Articles by John Twang

This is a love ballad supposedly written in 1860 by Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku the brother of Queen Liliuokalani who was the composer of "Aloha Oe". "Kaua i ka huahuai" (The Bubbling Spring) from the Richard Walton Tully play "The Bird Of Paradise" was performed on disc by Hawaiian Quintet in 1913. This was not a chant and had nothing to do with a battle so the English lyric has little to do with the original. It was recorded by Johnny Noble in 1929 as "Ta-hu-wa-hu", in 1933 Kanui and Lula i…

"My Baby Loves Lovin'" (Roger Cook - Roger Greenaway) is sung by co-author Roger Greenaway during a television interview. The songwriters started their music career as David and Jonathan who had success with the Beatles' "Michelle". Originally called The Flowerpot Men, White Plains (lead singer Tony Burrows, Neil Landon, Pete Nelson and Robin Shaw)) hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'" when their single reached number thirteen on Billboard in 1970. The single was produced by the composers.

"Memories Of You" (Eubie Blake - Andy Razaf) came from "Lew Leslie's Blackbirds Of 1930" and was recorded that year by Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra. This recording featured one of the first times that the vibraphone was used on vinyl. Drummer Lionel Hampton supplied the talent. Rosemary Clooney's (details elsewhere in this blog) version of "Memories Of You" with The Benny Goodman Trio reached number twenty on Billboard in 1956. The tune was featured in "The Ben…

The original "Draggin' The Line" (Tommy James - Bob King) by Tommy James (Jackson) was issued as a B side to "Church Street Soul Revival" in 1970. Horns were added and the B side became a million selling Billboard number four A side in 1971 after Tommy James went solo. This is from the LP "Christian Of The World". The single scored higher elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada.

The Everly Brothers "All I Have To Do Is Dream" (Boudleaux Bryant) topped the Billboard pop, country and R&B charts in 1958. They started their careers in the forties on radio as Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil as part of the Everly Family. Phil died in 2014. The Beatles often referred to their group as the English Everly Brothers. Richard Chamberlain played the part of television's Dr. Kildare in the mid sixties. The role made him a teen idol. When he recorded "All I Have To Do Is Dream" fo…

Keyboard player Steve Porcaro of Toto sings the demo for "Human Nature". After the demo was finished Quincy Jones heard it accidently on the flip side of a cassette. Quincy then had John Bettis rewrite the lyric. Steve played synth on "The Girl Is Mine" for Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. "The King Of Pop" Michael Jackson included "Human Nature" (Steve Porcaro - John Bettis) with the backing of Toto members in the groundbreaking 1982 chart topping release "Thriller". The album produced s…

Keyboardist and songwriter for Heatwave with tunes "Boogie Nights" and "Always And Forever", Grammy winner Rod Temperton's original demo of "Rock With You" starts off this post. It was Rod who wrote the title track for "Thriller". Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" (Temperton) was the second chart topping single from the 1979 album "Off The Wall". Another stellar Quincy Jones production.

Welcome to the world of auto-tune. Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) wrote "Telephone" (Lady Gaga - LaShawn Daniels - Rodney Jerkins) for Britney Spears and the LP "Circus". This is Britney's 2008 demo of the song that was leaked in 2010 and for an unknown reason just wasn't used for the project. The album "The Fame Monster" includes Beyonce (Knowles) with Lady Gaga on the 2010 hit duet version of "Telephone" (Lady Gaga - LaShawn Daniels - Rodney Jerkins - Lazonate Franklin - Beyonce). The tune…

Actor, singer and songwriter Jesse McCartney with his version of "Bleeding Love", the tune he co-wrote with Ryan Tedder for his disc "Departure" but the label disliked the tune. Jesse gave the song to Leone Lewis for her first LP. Jesse was first noticed nationally on the soap opera "All My Children" and has appeared on "Fear The Walking Dead", "Hannah Montana", "Law & Order" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". Leona Lewis released "Bleeding Love" in 2008 from her album "Spirit". The numbe…

