17. HiFiMAN Pro Wireless. $199. 9.1 rating. Amazon
18. One Odio Bluetooth, over ear. $44.99. 9.7 rating. Amazon
FINDING HIGH QUALITY SOUND IN OUR RECORDINGS
After researching the existing 43 blog posts, we identified 556 songs with a recording quality (RQ) grade of either a 10 or 10+. If you want to quickly find a song with the highest recording quality, I have listed each of the 556 songs with the names of the artists as well as the blog post number that you will find links to allow for quick selections. There are a total of 27 alphabetized charts that follow:
New “10” Adds (Bacharach-Beatles):
American Folk. North American music. 48. The Darlings.
Bach, JoHann. 44. Mass in B Minor.
Balada. Latin and South American music. 48. Las Mejeres Baladas.
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. 44. Symphony No9.
New “10” Adds (Beatles – Booker):
Beethoven, Ludwig. 44. Erotica Symphony.
Berlinger Philharmoniker. 44. Symphony No9.
Blues. North American music. 48. 30 Greatest
New “10” Adds (Boone – Byrds):
Bonney, Barbara. 44. Ave Maria.
Brahms, Johannes. 44. Symphony No3 in F Major.
Bretan, Laura. 37. “Believe” and “O mio babbino caro.”
Budapest Festival Orchestra. 44. Carmen Fantasy Op. 25.
New “10” Adds (Canned Heat – Chin):
Caccini, Francesca. 44. Il Primo Libro.
Chaminade, Cecile. 44. Arabesque No1 Op.61.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 44. Beethoven’s No9 Symphony.
New “10” Adds (Chin – Cryus):
Clapton, Eric. 46. Old Love.
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. 44. Adagio from Symphony No9.
Cumbia. Latin and South American music. Mexicana – Alex Rice.
New “10” Adds (Diagle – Dylan):
Desmond, Paul (& The Dave Brubeck Quartet). 36. “Take Five.”
New “10” Adds (Eagles – Exciters):
New “10” Adds (Fabres – Freeman):
Fifth Dimension, The. 36. “Medley: Aquarious/Let the Sunshine In.”
New “10” Adds (Gabor – Houston):
Girol, Vicente. 46. Tres Notas Para Decir To Quiero.
Grimaud, Helene. 45. Brahms Piano Concert No1.
Hamaasyan, Tigran. 45. New Maps.
Hammer, Jan. 45. “Crockett’s Theme.”
Hancock, Herbie. 45. Just Around the Corner.
Handl, George. 44. Hallelujah.
New “10” Adds (Impressions – Jan and Dean):
Iverson, Ethan. 45. Thrift Store.
New “10” Adds (Jefferson – Konstantinov):
New “10” Adds (Lady Gaga – Lynne):
Lang Lang. 45. Fur Elise.
LA Philharmonic. 44. Romeo and Juliet Overture.
Leonaroa, Isabella. 44. Sonata Duodecima.
Lord, Jon. Deep Purple. 45. “Lazy.”
Lucia, Paco de. 46. Entre dos agues.
New “10” Adds (MacKampa-Monroe):
Mambo. Caribbean music. 48. “Latin 10.”
Mariachi. Latin and South American music. 48. Happy Mexican.
Monk, Thelonious. 45. Monk’s Dream.
New “10” Adds (Moody Blues – Neville):
Mozart, Wolfgang. 44. Jupiter Symphony.
New “10” Adds (Oldham – Platters):
Opera. European music. 48. Must Know 10.
Peterson, Oscar. 45. If You Could See Me Now.
New “10” Adds (Playlist – Pucket):
Punjabi. 48. Asian music. “San Fer.”
New “10” Adds (Queen – Robinson):
Ranchera. Latin and South American music. 48. Corrido De Juanto.
New “10” Adds (Robinson – Ryder):
Richards, Keith. 46. Sympathy for the Devil.
Rock and Roll. North American music. 48. 100 Best.
Rubin, Carter. 37. “Before You Go.” “Up from Here.” “Rainbow Connection.” “You Say.” and “Here.”
New “10” Adds (Sam and Dave – Skomorekova):
Schubert, Franz. 44. Ave Maria.
New “10” Adds (Skynyard – Streisand):
Small Faces. 36. Itchycoo Park.
Soca. Caribbean music. 48. Best of Osocity.
Spiral Starecase. 36. More Today than Yesterday.
Staatskapelle Dresden. 44. Symphony No2.
Storzzi, Barbara. 44. Sino Alla Morte.
New “10” Adds (Supremes – Swift):
New “10” Adds (Talbot – Turtles):
Tatum, Art. 45. The Best of Art Tatum.
The American Breed. 36: “Bend Me Shape Me.”
The Left Bank. 36. Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Walk Away Renee.”
Tjano. North American music. 48. Puro Family.
Townsend, Pete. 46. El Salvador.
New “10” Adds (U2 – Z):
Vallenatto. Latin and South American music. 48. Romantices.
Vivaldi, Antonio. 44. Four Seasons.
von Bingen, Hildegard. 44. Canticles of Ecstasy.
V-Pop. Asian music. 48. Bong Bong Bang Bang.
Whitaker, Matthew. 45. Live Session for Jazz FM.
Worrell, Bernie. 45. “Minimorg synthesizer.”
Zouk. Caribbean music. 48. Ou Le-Kassay.
Top 100 Artists
Of the Top 100 artists, twenty six of them were recording after 1970. On the other hand, seventy-four began actively recording during the 1950s and 1960s! This supports the fact that the 1950s and 1950s were the greatest era for music. Here is a link to the RollingStone report published on December 3, 2010 (for each artist a well known peer from the music industry wrote very detailed background reports giving their insights into the individual artist’s career and why they deserved the ranking): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-artists-147446/.
Here is the list of the Top100 artists and the years they were active:
Once I transferred the RollingStone data into an Excel format, I was able to associate points to each of the 500 recordings. The point subtotals in the chart below are separated out between the 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and early 2000s. The data supports my belief in that about 60% of the best highly rated songs were generated from the artists within the 1950s and 1960s. The point subtotals are derived by giving each song a specific point total depending upon their overall rating. So, starting with the number one song of the 500, it was given the best possible score of 500. Then, proceeding down to 499, the second highest rated song was given 499 points. This continued correspondingly downward to the lowest rated song which was given a score of one.
Comparison of Songs from 1940s – 2000s
In case you are interested, here is a quick summary of the most productive artists beginning with the best overall on top (their point totals are in the middle column and the total number of highly rated songs are in the right hand column):
I would think Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons would have made this list (with their No1 hits: “Sherry,” “Rag Doll,” Walk Like a Man” and several other Top10 hits like “Lets Hang On” and “Oh What a Night.”)Photo and story credit: soundcharts.com Dmitry Pastukhov
What Does the Future Hold? Music Trends & Expert Predictions for 2020 (and Beyond)
The development of A.I. (i.e. Artificial or Automated Intelligence) will automate a whole host of expensive, time-consuming, and complicated processes across music creation and advertising, cutting out the middlemen and democratizing the industry.
A.I. tools like A.I-mediated composition (Amper, Popgun, etc.) and voice synthesis will change the way music distribution works and make it easier and more affordable for thousands of musicians all over the globe to create high-quality, professional-sounding music.
Even today, artists have to compete with an enormous amount of other artists. As of 2019, over 40,000 tracks are added to Spotify every single day — and there’s every reason to believe that this figure will continue to grow. The AI-enabled music creation will open up the gates even further — but as the number of songs continues to grow, the audience attention will remain a finite resource.
That is a massive challenge — especially for record labels that have to make right bets, while the music market grows increasingly saturated.
A.I. will also make it easier to create and deliver the right messages to the right audience at the right time. On the music business side, it will help artists reach their audience more efficiently, and thus, drive more income.
