Articles by John Twang

Country singer Elton Britt (Baker) was first to record "Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)" (Jimmie Hodges) and reached number two on the Country chart in 1946. The youngest in a family of five Elton had heart problems most of his life. He died of a heart attack at fifty-nine. Vaughn Monroe and his orchestra with the Moon Men topped the charts in 1949 with "Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)" (Jimmy Hodges) and the composers' name misspelled.

Seventeen year old Marianne Faithfull was first to record "As Tears Go By" (Jagger - Richards - Oldham) in 1964 as a B side. While the release reached the top ten in the U.K. it peaked at twenty-two on Billboard. Wikipedia: "As Tears Go By" was one of the first original compositions by Jagger and Richards, as until that point The Rolling Stones had chiefly been performing blues standards. A story surrounding the song's genesis has it that Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham locked Jagger a…

The Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood) recorded "Beast Of Burden" (Jagger -Richards) for the 1978 LP "Some Girls". The album topped Billboard while the single reached number eight on the Top One Hundred. Winner of Grammy, Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony Awards Bette Midler's "Beast Of Burden" from the album "No Frills" peaked at seventy-one on Billboard in 1984 while reaching the top ten in other parts of the world. Mick Jagger was an essentia…

Florida's Hassan (Steven Bernard Hill) issued the single "Pump Up The Party" (Stevie B) in 1987. The former car wash attendant and fast food server did well with the dance sound. In 1992 Miami Boom Productions presents The 2 (Brett Hammock aka B-Naste and Joe Gonzalez aka Pappa Wheelie) released "Who Let The Dogs Out (Pappa Wheelie). Trinidadian Anslem Douglas recorded "Doggie" (Anslem Douglas) in 1998. This caught the attention of producer Steve Greenburg who had his group Baha Men cove…

Recorded to the point of distortion at the legendary Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee New Year's Day, 2011 here is songwriter Wood Newton with an in concert version of "Bobbie Sue" (Wood Newton - Dan Tyler - Adele Tyler). Grammy winners and established gospel quartet The Oak Ridge Boys (Duane Allen lead vocalist, Joe Bonsall, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban, bass) topped the Country chart and hit number twelve of the Hot One Hundred on Billboard with "Bobbie Sue" in 1982. This wa…

Roy Fox and His Orchestra released "When The Sun Says Goodnight To The Mountain" (Harry Pease - Larry Vincent) in 1936. Roy Fox was known as "The Whispering Cornetist" for his soft playing style and achieved his major fame in the U.K.. Lucille Starr (Savoie) charted in Canada's top ten and on Billboard at number twelve on the Adult Contemporary chart, number fifty-four pop in 1964 with "The French Song (Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes)" (Lucille Starr). This Herb Alpert produced Ca…

The original 1957 Broadway cast recording of West Side Story with Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert features "Tonight" (Bernstein - Sondheim) from the Tony winning musical. The movie version was released in 1961 and won ten Academy Awards. The score also included "Maria", "I Feel Pretty", "America" and "Somewhere". Piano duo (Arthur) Ferrante and (Louis) Teicher reached number eight on the Top One Hundred and number two on the AC chart with this 1961 Don Costa production of "Tonight".

Ted Daffan's Texans (vocalist Chuck Keeshan, Buddy Buller, Elmer Christian, Ted Daffan and Ralph Smith) with guitarist, vocalist Chuck Keeshan released the original "I'm A Fool To Care" (Christy - Daffan) in 1940. 1954 was a good year for Les Paul (Polsfuss) and Mary Ford (Iris Summers) and one reason was the Billboard number six cover of "I'm A Fool To Care". This was one of the three top ten hits they had that year. The Gibson Les Paul is one of the most popular electric guitars manufactur…

From the 1980 LP "What Will The Neighbors Think" comes Rodney Crowell's "Ashes By Now" (Rodney Crowell). The single was recorded in 1978 with Ricky Skaggs on fiddle and peaked at number thirty-seven on the Top One Hundred while barely getting anywhere on the Country chart at number seventy-eight. Discovered by Jerry Reed, Rodney once played rhythm guitar in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band. Lee Ann Womack's cover of "Ashes By Now" is a track on "I Hope You Dance". This time the song reached number f…

