Articles by John Twang

Donna Summer (LaDonna Gaines) and her husband wrote "Starting Over Again" (Donna Summer - Bruce Sudano) when Bruce's parents separated after thirty years of being married. Actress, singer, songwriter and all too talented Dolly Parton watched Donna sing this on The Tonight Show and called her requesting to record the song. Dolly topped the Country chart and hit the pop listing at number thirty-six in 1980 with "Staring Over Again". This is from the album "Dolly, Dolly, Dolly".

Louis Katzman's group The Ambassadors were responsible for the first recording of "It Had To Be You" (Isham Jones - Gus Kahn) in 1924. Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest with the Victor Young Orchestra revived "It Had To Be You" twenty years later. The single peaked at number four on Billboard. Dick Haymes had been married to Rita Hayworth, Joanne Dru and Fran Jeffries. Helen Forrest (Fogel) was known as the voice of the name bands having worked with Benny Goodman, Harry James and Artie Shaw.

Showcased during a Songwriters Roundtable at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama September 10, 2010 Buddy (Perry) Buie sings while co-writer J. R. (James Barney) Cobb plays guitar on "Traces" (Buddy Buie - J.R. Cobb - Emory Gordy Jr.). Dennis Yost and The Classics IV (J.R. Cobb, Walter Eaton and Joe Wilson) took "Traces" to number two on both the Billboard pop and Easy Listening charts in 1969. This was the title track of their 1969 album which included the top twenty "Everyday With Y…

The Classics IV (lead vocalist Dennis Yost, J.R. Cobb, Walter Eaton, Joe Wilson) issued the album "Mamas and Papas/Soul Train" in 1968 and enjoyed the success of "Stormy" (Dennis Yost - James Cobb - Buddy Buie). The song reached number five on the Top One Hundred and number twenty-six Easy Listening. A decade later Santana (lead vocals Greg Walker, Pete Escovedo, Graham Lear, Dave Margen, Armando Peraza, Paul Rekow, Chris Rhyne, Carlos Santana and Chris Solberg) peaked at number thirty-two p…

Composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona, was not a member of The Lecuona Cuban Boys but was the founder of the band. He would sometimes appear as the opening act for the group. They recorded "Para Vigo Me Voy" translated as "I'm Going To Vigo" (a Spanish city). This version was not issued until 1937. "Para Vigo Me Voy" (Ernesto Lecuona - Francia Luban) was first recorded by Xavier Cugat (Francisco de Asis Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu) and His Orchestra in 1935, the year it was compose…

The brilliant poet, novelist, songwriter and performer Leonard Cohen introduced the world to "Hallelujah" as the opening cut on side two of his 1984 album "Various Positions" featuring Jennifer Warnes. The resulting single reached number fifty-nine on Billboard. In 2004 k.d. (Kathy Dawn) lang included "Hallelujah" in her LP "Hymns Of The 49th Parallel". Leonard's Cohen's partner Anjani Thomas said ""After hearing k.d. lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2006 w…

The Drifters (Rudy Lewis lead vocalist, Johnny Moore, Gene Pearson, Johnny Terry and Charlie Thomas) recorded "Only In America" (Jerry Leiber - Mike Stoller - Barry Mann - Cynthia Weil) in 1963. Wikipedia: "The song was written at a time before integration, and the lyrics were originally about racism. It had the following chorus: "Only in America, land of opportunity, can they save a seat in the back of the bus just for me. Only in America, Where they preach the Golden Rule, will they start to m…

Climax (Larry Cox, Johnny Stevenson, Marc Gordon, Jon Guttman, Walter Nims and assorted session musicians) featuring Sonny Geraci issued "Rock And Roll Heaven" (Johnny Stevenson - Alan O'Day) in 1973. The single was written especially for the group and didn't chart. The Righteous Brothers (Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield) updated hit cover of "Rock And Roll Heaven" (O'Day - Stevenson) peaked at number three in 1974. The song has been updated again several times for obvious reasons.

