rydell (Robert Ridarelli) recorded that "B" side and hit with "Wildwood Days" later the same year and on the same Parkway-Cameo label. It reached the top twenty.

Van (Ivan) Morrison was part of the Irish group "Them" ("Here Comes the Night", "Baby, Don't Go") and composer of "Gloria" which became a hit for the American band "Shadows of Knight". As a solo act Van hit with the top ten "Brown Eyed Girl". Call his efforts R&B, Celtic or whatever, one must admit his influence on popular music is indelible. "Have I Told You Lately" is from the 1989 lp "Avalon Sunset". The single was issued the same year, hitting the top forty and winning a Grammy. The ex…

Ray Eberle sang vocals for the incredible Glen Miller on the top ten hit "At Last" in 1942. If you are not familiar with Glen Miller please do a little research on line. There is too much fascinating information to post here. Other notables in his band were: Tex Beneke, Bobby Hackett, Marion Hutton, Johnny Desmond, The Modernaires, Kay Starr and Billy May. Major Miller even recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The winner of six Grammy awards, Etta James (Jamesetta Hawkins) featured "At Last"…

The late Robert Hazard (Robert Rimato) wrote "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and what you hear here is from a 1979 demo. In 1983 New York's Cyndi Lauper's version peaked at number two on Billboard. The Grammy and Emmy winner married actor David Thornton decades ago with minister Little Richard performing the ceremony.

The Bell Sisters (Cynthia and Kay Strother) recorded "Boom, Boom (My Honey) (Milton Kellem) in 1956. The original recording was made by Roy Hogsed in late 1951 as "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" but was not released for quite some time. Patience and Prudence (McIntyre) followed their hit "Tonight You Belong to Me" with the 1956 version of "Gonna Get Along Without You Now". It peaked in Billboard at number eleven.

As a teenager Buddy Greco (Armando Greco) was a pianist for the Benny Goodman Orchestra. When he entered his twenties he went solo and began singing. In 1962 he recorded "Mr. Lonely" for Epic Records. It became the first single release of the tune to chart on Billboard. Bobby Vinton was a big band act on Epic Records. "Mr. Lonely" was one of the few of his many hits that he composed. You'll find it on his 1962 "Roses Are Red" album. It became a number one hit for Bobby in 1964.

Jesse Stone was an in-house writer at Atlantic Records who composed "Shake, Rattle and Roll" in 1954. The blues and band singer Big Joe Turner became a rock and roll hero when he was the first to record the standard at the age of 43. Bill Haley was one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He may have been blind in one eye, but he and the Comets (The Saddlemen) took "Shake, Rattle and Roll" to the top of the charts in 1955.

Singer, television and film star Willie Hagara worked for the Austrian Postal Service. It was Willie who first recorded "Du Spielst 'Ne Tolle Rolle" (Hans Bradtke) in 1962. That tune became "Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" (Carste-Tobias) a top ten hit for former jazz pianist Nat "King" Cole as an album and a single in 1963.