Articles by John Twang

M.T.A. is the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Boston. "Charlie on the M.T.A." was composed by the team of Steiner and Hawes in 1949 as a campaign song for Walter O'Brien who was running for mayor. Walter opposed a fare increase on the M.T.A. subway. The song was taught to folksinger Will Holt who recorded it in 1957. In 1959 the Kingston Trio (Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds) recorded the tune on the album "At Large", changing the candidates name to "George" to avoid litigation.…

In 1963 "Little" Stevie Wonder (Stevland Hardaway Judkins) topped the charts with "Fingertips, Part Two". This was a jazz instrumental set for release on his debut album "The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder". A concert version was recorded in 1962 in Chicago featuring Stevie on harmonica and bongos. Although the Fingertips single was issued with Part one on the A side and Part two on the B side what happened with the B side launched one of the most spectacular careers in music.

Rodney Crowell played guitar in the Emmylou Harris Hot Band in 1975. He left the band to start his own group and produce for others including future wife Roseanne Cash. Among the hits he composed are "Shame on the Moon" for Bob Seger, "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" for the Oak Ridge Boys and you'll find "(Voila) An American Dream on his 1978 album "Ain't Living Long Like This". The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "An American Dream hit the top fifteen in 1979.

Ray Price had his first hit in the fifties with "Crazy Arms", Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes" and "Release Me". In the sixties it was "Make the World Go Away" and "City Lights". In the seventies": "For the Good Times" and in 1973 the number one country tune "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me". Songwriter and All-American quarterback Jim Weatherly composed "Neither One of Us Wants to Say Goodbye", "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Midnight Plane to Houston) and "You're the B…

Sharon Sheeley was Don Everly's girlfriend, Eddie Cochrane's fiancé and the composer of Rick Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" and co-composer of the Brenda Lee hit "Dum, Dum". Sharon suggested James Marcus Smith change his stage name to P.J. Proby. In the mid sixties he had a number of U.K. hits, one of which, "Niki Hoeky" made in onto the Billboard chart in the U.S. in 1967. hitting number 23. The next year he recorded the album "Believe it or Not" containing "Delilah". The producer was Les Reed wh…

Brooklyn 's Neil Diamond is a man of legend and still going strong as of this date. His records for Columbia, Bang and MCA have sold millions world wide. His successful compositions include: "Sunday and I" for Jay & the Americans, the Monkees "I'm a Believer" and "Kentucky Woman" for Deep Purple. In 1968 Neil charted with "Red, Red, Wine". In 1988 the British reggae band UB40 version topped the hit parade.

Mac Davis (composer of In the Ghetto, Watching Scotty Grow and his own hits) and guitarist Billy Strange (composer of Limbo Rock) wrote "A Little Less Conversation" specifically for Elvis and the 1968 film "Live A Little, Love a Little". It hit the charts, but barely. In 2002 a remix of the song by Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg) became a world-wide hit. Here we start with the Mac Davis version, then the Elvis re-mix.

Linda Laurie hit the top fifty in 1959 with "Ambrose, Part 5". That's her voice as Ambrose altered to be so deep. After a move to California she composed the Meow Mix tune and wrote "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)". Helen Reddy recorded the song for her 1973 album "Long, Hard Climb". This follow-up to "Delta Dawn" hit the top five.

Soprano Kasey Cisyk was a background singer for the likes of Carole King, Roberta Flack and Carly Simon. She recorded "You Light Up My Life" for the movie of the same name. Her version of the tune hit the lower portion of the charts. The film's writer and director also composed "You Light Up My Life" and used the similarly voiced Debby Boone and virtually the same arrangement for the Debby Boone (Pat's daughter) release that hit number one in North America in 1977.