Advertisers can harness the power of A.I. to better tailor ads to the preferences and tastes of listeners. Algorithms will use consumer data to display adaptive ad-content linked to the specific moment, location, and user, making branded content fit seamlessly into our consumption patterns. Better personalized ads will generate more ROI and more revenue for artists that will target the communications to reach the right audiences at the right moment.
Music production, event planning, playlist recommendation: machine learning will make it all simpler (and more effective). Machine learning is the fuel of the future, that will transform everything — from metadata management and music composition to the way people listen to music.
Voice queries will allow listeners to effortlessly listen to music that suits their immediate mood or preference without having to interact with text interfaces and toggle through albums or playlists.
The democratization driving today’s music streaming trends will be linked to the local markets. In these developing territories, music consumption will be different from the one we see today. This new flux of streaming users coming from all around the globe will increasingly place the music industry’s focus on the local repertoire.
Some of the local markets will experience rapid, significant shifts as a result of complexity of their current system. Contextual playlists will transform how listeners discover music, and generative music (music, created by algorithms and computer systems) will increasingly cater to listeners looking for mood-specific playlists.
We’ve already seen apps like Endel going viral in Japan, and we can predict that other solutions will emerge — for example, meditation apps might employ generative algorithms to power their ambient playlists.
Now, that’s not news to anyone — the streaming economy has unbundled music, and the album format has been in decline for years in a row. Now, we are not the ones to proclaim “the death of an album” — that’s an exaggeration to say the least. The album is not going anywhere — even the millennial demographics are still engaging with the format, as the recent Deezer study (research.deezer.com) revealed.
However, music listeners increasingly discover new music through recommendation algorithms and playlists across streaming platforms. In the coming years, traditional albums will play a supporting role — while the song will take center stage, and become the staple of music creation and promotion.
Barriers that once existed between various media and creative industries like music, fashion, and film are now melting down, and this trend will only quicken in the future. Platforms like Amazon and Apple not only stream music, but finance and stream television shows and films (which, along with Netflix, are beginning to displace traditional studios). There are new music brands that are breaking the mold of traditional major labels, melding various different areas of media and creative endeavors into a single brand of artistry.
Now, 10 years ago new media content platforms competed for consumer’s spare time. Spotify, YouTube, Netflix and alike have grown as they took over the consumers available time and unaddressed attention. Those were the moments of people looking out of the window, their daily commute and so on. In 2020, however, the attention economy has peaked — meaning that there’s not much in terms of that down-time left.
Various content platforms and services have successfully taken over the entirety of the consumer’s available attention — which means that the further growth of any platform is only possible through decline of others, as the consumer shifts their attention from one platform to another.
The post-peak attention economy is a huge challenge for music — and a big reason music industry has to collaborate more — not only internally, but also with other crossing over into other platforms and formats like video and video games. With the advent of video streaming services like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok, the music and gaming industries are overlapping more than ever.
Apps like TikTok allow listeners to use and repurpose music in unique, collaborative ways will break down barriers between genres (and between creators). That is something that already exists in the underground electronic scene — and it will touch on other genres in the years to come.
Labels and producers traditionally held power to make (or at least influence) the artistic decisions. However, social media has empowered artists to create a personal brand and connect with fans directly — without any label interference. This will lead to labels taking more of a Venture Capital (VC) -like approach, handling the financials — while the artist (and their manager) focuses on artistic direction and brand-building.
Social media and music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora have skewed the balance of power away from labels and back towards artists. In turn, music managers will begin running more and more aspects of an artist’s career.
In the new music ecosystem, managers will increase their share of the work in artist development, both as promoters and additional D.A.’s (rather than just promoting the interests of the artist).
In just 20 years or so the internet has completely reshaped the music business, and we’re still only in the early stages of this transformation. Democratization and collaboration will become the order of the day: artists will be able to create professional-quality music on the spot. Streaming will conquer new markets, giving millions of people unlimited access to music. The trend of democratization will be powered by emerging markets, rather than the traditional ones, that rule over the industry today.
Artists will connect with new audiences, both far-flung and right at home. Music will be used and repurposed in ever more creative and unique ways. Old barriers between media will break down. All of these processes are already well underway. Getting a peek into the future is just a matter of understanding the shifts that are happening now.
Understanding these trends and how they will change the way music is created, promoted and consumed is extremely important. This is the context in which the music industry will develop in the years to come — and having a good idea of these tectonic shifts is instrumental to success in the industry as fast-paced as the music business.
However, what’s even more important is to make a link between the macro- and micro-level and understand how those structural changes affect your career and the careers of the artists you work with. Here’s where Soundcharts can help. We gather artist’s data across dozens of platforms and mediums, from social media to streaming platforms and radio airplay, to bring you a complete overview of any career.
Photo and story credit: chartmetric.com
Music analytics service Chartmetric has released their semi-annual report on music industry trends, and is reflecting on one of the most turbulent periods in the industry’s recent history.
TikTok, of course, looms large in their analysis, and the report points out both the importance of the platform as a discovery mechanism, but also that TikTok is “far from a music consumption platform.”
If TikTok is the point of discovery and virality, then long-form consumption of trending songs takes place elsewhere. Top trending TikTok song, Conkarah’s “Banana” had 25 million posts in the first six months of 2020, which translated into 87 million listens on Spotify and a combined 31 million views on Youtube. But that doesn’t mean TikTok users then flock by default to follow the artist on other platforms. On Spotify, Conkarah had a (very respectable) 57,105 followers by the end of June.
The industry, it notes, is only just starting to figure out how to best use TikTok, and its high impact will surely continue in the short term. For now, it’s the starting point for many artist teams to create excitement around a song. Extending interest around the artist across platforms is a separate challenge, and suggests a compartmentalised approach to artist growth.
But tastes and consumption habits change quickly (insert obligatory MySpace reference here) and that extends to genre too. Rock music is looking a bit green around the gills, with Chartmetric noting that “rock artists are virtually non-existent in terms of top growth percentages,” on the platforms they look at.
Those looking to the long-term future may spot an opportunity here: rock music hasn’t become bad overnight, and streaming catalogues are full of classic songs – so how can it be reinvigorated for today’s audience? Viral TikTok videos featuring rock music may require some creative thinking.
Some of the data points are a fascinating insight into how success in the modern music industry happens: you may have suspected beabadoobee was set for bigger things back in January when she had 1.5 million monthly listeners, but would you have gambled on 1,932% growth to just under 30 million in June? And would you have guessed that the most-synced track on TV would be The Who’s 42-year old Who Are You, getting twice as many syncs as Lizzo’s “Juice”?
Photo credit: thelondoneconomic.com International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom Story by: Grant Bailey – July 17, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on the music industry short-term. Live music revenue, which was predicted to generate almost £30bn for the industry in 2020, is set to take a 75 per cent hit globally. Small- and mid-sized venues are having to head back to the drawing board to develop new ways to cover their overheads, and artists and management are feeling the hole in their income widen with each cancelled show.
This month has been monumental for the UK music industry. Thanks to initiatives such as #LetTheMusicPlay, and a nationwide push to raise awareness of our slowly suffocating arts and heritage sectors, the government has stepped in with an injection of capital to the tune of £1.57bn. And with Boris Johnson’s latest announcement, larger venues could begin to see progress towards opening up their doors for audiences again as early as autumn.
But the future of the industry across the globe remains uncertain. As is evident to any fan, so much of our relationship with music and the scenes we love depends on social interaction and sharing a space together, an experience which will be hindered until the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control.
What endures for now, is a shared desire to see the music industry, and live music in particular, repaired and restored.
To speculate on the future of the music industry at large we have pulled together insights from figures across the sector, providing a snapshot of the situation as they see it now. Each of these experts have seen their base of operations impacted by the cataclysmic, but in some ways catalytic, events of 2020 so far.
Their views are at once pragmatic, passionate and reverent for an industry which is more than a product, and an integral part of our society and identity. No keystone of music is left unturned: from revolutions in streaming to the uncertain but exciting future of live music, licensing and fan interaction.
