Articles by John Twang

New York City area bandleader Gus Coletti sang the demo for "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" (Bert Carroll - Russell Moody). Gus also sang with doo-wop group The Clusters (Henry Ferro, Joe Gugliaro, Donnie Milo, Tom Mordente and Charlie Scardina). Scotty Moore, Bill Black, Dudley Brooks, D.J. Fontana and Tiny Trimbell were the studio musicians for "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck". Elvis Presley took the tune to the top of the R&B chart, number three Country and number two on the Top One Hundre…

Chuck (Harold) Willis had a number eight R&B hit with "Feels So Bad" (Willis) in the summer of 1954. This appears on the LP "Chuck Willis Wails The Blues". Wikipedia "he paid the band out of his own pocket without ever deducting taxes. ... When he died, his wife had the house, she had the fur coats and the Cadillac, but there was no money." The Elvis Presley version of "I Feel So Bad" was released in 1961 and it reached number five on the Top One Hundred while peaking at number fifteen on th…

"Peter Cottontail" was written in 1949 by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. This is the same writing duo that produced "Frosty The Snowman" the next year. Mervin Shiner was first to record the song and peaked at number eight on Billboard in 1950. Merv was a respected radio and television comedian. Superstar Gene Autry was requested by the songwriters to record "Peter Cottontail". In 1950 Gene reached number three Country and number five on the Billboard charts. Gene sang the song in the 1951 mo…

"The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936" saw the premiere performance of "I Can't Get Started" (Ira Gershwin - Vernon Duke) when it was sung by Eve Arden to Bob Hope. The first recording came from Hal Kemp and his Orchestra featuring vocalist Skinny Ennis when it peaked at number fourteen on the charts of the time. The track is edited to include the vocal. Bunny (Roland) Berigan was a celebrated trumpeter with the bands of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. He started his own band in 1937 and chose "I Ca…

Shirley Ellis (Elliston, nee O'Garra) released "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (Lincoln Chase) in 1965. The million seller reached number eight in the U.S. and number six in the U.K.. Lincoln Chase also wrote the Shirley Ellis hits "The Nitty Gritty" and "The Name Game" along with LaVerne Baker's "Jim Dandy" and The Drifters' "Such A Night". Golden Globe winner Pia Zedora (Schipani) peaked at number thirty-six on Billboard with "The Clapping Song" in 1983 from the soundtrack of the…

Udo Jurgens (Bockelmann) sang "Warum Nur, Warum" (Only Why, Why) (Udo Jurgens) at the 1964 Eurovision contest as the Austrian entry sung in German. The song was only moderately successful. The underrated Matt Monro (Terence Parsons) recorded the better known version of the song as "Walk Away" (Ugo Jurgens - Don Black). The tune peaked at number four in the U.K. and number twenty-three on the Billboard Top One Hundred. English lyricist Don Black was Matt Monro's manager.

Here is The Supremes (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) demo of "Baby Love" (Holland - Dozier - Holland). At Berry Gordy's insistence the tune closely followed the formula for "Where Did Our Love Go". Mr. Gordy is one wise man. The 1964 hit has a more perky feel and "interested" sound. The composers were also the producers for this number one hit by The Supremes. "Baby Love" was the follow up to the chart topping "Where Did Our Love Go" and again included the studio musicians kno…

The first song by NSYNC (Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick) to hit the Billboard top ten was "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You" (Carl Struken - Evan Rogers) from their self-titled debut album. The boy band single reached number eight. This 1998 LP was a version of an album issued earlier in which songs were added while others were dropped. Country giants Alabama (lead vocalist Randy Owen, Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry and Mark Herndon) teame…

Recorded at the Club Tequila Showroom at the Fiesta Hotel in Las Vegas this is co-writer Paul Richmond singing "Shining Star" (Paul Richmond - Leo Graham). Paul is a Grammy nominated producer, songwriter and bassist who has opened for acts like Culture Club, Peabo Bryson and Tina Turner. In 1980 The Manhattans (lead vocalist Gerald Alston, Edward Bivins, Kenneth Kelly and Winfred Lovett) peaked at number four R&B, number five on the Billboard Top One Hundred and twenty-one A.C. with "Shining…