The 1953 movie Calamity Jane starred Doris Day (Kappelhoff) and Howard (Harry) Keel. The film included the number one and Academy Award winning song "Secret Love" (P.F. Webster - S. Fain). The recording was done in one take. Kathy Kirby's (O'Rourke) cover of "Secret Love" established her career in 1963 when the single peaked at number four in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for five months Billy Stewart released the same passion he gave "Summertime" on "Secret Love" peaking at number el…

The 1937 Walter Baxter and Joan Bennett starring movie "Walter Wanger's Vogues Of 1938" introduced "That Old Feeling" (Sammy Fain - Lew Brown" when it was sung by Virginia Verrill. This is a clip from the movie and includes a bit of dialogue. The singer appeared with her mother at the age of five months on the vaudeville stage, when she was three she sang with Paul Whiteman. Clarinettist and sax player Shep Fields (Saul Feldman) and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra with vocalist Bob Goday recor…

Songwriters Jud Friedman and Allan Rich perform their hit "I Don't Have The Heart" at Celebrity Centre in Hollywood. Jud is the lead voice and plays piano at the concert series titled "SNAP", "Sunday Night At The Pavilion With Harriet Shock And Friends". This occurred July eighth of 2018. The late Grammy winner James Ingram hit the Billboard number one position, number two Adult Contemporary in 1990 with "I Don't Have The Heart". The single got a Grammy nomination for this effort from the 19…

Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler requested songwriters John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins compose for Aretha Franklin in 1967. They submitted "Son Of A Preacher Man" and it was recorded by The Queen of Soul but it didn't jell with other tunes slated for her new album. It was Jerry who decided to pass the tune to Dusty Springfield who was recording her first Atlantic LP "Dusty In Memphis". In 1968 "Son Of A Preacher Man" became a top ten Billboard hit for Dusty Springfield. The album "Dust…

Although it wasn't released until 1997 Dusty Springfield recorded "Any Other Fool" (Diane Warren - Robbie Buchanan) in 1989. The song was meant to be a track on her album "Reputation" but a falling-out between her and Diane Warren caused the tune to be put aside. The cut was include years later on "Reputation And Rarities". Acclaimed photographer and jazz musician Japan's Sadao Watanabe teamed with American Patti Austin for a version of "Any Other Fool". The single peaked at number six on Bi…

Ben Tucker was the bassist for The Dave Bailey Quintet (Dave Bailey, Billy Gardner, Bill Hardman, Frank Haynes and Ben Tucker) when they recorded his jazz instrumental "Comin' Homer Baby" for the 1961 LP "2 Feet In The Gutter". Dave Bailey retired as a musician in 1969 and became a flight instructor while composer Ben Tucker purchased two radio stations in his hometown, Savannah, Georgia. Shortly after "Comin' Home Baby" was introduced Ben Tucker had Bob Dorough add the lyric, and Atlantic R…

Britney Spears' producer asked Sweden's Max Martin to meet Britney in New York and write a few songs for her debut album. Britney flew to Stockholm in April of 1998 to record a major portion of the LP. One of those tracks was "Hit Me Baby One More Time" (Max Martin). Originally it was turned down by TLC and others but Britney saw the potential. Obvious concerns about the "hit me" lyric resulted in the revision. This is the demo. "... Baby One More Time" was not only Britney Spear's debut sing…

Cuban Ernesto Lecuona wrote the classics "Malaguena" and "The Breeze And I". "Tabu" was written by Ernesto Lecuona's niece, Margarita who also wrote "Babalu". Cuarteto Machin (Antonio Machin, Placido Acevedo, Daniel Sanchez and Candido Vicenty) first recorded the song in 1934. Antonio once sang with Don Azpiazu's Cuban Orchestra in New York. The King of Lounge Music, Arthur Lyman reached the Billboard charts with "Taboo" in 1959. From the 1958 album of the same name Arthur plays marimba, and…

In 1958 The Soul Stirrers (lead vocalist Johnnie Taylor, LeRoy Crume, Paul Foster, Bob King and Willie Rogers) recorded "The Love Of God" (LeRoy Crume). The recording session happened shortly after the departure of Sam Cooke. Theola Kilgore's 1963 issue "The Love Of My Man" (Ed Townsend) was obviously adapted from the gospel tune "The Love Of God". It reached number three on the R&B chart and twenty-one on the Top One Hundred. Writer and producer Ed Townsend hit with "For Your Love".

Marv Green sings "Wasted" (Marv Green - Troy Verges - Hillary Lindsey) from the LP "Pouring Raindrops Back Into Clouds" which is part of the lyric from the hit. The album contains many of his biggest songwriting successes. The 2005 "Some Hearts" was Carrie Underwood's multi-platinum debut album. The opening track taken as a single from that release, "Wasted" hit the top of the Country chart and peaked at thirty-seven on the Top One Hundred. "Wasted" was being played on radio as an album trac…