The 1928 German musical revue "Donner Tausend Frauen" introduced "Wenn Der Weisse Flieder Wieder Bluht" (Franz Dolle - Fritz Rotter). Soprano Ruth Jost Arden was first to place the song on vinyl. Berlin born Helmut Zacharias and His Magic Violins had his initial American hit with "When The White Lilacs Bloom Again" in 1954. The single reached number twelve on Billboard. Billy Vaughn brought the tune back to Billboard in 1956 when "When The White Lilacs Bloom Again" was released as a non-…

"Once I Had A Love" (Debbie Harry - Chris Stein) was recorded as a demo by Blondie (Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison and Frank Infante) in 1975. The group would refer to this as "The Disco Song". The 1978 LP "Parallel Lines" included Blondie's "Heart Of Glass". When released as a single it reached number one on the Top One Hundred in 1979. At the time Blondie was considered a new wave group so many fans thought they were selling out with a disco tune.

Tina (Anna Mae) Turner was first to record "Don't Turn Around" (Albert Hammond - Diane Warren) as a B side in 1986. Great production and presentation but little or no promotion by the label. The lady with the legs started her professional career in the late fifties and is now among the best selling recording artists of all time. From the land of Abba and Roxette comes Sweden's Ace Of Base (Jenny, Jonas and Linn Berggren with Ulf Ekberg), the group included "Don't Turn Around" on their first…

The evolution of a tune. Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) sang Willie Dixon's composition "You Need Love" in 1962. This was an instrumental by blues guitarist Earl Hooker and Muddy simply sang over it. In 1966 Small Faces (lead vocals Steve Marriott, Kenney Jones, Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan) debut self-titled LP included "You Need Loving" (Marriott - Lane). The opening cut on Led Zeppelin ll (lead vocalist Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page) gave us the song we…

First released by singer and actor Tino (Constantin) Rosssi "Vieni, Veini" (Koger - Varna - Scotto) hit in 1934. In 1982 President François Mitterrand named Rossi a Commander of the Legion of Honour for his contributions to French culture. That same year Rossi gave his last public performance at the Casino de Paris, a show that popular demand turned into a three-month stint". Rudy (Hubert) Vallee and The Gentlemen Songsters version of "Vieni ... Vieni" (Vallee - Koger - Varna - Scotto) reach…

Originally titled "Wishing Stone" this is the demo for "Wonderwall" (Noel Gallagher) by Oasis. The 1995 Billboard top ten album "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" includes the Oasis (lead vocalist Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Paul Arthurs and Alan White) hit "Wonderwall". The single reached number eight on Billboard while charting higher in Canada and many other countries.

From the Oasis release "Whatever Demos" this is the "Live Forever" (Noel Gallagher) demo written in 1991 before he joined the group and played it for the band in 1993. Issued on the 1994 Oasis (lead vocalist Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Paul Arthurs, Tony McCarroll and Paul McGuigan) debut LP "Definitely Maybe". The single hit the U.K. top ten while on Billboard it peaked at number two on the Modern Rock Tracks and thirty-nine on the Top One Hundred.

"Thank You For Being A Friend" is from the Andrew Gold 1978 LP "All This And Heaven Too". The single peaked at number twenty-five on Billboard and higher elsewhere including the A.C. chart where it reached number fifteen in the U.S. and top ten in Canada. Cynthia Fee recorded "Thank You For Being A Friend" in 1985 as the theme to the classic NBC television hit "The Golden Girls". Through the song's use on television it became even more popular. Cynthia Fee has recorded jingles for Pontiac, W…

Garde Republicaine de Paris recorded the Romanian "Valurile Dunarii" (English translation: The Waves Of The Danube) (Iosif Ivanovici) on a cylinder in 1898. The composition had been played with great success at the 1889 Paris Exposition. In 1946 "The Jolson Story" included "Anniversary Song" (Al Jolson - Saul Chaplin) with the orchestra conducted by Morris Stoloff. This was Al Jolson's (Asa Yoelson) comeback when he dubbed the singing for actor Larry Parks. Released as a single this reached…