Bob Merrill (Levan) wrote "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", one of the many hits he wrote for Guy Mitchell including "Truly, Truly Fair", "She Wears Red Feathers" and "Sparrow In The Treetop". Bob's inspiration for the song occurred at a boxing match when the announcer introduced one of the fighters from "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" and instantly Mr. Merrill heard the music in his imagination. Guy Mitchell (Al Cernik) with the talented label executive, producer, arranger, orchestra and chorus conduc…

Screenwriter, Tin Pan Alley tunesmith and versatile songwriter Bob Merrill (Levan) wrote "Feet Up (Pat Him On The Po-Po)". When Bob started writing he could neither read music or play an instrument. Many of his songs were hits for Guy Mitchell. Former child actor Guy Mitchell (Al Cernik) recorded "Feet Up (Pat Him On The Po- Po" with Mitch Miller's Orchestra and Chorus in 1952. The single peaked at number two in the U.K. while on Billboard it reached number fourteen.

Producer, manager, singer, songwriter Keith Diamond (Alexander) sings "Suddenly" (Billy Ocean - Keith Diamond) at a private Christmas party in 1996. Keith died of a heart attack one month after this was recorded. It was Keith who produced the Bill Ocean hit along with "Loverboy" and "Caribbean Queen" for his fellow Trinidadian. Billy Ocean's (Leslie Charles) 1984 LP of the same name included "Suddenly". The single reached the pinnacle of the Adult Contemporary chart, peaked at number four on…

Composer, singer, poet and playwright Labi (Afolabi) Siffre sings "It Must Be Love" from the 1972 LP "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying". The song was originally issued as a single in 1971 and hit the U.K. top twenty. Recording artists who covered his music include Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Rogers and Rod Stewart. British band Madness (lead vocalist Graham McPherson, Mike Barson, Mike Bedford, Chris Foreman, Lee Thompson and Dan Woodgate) released the single "It Must Be Love" in 1981 and hit n…

French singer, songwriter Michael Polnareff recorded "Ame Caline" (Polnareff) in 1967. He also recorded the song in English as "If You Loved Me". Yet another bit of vinyl of which I am most fond is "Soul Coaxing (Ame Caline)", a 1968 instrumental version of the Michael Polnareff song. This time recorded by Raymond Lefevre and his orchestra. The single peaked at number thirty-seven on Billboard's Top One Hundred. Quite a feat for an instrumental in that era. Raymond once played piano for the…

The Nairobi Trio consisting of three "gorillas" were part of The Ernie Kovacs Show in the fifties. Ernie played the cigar smoking character while a variety of others played the remaining two. Often celebrities were involved in the suits. These included Frank Sinatra, Edie Adams and Jack Lemmon. As the Robert Maxwell tune "Solfeggio" aka "Song Of The Nairobi Trio" played, the gorilla suited players completed the routine. In 1976 Neil Diamond recorded the Robbie Robertson produced and simply g…

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Bob Carpenter lead vocals, Jimmie Fadden, Jeff Hanna and Jimmy Ibbotson) included "Bless The Broken Road" (Marcus Hummon - Bobby Boyd - Jeff Hanna) on the 1994 album "Acoustic". What other band uses a washboard on occasion? In 2005 Rascal Flatts (Gary LeVox lead vocals, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney) hit number one Country, number twenty Adult Contemporary and number twenty-nine on the Billboard Top One Hundred with "Bless The Broken Road". The songwriters won t…

Although it may seem like an unlikely pairing Ella Fitzgerald teamed with The Ink Spots (lead vocalist Bill Kenny, Billy Brown, Hoppy Jones and Herb Kenny) and topped the charts in 1944 with "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" (Doris Fisher - Allan Roberts). Doris Fisher wrote "Tampico" and "You Always Hurt The One You Love". Her father Fred composed "Dardanella", "Chicago" and "Peg O'My Heart". This track was edited to include both noted acts. Teresa Brewer (Theresa Breuer) covered "Into E…

Songwriter Greg Douglass on guitar with vocalist Rose Cox in concert doing "Jungle Love" (Greg Douglass - Lonnie Turner) at Sounds Like San Diego in 2015. Greg, who played with both Greg Kihn and Hot Tuna, wrote the song with the Steve Miller Band's bass player. The tune was originally written for Dave Mason. The Steve Miller Band (lead vocalist Steve Miller, Byron Allred, Norton Buffalo, Dave Denny, Greg Douglass, Gary Mallaber and Lonnie Turner) recorded "Jungle Love" in half an hour on th…