Will Evans, CEO at Spitfire Audio, believes a post-pandemic world will provide new opportunities for talent from outside major metropolitan centres looking to enter the music sector: “I think there’ll be greater opportunities to plug-into talented people who want to work in music, and who will do a great job, but aren’t interested in being in a major city. I’ve seen a lot of migration over the years where the promise of a higher quality of living has won over a number of brilliant music industry employees.”
Carlotta de Ninni, CEO at The Creative Passport, believes this period of upheaval will herald a second digital wave – as was experienced when music streaming was first coming to prominence – causing a sea-change in the way we consume live music:
“We are experiencing a second digital wave. The first happened with the transition from physical records to downloads and streaming. Now it’s the turn of the live and concert sector.
“New technologies, from 5G to VR (i.e., augmented reality and/or virtual reality) and the intersection between gaming and live performances, are really fuelling new opportunities and creating new business models for virtual concerts and experiences.
“What we must ensure is that these new business models and revenue streams will be fair and remunerative not only for industry players, but also and especially for the music makers themselves.”
Pascal de Mul, CEO of Exit Live, shares the view that COVID-19 presents an opportunity to clean house in an industry which, in its current form, does not adequately serve the artists, fans and the relationship between the two parties:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted problems that were already apparent in the music industry and rapidly accelerated changes that were long overdue.
“An individual may listen to 150 hours of music per month via their subscription, including hours of playlists curated by others. This has totally diluted the connection with individual artists and bands. The subscription fee is also spread so thinly across so many music producers that most artists are underpaid.
“We believe that the fallout of COVID-19 has helped rekindle an appreciation of live music and for reconnecting with artists on a more personal level. We see a bright future where fans are able to access unique live performances which were previously inaccessible to them and where artists receive a fair income stream for their live music recordings.
“We are very hopeful. The love of music cannot be tamed. Live music will find a way.”
Paul Sampson, CEO at Lickd, takes the view that artists will feel the personal and physical benefit post-pandemic, as fans shift their expectations for the live music experience and the toll it takes on performers:
“Beyond COVID-19 virtual events will remain popular and become more common-place. Not only do they free artists from the constraints of ticket limitations and the physical exhaustion of global touring but, as the tech improves, artists will be able to perform as reality-bending extensions of themselves. I predict we’ll see more and more collaboration between the gaming and music industries over the coming years.”
John Funge, CEO at The Music Fund, takes a more hardline stance on the growth of virtual gigs, putting the nascent format in direct competition with the live experience:
“Many artists don’t enjoy touring, and being on the road is not something they look forward to. They tour because it is a way to grow the fan base and make money outside of streaming. But if technology can make fans spend online, and connect with artists directly, why tour?
“The cost of running an online concert is much lower, which leads to interesting new possibilities. For example, we’ve seen many artists use online concerts to raise money for a cause. For artists with a large fan base, they can host an Instagram live show from their living room and can easily raise tens of thousands of dollars. This was unthinkable in the physical world.”
Susie Meszaros, violist of the Chiligirian String Quartet, turns her focus to the safety and social element at the heart of live performance, particularly in the classical space:
“Classical chamber music concerts are by definition intimate. We play on acoustic instruments to audiences of a few hundred people at most, in a variety of venues ranging from city concert halls to tiny rural churches. The proximity of performer to audience is a vital part of that special atmosphere and experience.
“So here we are now, barred from sharing the same space and surroundings with our listeners. Some performances are taking place in empty concert halls and being live-streamed to paying audiences, such as the Wigmore Hall concerts. Some performances to greatly reduced and distanced audiences secure sponsorship for the seats that can’t be used.
“But for the vast majority of musicians who tour around smaller venues it has put a complete halt to their livelihoods. Musicians valiantly and imaginatively organise online performances, but without the clout of well established concert promoters this is simply not financially viable.”
To close, Christian Henson, Composer and co-founder of Spitfire Audio, encapsulates the emotional argument for live music, a pursuit we must fight to preserve:
“If there’s one thing that COVID-19 has reaffirmed for me is that music isn’t an industry, it isn’t a luxury item, or something you add to your cart before checkout. It isn’t a choice, or lifestyle purchase, a fashion item nor indeed an accessory to life.
“Music is a fundamental human need and no matter what hardship befalls us, what adversity we face, the need to make and listen to music will never ever cease.
“I hope in these difficult months ahead we can act and behave as a family and support each other whilst our businesses naturally transform. The businesses we create to monetise music will always have to change and mutate, but in direct contradiction of Mr. Don Maclean – the music itself will never die.”
Using Cups to Create Rhythm
Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a child in theater productions. Her first starring role was in the 1998 Broadway musical High Society, for which she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She made her film debut in the musical comedy Camp (2003), and rose to prominence for her role in The Twilight Saga (2008–2012). Kendrick achieved further recognition for the comedy-drama film Up in the Air (2009), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and for her starring role in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–17). Within the movie, she recorded “When I’m Gone” (https://youtu.be/cmSbXsFE3l8) (RQ 10+). It is commonly referred today as the “Cup Song.”Kendrick also had prominent roles in films such as the action comedy Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010), the comedy drama 50/50 (2011), the crime drama End of Watch (2012), the musical fantasy Into the Woods (2014), the drama Cake (2014), the comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), the animated comedy Trolls (2016), the comic thriller A Simple Favor (2018), the fantasy comedy Noelle (2019), and the animated sequel Trolls World Tour (2020). She also sang on various soundtracks for her films and published a memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody, in 2016.
Arina Danilova was born on December 25, 2003 (age 17) in Russia. She is a celebrity youtube star. She is a YouTube content creator and social media influencer who rose to fame by publishing video blogs on her self titled YouTube channel. She has gone on to garner more than 2.2 million subscribers on the platform. An example: “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” https://youtu.be/W2IARSo9t0Q (RQ 10).
Lots of school children are singing the “cup song.” Which one is your favorite?
After you watch these kids sing and tap the cups etc., don’t you think that their ability to carry a note, stay in rhythm, harmonize, move their bodies (swaying and nodding) to a varying degree? Like I’ve said before, it is amazing to listen to good music and realize that, for some, singing beautifully comes so natural and relatively easy. It is really important that such awards like Grammys recognize artists that write songs as well those that excel at playing instruments (not just singing). But, it is my belief, that whether you excel at singing, playing an instrument and/or writing music, you most probably were born with these talents.
Aboriginal Didgerido. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World – Asian – Australian.
Acapella (No19). 56th Post: A Capella.
A-Capella. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – European.
Accentus (No8) & Orchestra. 56th Post: Choral.
Adams, Faye. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Shake a Hand.”
Afrobeats. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Akkuratov, Oleg. 45th Post: Piano and Keyboard Players. “Baby I Love You.”
Ainae. (21) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Best Part”. RQ 9. Team Kelly.
Alake, Zania (34) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Sweet Love”. RQ 10+. Team John.
Alana (22 years old). #21. 52nd Post: American Idol “Bust Your Windows.”
Alliaj, Gala (15 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Don’t Know Why” and “Make You Feel My Love.” She also has been a professional model for over ten years.
Altinkaya, Shamaiah (<15 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Winner Takes All.”
Amaya, Carmen. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World. European – Spain (flamenco singer). “Alegrias.”
American Folk. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World – North American.
Amigo, Vincent Girol. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World. European flamenco guitar. “Tees Notas Para Decir Te Quiero.” (RQ 10+). Also, Post 46: Guitar Players.
Anka, Paul. 51st Post: Classics Forever. Diana, Lonely Boy, Your Head on My Shoulder,
Anthony, Cam (19) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Lay Me Down” RQ 10. Team Blake.
Anthony, Durrell (22) 53rd Post: The VOICE “What’s Going On” RQ 10+. Team John.
Dabrowska, Anna (16). 37th Post: Young Singers. “Swiat sie pomyl.”