It's been said that Jimmy Cliff (James Chambers) was reggaes' first world wide star. His initial recordings came in 1962. In 1970 Cat Stevens (born Stephen Demetre Georgiou and having converted to Islam now Yusuf Islam) produced "Wild World" for Jimmy and it became an international success. This song about actress Patti D'Arbanville was featured on the "Tea for the Tillerman" album also in 1970 and became a hit for Cat Stevens too in North America.

Composer George Weiss attended the famous Julliard School of Music and co-composed such hits as "Can't Help Falling in Love", "That Sunday, That Summer", "Lullaby of Birdland" and "What a Wonderful World". He often collaborated with Benny Benjamin and together they composed "Cross Over the Bridge", "Surrender" and "Wheel of Fortune". Johnny Hartman, The Cardinals, The Bell Sisters and Al Costello all recorded "Wheel of Fortune" in 1951. Here we feature the Johnny Hartman version.…

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was a John Ford western from 1962 starring John Wayne and James Stewart. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote a song based upon the movie and called "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance', a Top 10 Gene Pitney hit that was not used in the film. Apparently, Mr. Pitney didn't record it until April 1962, after the film came out. He had been requested to record it for the movie following the success of his "A Town Without Pity". Obviously it was not produced on tim…

Although some radio listeners thought them to be African-American, the white group The Homeland Harmony Quartette formed in 1935. In 1947 group member Lee Roy Abernathy composed "Everybody's Gonna Have A Wonderful Time Up There" known later as "The Gospel Boogie". Lee Roy also wrote campaign tunes for Franklin D. Roosevelt and ran for the governorship of Georgia in 1958. A decade later "A Wonderful Time Up There" was a top five hit for Pat Boone.

In the twenties Jack Denny's first band was Montreal's Mount Royal Orchestra. In 1931 he became the orchestra at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria. One year later he and vocalist Jack Small recorded "I've Told Every Little Star". The Hammerstein-Kern tune came from the production "Music in the Air". In 1961 Linda Scott (Sampson) was part of the Arthur Godfrey Radio Show. "I've Told Every Little Star" hit the top five and was the first of a decent string of hits for her. She was a backi…

Ernie Maresca lived near Dion DiMucci in the Bronx and wrote several hits with/for him including "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Lovers Who Wander", "Donna, the Prima Donna" and "The Majestic". At one time he sang with The Regents who later had a hit with "Barbara Ann". He also co-composed "Child of Clay" the last hit for Jimmie Rodgers, Reparata and the Delrons "Whenever a Teenager Cries", Bernadette Carol's "Party Girl" and had his own hit with "Shout! Shout! Knock Yourself Out"!. He becam…

Pianist Otis Blackwell either composed or co-authored: "Fever" his pen name was John Davenport), "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", Handy Man", "Just Keep It Up", "Return to Sender", "All Shook Up", "One Broken Heart for Sale", "Don't be Cruel" but he did not write "Teddy Bear". Kal Mann (wrote "Butterfly", "Remember You're Mine", "Let's Twist Again" and "Wild One") and Bernie Lowe (founder of Cameo Records) wrote "Teddy Bear" and requested that Otis sing the demo for Elvis Presley's num…

Don Covay (Donald Randolph) was Little Richard's chauffeur and his opening act. In 1961 he and the Goodtimers recorded his composition "Pony Time". His version got to the lower portion of the top 100. In the late sixties he organized a super soul group "The Soul Clan" consisting of himself, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Arthur Conley and Joe Tex. In 1962 Chubby Checker's (Ernest Evans) version hit the top of the charts with "Pony Time"..

Little Anthony and The Imperials (Anthony Gourdine, Ernest Wright, Clarence Collins, Tracy Lord and Nathaniel Rodgers) recorded the original "The Diary" (R. Barrett - A. Gourdine) in 1958 but it wasn't released until the Sedaka single was issued, that was too late. Note also the composer credits on the single. That was corrected after the fact. This was the follow-up to their hit "Tears On My Pillow" and on the album "We Are The Imperials Featuring Little Anthony". In late 1958 Eydie Gorme's…