In 1955 "I Put A Spell On You" (Jay Hawkins - Herb Slotkin) was recorded by bluesman Jay (Jalacy) Hawkins for Grand Records. The version was not released for decades. In 1949 Jay was the middleweight boxing champion of Alaska. All Music Guide to the Blues: "The entire band was intoxicated during a recording session where "Hawkins screamed, grunted, and gurgled his way through the tune with utter drunken abandon." The resulting performance was no ballad but instead a "raw, guttural track" tha…

"Everyday" (Buddy Holly - Norman Petty) by Buddy Holly and the Crickets (Joe B,. Mauldin, Jerry Allison and Niki Sullivan), although the Crickets are not mentioned on the label, was the B side of "Peggy Sue". This is from the "Buddy Holly" album featuring the lone Buddy on the cover without his glasses. The single peaked at number three on Billboard. The James Taylor version came out in 1985 topping the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at number three on the AC, number twenty-six…

Felice (Matilda) Bryant sings "Raining In My Heart (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) from the LP "A Touch Of Bryant". This team gave us "All I Have To Do Is Dream", "Mexico", "Problems", "We Could", "Bird Dog", "Come Live With Me", "Devoted To You", "Bye, Bye Love", "Love Hurts", Wake Up Little Susie" and "Rocky Top". Buddy Holly (Holley) recorded "Raining In My Heart" in October of 1958. When it was released the next year as the B side of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" the song stalled barely gett…

Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra topped the charts in 1948 with "Ballerina" (Bob Russell - Carl Sigman). This original recording of the song was one of many Vaughn recorded over the years. Vaughn Monroe was voted the most likely to succeed in his senior year of high school. Nat "King" Cole" and Nelson Riddle's Orchestra resurrected "Ballerina" in 1957 and this time the tune peaked at number eighteen on Billboard. Wikipedia: "On November 5, 1956, The Nat 'King' Cole Show debuted on NBC. The va…

"Alone" was first recorded by the composers as a project. They used the name i-Ten (Billy Steinberg and Thomas Kelly) on the 1983 LP "Taking A Cold Look". This duo gave us "True Colors" "Eternal Flame", "Like A Virgin", "I Drove All Night" and "So Emotional" among other hits. Heart (lead vocalist Ann Wilson and sister Nancy, Howard Leese, Mark Andes, Danny Carmassi) placed "Alone" as the opening track for the 1987 album "Bad Animals". The single topped Billboard's Top One Hundred and the LP…

This is the way the camp television show was introduced with Neal Hefti's composition of "Batman Theme" performed by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. The Ron Hicklin Singers (Ron Hicklin, Tom Bahler, John Bahler, Gene Morford, Sally Stevens and Jackie Ward) supplied the vocals. Holy redundant! The Markett's (Michael Z. Gordon and The Wrecking Crew) version of "Batman Theme" peaked at number seventeen on Billboard in 1966. Many members of the traveling group also performed as the Routers of "Let'…

The first single from the 1974 Barry White (Carter) LP "Can't Get Enough" was "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe" (Barry White). The single topped both the Top One Hundred and the R&B charts. Taylor Dayne (Leslie Wunderman) covered the tune as the lead single from the album "Soul Dancing". "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love" was issued in 1993 and got to number two as a Dance hit while peaking at twenty on the Billboard pop chart. The release hit the top ten in Canada, Belgium, The Netherlands…

After Gene Pitney refused to record it, composer Burt Bacharach was first to record "Trains And Boats And Planes" (Burt Bacharach - Hal David). The session singers were known as The Breakaways (Betty Prescott, Margot Quantrell and Jean Ryder) who were probably the best session singers in Great Britain at the time. Burt reached number four in the U.K. with this single from the album "Hit Maker!: Burt Bacharach Plays The Burt Bacharach Hits". Released at the same time in 1965 was a number twel…

Wham! or Wham! featuring George Michael (Panayioyou) with the 1983 version of "Careless Whisper" (George Michael - Andrew Ridgeley). The song was written when both were seventeen. This first version of the hit was produced by Jerry Wexler in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Produced by George Michael this was the first solo effort for George even though he was still performing with Wham! and the song is included on the Wham! LP "Make It Big". Steve Gregory is featured on saxophone. The single topped…