Divine, Diana. 54th Pist: Dance in the 1950s & 60s.
Donovan (Phillips Leitch). Post 42. Artist Spotlight. “Catch the Wind.” 1965.
Douvas, Elaine. Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra. “Richard Strauss: Oboe Concerto PART 1.”
Dowland, John. 46th Post: Guitarists. Lute player. “Lachwimae.”
Doyle, Rio (16) 53rd Post: The VOICE “When We Were Young” RQ 10. Coach John.
Drew, Patti. 12th Post: Last Names (A-D). “Tell Him.”
Drum and Bass. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – European.
Duboc, Anna (13 Years Old). Post 37. Who are the singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Ballad.”
Duke, Patty. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Don’t Just Stand There.”
Durham, Eddie. 46th Post: Guitarists. “Hittin the Bottle.”
Elgard, Lee. 1st Post: Last Names (E-F). “Bandstand Boogie.”
Ellis, Shirley. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “The Name Game.”
Eminem – Lesley Gore
New artist adds:
Emerson, Keith (Lake & Palmer). 45th Post: Piano and keyboard players are the heart and soul of a band. “Fanfare of the Common Man.”
Escolania de Montserrat (30 singers). 56th Post: Choral.
Estonian Philharmonic (46 boys). 56th Post: Choral.
Ethio-Jazz. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Euro-Disco. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – European.
Everett, Betty. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “The Shoop Shoop Song.”
Everhart, Hanna (17 years old) #22. 52nd Post: American Idol “Wrecking Ball.”
Everly Brothers (Don and Phil). 1st Post: Which identifies the greatest singers and groups of all-time (last names starting with E and F). The artists and groups represented are: The Everly Brothers, Pink Floyd, The Four Seasons, The Four Tops and Aretha Franklin. “Bye Bye Love.”
Fabares, Shelly. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Johnny Angel.”
Face (No24). 56th Post: A Cappella.
Faithfull, Marianne. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “As Tears Go By.”
Farmer, Darci Lynne. 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Summertime.”
Farrell, Keegan (21) 53rd Post: The VOICE “She Will Be Loved.” Coach Blake.
Feliciano, Jose. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Light My Fire.”
Fifth Dimension, The. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Medley: Aquarious/Let the Sunshine In.”
Figueroa, Jose (34) 53rd Post: The VOICE “At This Moment” RQ 10. Coach Nick.
Fisher, Eddie. 1st Post: E-F Last Names. “I NeedYou Now.”
Fischer, Helene (37 years old). Post 37: Promising Young Singers. “Atemlos durch die Nacht.”
Fisher, Miss Toni. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “The Big Hurt.”
Fiskum, Zan (23 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Always Remember Us This Way.”
Fitzgerald, Ella. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”
Flamenco. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – European.
Fleming, Davon. Post 50: Diamonds in the Rough. “Me and Mr. Jones.”
Floyd, Eddie. Motown/Soul/R&B. “Knock on Wood.”
Ford, Mary (and Les Paul). 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Vaya Con Dios.”
Fosse, Bob. 54th Post: Dance Types 50s & 60s: The Frug.
Four Jacks and a Jill. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Master Jack
Francis, Connie. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. 29th Post: M $ Records Book. “Who’s Sorry Now?”
Fred, John & His Playboy Band. Post 36. Timeless recordings from the 1950s and 60s. “Judy in Disguise.”
London Philharmonic Orchestra. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. Andris Nelsons. “Bolero.”
Lord, John. 45th Post: Piano and keyboard players are the heart and soul of a band. Deep Purple. “ Lazy.”
Lortie, Louis. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of a band. “Piano Sonata No17 in D minor.” Also, Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra.
Darlene Love – Mextoon
New artist adds:
Lucia, Paco De. Post 46: Guitar Players. “Entre Dos Aguas.” (RQ 10).
Lu, Eric. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. Won Leeds in 2018. “Concerto No4 Op. 58.”
Lukyanets, Solomia (19 years old). Post 37: Who Are the Young Singers that Will Be Successful in the Future. “Time to Say Goodbye.”
Lyman, Frankie. 29th Post: M$ Records Book. “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.”
Lynn, Barbara. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “You’ll Lose a Good Thing.”
Lynn, Loretta. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Coal Miners Daughter.”
Lynn, Vera. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “My Son, My Son.”
Lynne, Gloria. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “ I Wish You Love.”
Ma, Yo-Yo. Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member of Virtuoso Orchestra. “Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.”
Mac, Rachel (15) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Let Him Fly.”
Mach, Leila (15 years old) Bad Cut. 52nd Post: American Idol “If It Ain’t Got You.”
Maciejczak, Marcin (14 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “I’ll Never Love Again.”
MacKampa, Jordan (25 yrs old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Magic”
Madigan, Betty. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Joey.”
Majika. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Maley, Manon (17 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the singers of today that will be famous on thefuture? “Writings on the Wall.”
Mambo. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Mana’O Company. Post: 48: Music Categories in Our World. North American – Hawaiian. “Drop Baby Drop.” (RQ 10+).
Manhattan Transfer (No3). 56th Post: A Cappella.
March, Little Peggy. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “I Will Follow Him.”
Mariachi. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – Latin and South American.
Marshall, Andrew (21) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Gravity” RQ 10.
Martin, Dean. 29th Post: M$ Dollar Book. “ That’s Amore.”
Mason, Barbara. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Yes, I’m Ready.”
Mason, Dave. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “We Just Disagree.”
Mathis, Johnny. 29th Post: M$ Records Book. “Chances Are.”
Naturally (No20). 56th Post: A Cappella.
Maya, Jeronimo. Post 46: Guitar Players. “Bulerias.”
Mbalex. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
McBride, Christian. Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra. “Shake and Blake.”
McGuire Sisters (Ruby, Dottie & Phyllis). 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Sincerely.”
Mehldau, Brad. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of a band. “Empty Concertgebouw Sessions.”
Mendelssohn, Fanny. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. “Notturno in G Minor.”
Mento. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Mercer, Johnny. 7th Post: Last Names (L, M and N). “Moon River.“
Mercy. 35th Post: One Hit Wonders. “Love” (Can Make You Happy).
Merengue. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Mesitzo. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – Latin and South American.
Metro Vocal Group (No12). 56th Post: A Cappella.
Metts, Hunter (22 years old). #12. 52nd Post: American Idol “July.”
Meyer, Sabine. Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra. “Mozart: Clarinet Concerto.”
Mickey and Sylvia – Luciano Pavarotti
New artist adds:
Midler, Bette. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “The Rose.”
Miles, Allegra (17 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Use Somebody.”
Miller, Alex (17 Years Old). Post 37: Promising Young Singers. Original: “I’m Over You, So Get Over Me.”
Miller, Jody. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Queen of the House.”
Mimi and Josy. Post 37. Promising Young Singers. “Creep.”
Mintz, Claud (20 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Just to Forget.”
Mississippi Mass Choir (75 singers). 56th Post: Choral.
Modig, Ryleigh (18) 53rd Post: The VOICE “When the Party’s Over” RQ 10+.
Monique, Dana (41) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Freeway of Love.”
Monk, Thelonious. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of every band. “Monk’s Dream”
Monroe, Marilyn. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
Montiel, Sara. (Flamenco singer). Post 48: Music Categories in Our World. European-Spain. “La Violetera.”
Moon, Arei (28 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Finesse.”
Monet-McCants, Victoria (27 yrs old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Jaguar.”
Montoya, Ramon. Post 46 Guitar Players and Post 48: Music categories in our world. European flamenco guitar. “Solea.”
Monteverdi Choir (No1) & Orchestra. 56th Post:
Morgan, Jane. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “The Day the Rains Came.”
Morgan, Jaye. P. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “That’s All I Want from You.”
Morozov, Artyom ( <15 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Who Wants to Live Forever.”
Morris, Maren (31 years old). Post 37: Young Singers. “The Bones.”
Northwell Health Nurse Choir. 56th Post: Chiral.
Motherload. 35th Post: One Hit Wonders.“When I Die.”
Mountain. 51st Post: Classics Forever. Woodstock Festival. “Beside the Sea.”
Mozart, Wolfgang. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. “Jupiter Symphony.”
Mroz, Pete. (45) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Can’t Find My Way Home” RQ10.
Mysterians, ? and the. Post 35. 1950s and 60s One Hit Wonders. “96 Tears.”
Na’Auao, Sean. Post: 48: Music Categories in Our World. North American – Hawaiian. “Fish and Poi.” (RQ 10+).
Ndombolo. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
New College – Oxford (No20). 56 Post: Chor
Nilisson, Harry. Folk Music – 13 of 23 Genres. “Everybody’s Talking.”
Nordic/Norse. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World. Scandinavian. “Folkvanger” and “Volur.” (RQ 10).
Northwell Health Nurse Choir. 56th Post: Choral.
Nunes, Clara. (singer). Post 48: Music Categories in Our World. Latin & South American. “Fiera de Mangaio.” (RQ 10).
Nyro, Laura. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Wedding Bell Blues.”
O’Conner, Mark. Post 44. The Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra. “In the Cluster Blues.”
Olayan, Liahona (16 years old) #17. 52nd Post: American Idol “Me Too.”
Oliver-Swofford, William. Male Soloists – 6 of 23 Genres.
Opera. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – European.
Otis, Johnny. 8th Post: Last Names (O & P). Willie and the Hand Jive.”
Pace, Ian. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of a band. “Maxim Kolomiiets.”
Page, Patti. 29th Post: M$ Records Book. “Tennessee Waltz.”
Palm Wine. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Parks, Arlo (20 yrs old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Sophie.”
Parx, Tayla (27 yrs old). Name at birth: Taylor Monet Parks. Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “We Need to Talk.”
Rababah. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Rabbone, Jordan (16 years old). Post 37: Promising Young Singers. “What About Us.”
Rafi. Post 48: Music categories in our world. Asian.
Raga Rock. Post 48: Music categories in our world. Asian.
Ramm, Lisa Marie (15 year old). Post 37: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Run.”
Ramsey, Mason(14 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Famous.”
Ranchero. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – Latin and South American.
Ray, Cecil (20 years old). #24. 52nd Post: American Idol “Beyond”
Red, Kona. Post: 48: Music Categories in Our World. North American – Hawaiian. “Ho’Aikane.” (RQ 10+).
Regala, Joshua (15 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the singers of today that will be famous on the future? Duet with girlfriend (Marby). “You Are the Reason.”
Reggaeton. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – Latin and South American.
Little Richard – Freddie Scott
New artist adds:
Reese, Della. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Rhapsody in Black.”
Reggae. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Regina, Elis. (singer) Post 48: Music Categories in Our World. Latin & South American. “Como Nossos Pais.” (RQ 9).
Scott, Linda. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “I’ve Told Every Little Star.”
Pete Seeger – Edwin Starr
New artist adds:
Sayaque, Rebecca. (10 yrs old) Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “You Raise Me Up.”
Schoenburg, Arnold Choir (No19. 56th Post: Choral.
Schubert, Franz. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. “Ave Maria.”
Schumann, Clara. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. “Complete Piano Works.”
Sedaka, Neil. Post 36. All time artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Neil recorded ten number one songs.
Serenko, Joanna (18 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Lean on Me.”
Sgouros, Dimitris. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of a band. “Liszt-Etudes Nos 1 & 2.”
Shaabi. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Sha Na Na. 51st Post: Classics Forever. Woodstock Frstival. “Duke of Earl.”
Shankar, Ravi. 51st Post: Classics Forever. Woodstock Testival. Tabla Solo In I
Sharp, Dee Dee. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “MashedPotatoes.”
Sheldon, Blake, Coach 53rd Post: The VOICE Biography.
Shep and the Limelites. 14th Post: Last Names (S). “Daddys Home.”
Shepard, Jean. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Second Fiddle to an Old Guitar.”
Shore, Dinah. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Blues in the Night.”
Shorr, Daria. Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. “Siberia.”
Simioni, Marina. (29 years old). Post 37: Promising Young Singers. “Team.”
Simone, Nina. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “I Loves You Porgy.”
Simpson, Cody (23 years old). 37th Post: Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Golden Thing.”
Sinatra, Frank. 29th Post: M$ Records Book. “Young at Heart.”
Sinatra, Nancy. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “These Boots Are Made for Walkin.”
Sinclair, Bradley 53rd Post: The VOICE “You Say You Won’t Let Go” RQ 10. Coach Nick.z
Ska. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Skomorokhova, Taisiya (8 yrs old). Post 37. Today’s young singers with potential to be famous in the future. 2020 Russia’s Voice for Kids finalist. “Goomba Boomba.”
Small Faces. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Itchycoo Park.”
Smith, Connie. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Once a Day.”
Smith, Keely. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “That Old Black Magic.”
Soca. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Soloman, Victor (22) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Glory”. RQ 10. Coach John.
Somali Jazz. Post 48: Music categories in our world – African.
Sophie, Alanis (19 Years old) #10. 52nd Post: American Idol “Uninvited.”
Soul, Jimmy. “If You Wanna Be Happy.” Rock and Roll – 1 of 23 Genres.
Spence, Willie (21 years old) #13. 52nd Post: American Idol “I Was Here.”
Spiral Starecase. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “More Today than Yesterday.”
Springfield, Dusty. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”
Staatskapelle Dresdin. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. Nikolaj Znaider. “Symphony No2.”
Stafford, Jo. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “You Belong to Me.”
Ringo Starr – The Box Tops
New artist adds:
Starr, Kay. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Wheel of Fortune.”
Steel Pan. Post 48: Music categories in our world – Caribbean.
Stefani, Gwen. 42nd Post: Music categories in our world. Caribbean Ska “Sunday Morning.”
Steinfeld, Hailee (23 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the singers of today that will be famous on the future? Already a famous singer (“Love Myself”) and actor.
Stern, Raine (22) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Electric Feel.” Coach Nick
Stevens, Connie. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Sixteen Reasons.”
Stevens C, Dodie. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. 29th Post: M$ Records Book. “Pink Shoe Laces.”
Stevens, Ray. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Everything Thing is Beautiful.”
Stile Antico (No18). 56th Post: Choral.
Storm, Gayle. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “I Hear You Knocking.”
St. Paul’s Cathedral, England (20 singers). 56th Post: Choral.
Straight No Chaser (No10). 56th Post: A Cappella.
Stone Ponies (Linda Ronstadt lead singer). Folk Music – 13 of 23 Genres. “Different Drum.”
Street Corner Symphony (No21). 56th Post: A Cappella.
Streisand, Barbara. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. Five No1 recordings including: “ The Way We Were.”
Strozzi, Barbara. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. “Sino Alla Morte.”
Swann, Bettye. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Make Me Yours.”
Swing. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World – North American.
Swingle Singers (No2). 56th Post: A Cappella.
The Bryds – The Four Aces
Sydney, “Uke.” Post 37. Young Successful Singers. “Billy Jean.”
New artistadds:
Tabernacle Choir. 56th Post: Choral
Take 6 (No6). 56th Post: A Capella.
Tango. 48th Post: Music Categories in Our World – Latin and South American.
Tatum, Art. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of every band. “The Best of Art Tatum.”
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr. Post 44: Lets Give Credit to the Greatest. “Swan Lake.”
Ten Years After. 51st Post: Classics Forever. Woodstock Festival. “I’m Going
Thabelo, Nachdem. Post 37: Young Singers. “Halo.”
The American Breed. Post 36: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1966s. “Bend Me Shape Me.”
The Big Bopper. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Chantilly Lace.”
The Browns. 12th Post: Last Names (A-D). “The Three Bells.”
The Capitals. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Cool Jerk.”
The Cardinals Musick (No3). 56th Post: Choral.
The Chad Mitchell Trio. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “The Marvelous Toy.”
The Champs. 35th Post: 1950’s and 60’s “One Hit Wonders.” “Tequila.”
The Chiffons. 51st Post: Classics Forever. He’s So Fine.”
The Chordettes. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Mr. Sandman.”
The Clovers. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Love Potion No9.”
The Contours. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Do You Love Me.”
The Crew-Cuts. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Sh-Boom.”
The Critters. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Mr. Dieingly Sad.”
The Delphonics. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “La La Means that I Love You.”
The Diamonds. 54th Post: Dance Types 50s & 60s The Stroll.
The Dovells. Doo Wop 19 of 23 Genres. “Bristol Stomp.”
The Dunedin Consort (No11) & Orchestra. 56th Post: Choral.
The Elegants. 35th Post: One Hit Wonders. “Little Star.”
The Essex. 1st Post: Last Names (E & F). “Easier Said Than Done
The Exciters. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings. “Tell Him.”
The Fascinators. 1st Post: Last Names (E-F). “Oh Rosemarie.”
The Five Satins. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “In the Still of the Night.”
The Four Aces. 1st Post: Last Names (E & F). “Love is a Many Splendored Thing.”
The Guess Who. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “These Eyes” and “No Time.”
The Four Seasons – The Orioles
New artist adds:
The Happenings. 51st Post: Classics Forever.“Goodnight My Love” & “See You in September”
The Idea of North (No17). 56th Post: Choral.
The Impalas. 35th Post: 1950’s and 60’s “One Hit Wonders.” “Sorry.”
The Ink Spots. 51st Post: Classics Forever. Seven No1s including “To Each His Own.”
The King’s Singers (No5). 56th Post: A Capella
The Knickerbockers. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Lies.”
The Left Banke. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Walk Away Renee.”
The Lettermen. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “When I Fall in Love.”
The Monotones. 35th Post: 1950’s and 60’s One Hit Wonders. “Book of Love.”
The Orions. 54th Post: Dance Types 50s & 60s: The Wah Watusi.
The Orions – The Turtles
New artist adds:
The Penguins. 35th Post: One Hit Wonders. “Earth Angel.”
The Philharmonic (No8). 56th Post: A Capella.
The Platters. Post 36. Timeless recordings of the 1950s and 60s. “Smoke Gets Into Your Eyes.”
The Poni-Tails. Post 35: One Hit Wonders. “Born Too Late.”
The Puppini Sisters (No15). 56th Post: A Cappella.
The Ramrods. 10th Post: Last Names (R, continued). “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”
The Real Group (No4). 56th Post: A Cappella.
The Rip Chords. 35th Post: One Hit Wonders. “Hey Little Cobra.”
The Ronettes. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “Be My Baby.”
The Royal Jesters. Post 16: Last Names (T). “We Go Together.”
The Tallis Scholars (No13). 56th Post: Choral.
The Teddy Bears (and Phil Spector with Annette Kleinbard, lead singer). Post 35. 1950’s and 60’s One Hit Wonders. “To Know Him Is To Love Him” sold 2.5M records in 1958!
The Tremelos. Post 36: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Silence is Golden.”
The Tymes. Motown/Soul/R&B 3 of 23 Genres. “So Much in Love.”
The Seeds. Post 36. Timeless Recordings of the 1950s and 60s. “Pushin To Hard.”
The Silhouettes. 35th Post: 1950’s and 60’s One Hit Wonders. “Get a Job.”
The Sixteen (No4). 56th Post: Choral.
The Tonettes. 51st Post: Classics Forever. “O What a Baby.”
The Turbans. 16th Post: Last Names (T). “When You Dance.”
The Ventures – Grace Vanderwall
New artist adds:
The Virtues. Rock and Roll 2 of 23 Genres. “Guitar Boogie Shuffel.”
The Voca People (No18). 56 Post: Choral.
The Vogues. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Turn Around, Look at Me.”
Thile, Christopher Scott. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra. “Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor.”
Timmons, Courtney. Post 50. Diamonds in the Rough. “Soulmate” duet with Billy Walker.
Thomas, Carla. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Gee Whiz.”
Thomas, Irma. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Wish Someone Would Care.”
Thompson, Ayoni (20 yrs old). Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “Wife You Up.”
Thompson, Hank. 16th Post: Last Names (T). “The Wild Side
Thompson, Sue. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Norman.”
Thunemann, Klaus. Post 44. Greatest Artists of All-Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra. “(8) Vivaldi Bassoon Concertos.”
Tilghman, Todd (42 yrs old). Post 37. Who are the young singers of today that will be famous in the future? “We’ve Got Tonight.”
Tjano. Post 48: Music Categories in Our World – North American.
Toaopoba, Koncnr (9). Post 37: Young Singers. “Listen.”
Wells, Kitty. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Makin Believe.”
West, Dottie. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Here Comes My Baby.”
Westminster Abby (No16). 56th Post: Chorus.
Wheeler, Kenzie (22) 53rd Post: The VOICE “Don’t Close Your Eyes” RQ 10+.
Whitaker, Matthew. 45th Post: Pianists and keyboard players are the heart and soul of every band. “Live Session for Jazz FM.” And, Post 44. Greatest Artists of All Time. Member: Virtuoso Orchestra.
Whitman, Slim. 36th Post: Timeless Recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. “Indian Love Call.”
Williams, Billy. 21st Post: Last Names (V-W). “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down.
This post deals with comparing singer’s earnings in pop versus opera. Specific examples show Taylor Swift and Beyonce Knowles in relationship to 11 of the best all-time opera singers (several of which have successfully crossed over into pop which is rare):
Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Placido Domingo, Melena Ernman, Renee Fleming, Vitterio Grigolo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Anna Netrebko, Luciano Pavarotti, Patricia Racette, and Kesenia Varela.
Ksenia Varela – 9 Years Old Photo credit: osidenews.com August 7, 2020
A gifted 9 yr-old singer’s career heading??
I have come to realize that there are many gifted singers in all age groups. Although, a handful of these singers have so much “God-given” ability that they can end up with earning a tremendous amount of money through their recording studio contracts, record sales, etc.
Earnings in opera vs pop…
This brings me to wondering about why some young and extremely talented singers choose opera versus “pop” career paths. According to Careers in Music, an opera singer can expect to make between $60-200K per year (with an average salary of $70K).
According to Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph, Joyce DiDonato could net as much as E40,000 over a six week timeframe “Lascia ch’io pianga” (https://youtu.be/PrJTmpt43hg) (RQ 10). Luciano Pavarotti, considered to be the best tenor of all time “Ave Maria” (https://youtu.be/XpYGgtrMTYs) (RQ 10+), it is said that he was paid as much as $300,000 per performance in his prime. He passed away in 2007 from pancreatic cancer. Of course, Joyce and Luciano represent the “ cream of the crop.” In contrast to the earnings potential of the best opera singers, the highest 2019 earnings for pop singers are: Taylor Swift $185,000,000 “You Belong to Me” (https://youtu.be/VuNIsY6JdUw) (RQ 10) and Beyonce Knowles $81,000,000 “Single Ladies” (https://youtu.be/4m1EFMoRFvY) (RQ 10+).
So, you take a look and listen to Ksenia Verala at age 9, you wonder what career path you would choose if you were her.
Ksenia Melania Varela, age 9, is now residing in Oceanside CA. Ksenia was born in Hayward California and began singing at age 5. Ksenia is currently learning classical and opera vocals under the International performing artist and music educator Rebecca Steinke in San Diego.
Ksenia’s Recent accomplishments:
Vocals Gold medalist Team USA in the 2020 World Championship of Performing Arts in the 15 and under age group. “Competition Practice session.”
Vocals First place winner in the 2020 International Grande Music Competition in New York in the 7 to 9 age group.
Vocals First place winner in the American Protégé International Vocals 2020 competition in the 12 and under age group. Scheduled to play in Carnegie Hall May 2021.
Examples of Opera Greats Crossing Over into Other Genres…
Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) Photo credit: britannica.com October 20, 2020
Besides Pavarotti (“I Hate You Then I Love You” Duet with Celine Dion (https://youtu.be/otAu5twqDpk) (RQ 10+), other opera greats successfully crossed over into a variety of musical genres according to Operawire. Some of which I will highlight in this post include: Anna Netrebko, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Malena Ernman, Vittorio Grigolo, Patricia Racette, Diana Damrau and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Anna Netrebko (1971-Present) Photo credit: The Metropolitan Opera
Anna has stepped outside of typical opera settings in recent years. She performed “O mio babibdo caro” (https://youtu.be/g0Kcg7WEJME) (RQ 10) at Martin Scorsese’s 30th annual Kennedy Center Honors program in 2006. She also performed the Olympic Anthem at the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.
Placido has worked outside of the opera stage with many outstanding Pop artists including John Denver “Perhaps Love” (https://youtu.be/dDra-5DG3JE) (RQ 10+), Ana Gabriel, Pandora, II Vole, and Julio Iglesias.
Renee Fleming 1959-Present Known as the “Peoples Diva” Photo credit: C.A.A. Speakers
Renee has done a wide variety of singing outside of the operetic opera genre. She has done “Living on Love” on Broadway. She recently sang the National Anthem before the Super Bowl. And, she recorded a rock album called “Dark Hope.” One song was “Oxygen” (https://youtu.be/mJC8LB_9mG0) (10+) which she did not use her operetic voice at all. In case you’d like to enjoy Renee’s classical opera-style voice, check this out: “Casta Diva” (https://youtu.be/Rg4L5tcxFcA). (RQ 10+). Enjoy!
Melena Ernman 1970-Present Photo credit: 2009 Eurovision Song Contest
Melena has built her singing career around working with fabulous conductors including Daniel Bavenboom, William Christie and Daniel Harding. She has a very unique ability to easily switch between using her operetic style and pop voice within the same song! She recently competed in Eurovision stretching into the pop genre by singing “LaVoix” (https://youtu.be/xE9Pl3mqRbo) (10+) which has become a huge hit in Sweden.
It is noteworthy to mention that Vittorio was a pop superstar before becoming an opera singer! An example of his earlier works is “Bedshaped” (https://youtu.be/UqVQ4ABIbSs) (RQ 10+) that he performed during the Miss Universe Pagent in 2006. He and Lionel Richie sang a duet “Prom in the Park.” He also has been nominated for a Grammy for singing “Maria” (https://youtu.be/QLTvv8YRONE) (RQ 8) from West Side Story.
There are three other opera singers who would fall into “The Best of the Rest” in terms of crossing over into other genres of music. Patricia Racette, recorded a cabaret album “Diva on Detour” (https://youtu.be/kX1nczK1ciA) (RQ 10). Diana Damrau recorded an album “Forever” (https://youtu.be/fFhukDpQOW8) (10) which is from the Little Mermaid and the Sound of Music. Last, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, from Russia, participates in new wave concerts with Adia Garifullina singing “Deja Vu” (https://youtu.be/NRSuJljjEHw) (RQ 9).
After reading and listening to all of these wonderful singers, it reinforces the thought that, when the time comes, Ksenia Vareia will have plenty of options to choose from to go along with her operetic voice she is now developing!
The Carpenters Karen (1950-1983) Richard (1946- ) Photo credit: LiveAbout
While reading through my All-Time Greatest Music (1950-60s) blog, many references have been made to artists winning Grammy Awards. At this point I thought it would be wise to provide you with an overview about the history of the Grammy Awards. Later on in this post I will also look into other awards like the Tony Award (or, the Antoinette Perry Award) and OBIE Awards.
Started in 1959
Beginning in 1959, the idea grew out from what were called Gramophone Awards. So, that was sixty-two years ago. Back then, the Oscars and Emmy Awards were recognizing leading artists in film and television but not music.
The Walk of Time Project kindled the emergence of the Grammy Award as a way to honor the music industry’s most talented composers, songwriters and musicians. The first Grammy Award event (May 4, 1959) included 28 categories. In 2019 there were 84!
20 Genres honored
Today there are (20) genres that are being considered for Grammy Awards:
Alternative American Roots, Children’s, Classical, Comedy, Contemporary Instrumental, Country, Dance & Electronics, Gospel & Contemporary Christian, Jazz, Latin, Musical Theater, New Age, Pop, Raggae, Rap, Rhythm & Blues, Rock, Spoken Word, and World Music.
4 Awards Across Genres
In addition to Awards based upon genres, there are four major awards given across all genres including: Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Album if the Year and Record of the Year.
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Plus, there have been “Lifetime Achievement“ Awards given to an artist that made an impact on the music industry overall. To date, there have been (22) Lifetime Achievement Awards given:
The Beatles (2014), Johnny Cash (1999), Ray Charles (1987), Bing Crosby (1963), Neil Diamond (2018), The Doors (2007), Bob Dylan (1991), Ella Fitzgerald (1967), Aretha Franklin (1994), Emmylou Harris (2018), Jimi Hendrix (1992), B.B. King (1987), Led Zeppelin (2005), John Lennon (1991), Jerry Lee Lewis (2005), Willie Nelson (2000), Dolly Parton (2011), Queen (2018), The Rolling Stones (1986), Frank Sinatra (1965), Tina Turner (2018), and Hank Williams (1987).
Best All-Time Song Awards
The Grammy Hall of Fame also has recognized (35) significant musical composition and songs by well- known artists:
Aerosmith Photo credit: timesofisrael.com Jessica Steinberg – May 14, 2017
Overall, one man, one woman and one group have been awarded the most overall Grammy Awards. The man is Sir Georg Solti, a orchestral and operatic conductor (1912-1997). He was born in Hungary. His grand total Grammy Awards is 31! He has made 250 recordings and 45 complete sets of orchestra performances. Here is his photo:
The woman with the greatest number of Grammy Awards (27) is Alison Krauss (1971-Present). Alison was born in Champaign, Illinois. She is a county/bluegrass performer with 736 single and 14 album recordings! Here is a photo of her:
Alison Krauss “Please Read the Letter” https://youtu.be/rjs0p5FWpzc (RQ 9) Photo credit: grammy.com Lior Philips – March 25, 2019
The group with the most Grammy Awards (22) is U2 (1976-Present). The group hails from Dublin, Ireland. The group members are: Bono, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr., and The Edge. Here is a photo of the group:
U2 “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” https://youtu.be/e3-5YC_oHjE (RQ 10) Photo credit: indulgexpress.com September 18, 2019
U2 (1976- ) Band members (from left to right): Adam Charles Clayton 1960- From Oxfordshire, England Bono (Paul David Hewson) 1960- From Dublin, Ireland The Edge (David Howell Evans) 1961- From Essex, England Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. 1961- From Dublin, Ireland Photo credit: Forbes
The Tony Award recognizes excellence in live Broadway Theatre. The 79th annual award was held in 2019. The awards (40) are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway Wing at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. There are four specific awards that recognize singing:
1. The Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Santino Fontana won this award in 2019 for Tootsie, “Unstoppable” (https://youtu.be/WWWR6tQJiX8) (RQ 5).
2. The Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
3. The Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. Stephanie Block won this award in 2019 for The Cher Show “I Found Someone” (https://youtu.be/k9n5EAJ4Xds) (RQ 9).
4. The Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. Angela Lansbury was one of the most recognized all time in this category in Mame (1966) (https://youtu.be/Fi15Nmvdb7w) (RQ 4) wear World (1969), Gypsy (1975), Sweeney Todd (1979) and A Little Night Music (2010).
The awards were founded by Brock Pemberton are named after Antoinette “Tony” Perry. an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a medallion, with a face portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel.
For Off Broadway
The Obie Awards honor the highest calibre of off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theatre to recognize brave work, champion new material, and advance careers in theatre.
For more than sixty years, the Village Voice has put off and off-off Broadway on the map by recognizing the artistic power of downtown theatre. The Voice was a forum for heated artistic discussion, including theatre reviews, that sparked awareness and excitement for New York’s emerging theatre movement. Alongside the publication, The Voice developed the Obie Awards in 1955 to celebrate the important work being staged south of Broadway. The Obie Awards honor the boundary-pushing theatre seen in the city’s intimate performing spaces, supporting an incubator for emerging work, with an award that validates off-Broadway as a league of its own.
Over the past four years, I have identified 176 talented young singers. Of these, many have already been recording records, have seen high volumes of YouTube/Spotify follows and are experiencing strong careers through record contracts, etc.:
Beau Dermott– 12 years old Photo credit: Britain Got Talent
Beau Dermott auditioned for the tenth series of Britain’s Got Talent, singing “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked (https://www.facebook.com/share/r/rYbt46MDkD5jrNzT/?mibextid=YpDZO8). She was judge Amanda Holden’s Golden Buzzer act, securing herself a place in the live rounds of the competition. She signed with Decca Records and her first album, Brave, was released on 1 September 2017.
Ansley Burns is a 16 year old recording artist from Easley, South Carolina. She began singing at the age of 3, aiming to become a professional recording artist. She started vocal lessons at the age of 8, and has since performed at local events, churches and competitions. Ansley was the winner of Best Singer in the State of South Carolina, Youth Division 2017, and she has won many other competitions to date. Ansley went viral for her cover of “Cry Pretty” by Carrie Underwood, with the video reaching over 1.4 million views on Facebook and even getting the attention of Underwood herself! During her audition for America’s Got Talent, Simon said Ansley is someone he will remember and a ray of sunshine! Ansley went on to finish in the semi-finals on Season 14 of America’s Got Talent. Ansley was also a contestant on Season 22 of The Voice. Ansley covered “Unchained Melody” (https://youtu.be/dRRuNLELC60) on the blind auditions. She is currently pursuing her career in music equipped with original songs and a professional band!
Katerina Pohlodkova – 18 yrs old Photo credit: Peek You
The most recent season of the Belgian branch of the music show “The Voice Kids 2017” has been won by 18-year-old (then 13) Katarina Pohlodková, whose parents are originally from Slovakia. She fought her way through to the final round with the song “She Believes in Me”, the Kenny Rogers song covered in the 1980s by the Belgian singer André Hazes, and the song “Empire State of Mind” (https://youtu.be/E94WouC1nWc), which Alicia Keys made a mega-hit. Her victory entitles her to a scholarship worth EUR 10 000 and the opportunity to record her own single. Her version of Whitney Houson’s hit “I Have Nothing” will be available on iTunes on Monday, 3 July. “The last few months have taught me a lot,” the singer told Belgian TV. “I never dreamed of winning this entire competition. It’s wonderful that I have the opportunity to release my own single.” The girl, who was referred to as “Whitney Houston 2.0” by one of the jurors, performed excellently throughout the contest, which included performing the current hit song “Rockabye” by Clean Bandit. Her family has been living in Belgium for more than 20 years and her older sisters sing in a Belgian band. Pohlodková’s remarkable musical talent is said to have been clear from early childhood. By now, however, she has lost much of her native language of Slovak after living so long in Belgium.
Marita Khvedelidze impressed many when she appeared on Georgia’s (northern Europe) Got Talent. Marita gave an outstanding performance of the evergreen “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” song (https://youtu.be/zsV1IU0X2CY). Marita gave a heartfelt and overall amazing adaptation on the stage and won over the judges with her powerful and crystal clear vocals. Marita was a popular contestant in Ranina 2020, the national contest to select the Junior Eurovision participant. She finished in second place and gave some memorable performances. The winner was Sandra Gadelia. She is younger (11) than Marita. One of her videos is “Killing Me Softly” (https://youtu.be/3G-hwI8tqhA). Footnote: Georgia is a country which borders southern Russia and Turkey on it’s south. The country used to be a part of Soviet Union. However, after many years of clashing with the Soviet Union, in 1991 they formally were recognized as being an independent multiparty democratic country.
Evie Clair – 21 years old Photo Credit: YouTube Screenshot
Evelyn Clair Abplanalp (born December 2, 2003), known professionally as Evie Clair, is a musical artist and reality television personality who appeared on the twelfth season of the talent competition series America’s Got Talent. Clair auditioned for America’s Got Talent three times before getting on the show, auditioning with “Arms” by Christina Perri and won praise from Perri. Due to her father’s death Clair was offered the opportunity to come back the following season however, she chose to stay on course and perform in the upcoming finals. She sang “I Just Want You to Be Sure” to her father while in the hospital (https://youtu.be/CzIyeQSRaS4) (RQ 8).
Thomas Day – 17 years old Photo Credit: Cover of his song “The New Me”
Thomas Day is a 17-Yr Old singer and athlete from Nashville. Throughout his life, Thomas has been performing for people on ice during hockey games and on fields for soccer, football and baseball games. Currently, Thomas is ranked as one of the top football prospects in the country. However his true heart’s desire is music. When he’s not on the field, Thomas is home singing for his parents, playing piano and writing music. Thomas Day was initially supposed to perform in America’s Got Talent Episode 1513, but Thomas and his mother ended up contracting COVID-19, causing him to miss out on the Quarterfinals. Despite not performing in the Quarterfinals, Thomas Day returned as a Wild Card for the Semifinals after recovering from COVID-19. His performance in Episode 1517 consisted of singing Billie Eilish’s “When The Party’s Over” (https://youtu.be/0XG3-hIGGdg) (RQ 7). Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergaragave him standing ovations. Thomas did not receive enough votes to advance to the Finals in Episode 1518, eliminating him from the competition. Another of his new recordings is “The New Me” (https://youtu.be/jBzi2lMaZQ8) (RQ 9).
Jeffery Li – 13 years old Photo Credit: YouTube Screenshot
Jeffrey Li is a 13-year-old (born: Februay 25, 2005) Canadian YouTube star and a wannabe singer. Jeffrey Li, the young music sensation dazzled the American audience with his rendition of Josh Groban’s single “You Raise Me Up (https://youtu.be/bjitM4m0RGc) (RQ 9) while on the stage of 13th series of America’s Got Talent. Being new to the Hollywood glitz and glam world, his personal life and childhood in Canada have not been discovered yet. Also, no other information regarding his education background has been revealed to this date. At the tender age of 13, Jeffrey has achieved a lot which is pretty incredible for any kid of his age. Merely a pre-teen now, he is only at the early stage of the career and there still is a lot more to come for this great talent.
Sydney ”Uke” 12 years old Photo credit: sydneyuke.com
The ‘Got Talent’ series has gone global, and the world has never such talented individuals from around the world in such plentiful quantity. Appearing on Asia’s Got Talent (2015), this twelve year old girl from Thailand named Sydney “Uke”has opted not to sing, but to play the ukulele (https://youtu.be/UYZAAkulYd4). While the four judges (and even the audience) are a little shocked that she’s not going to be singing, she almost immediately wins them over with some absolutely stellar finger-style ukulele playing. Dressed like Michael Jackson and only having practised for two years, this girl is sure to be a rock star in Asia any day now. A glimpse into her future at 19 is this link where she is playing “Billie Jean” on an acoustic guitar: https://www.facebook.com/SydneyUke/videos/779583012446024/?d=n.
Hailey Mia – 14 years old Photo credit: nbc.com
Hailey Mia (from Clifton, NJ) grew up with a love of music and has been singing since she could talk. At 8 years old, she had to have surgery to correct the deteriorating vision in her right eye, but says music was the driving force that got her through it all. After a successful surgery, she regained over 30 percent of her vision and went on to teach herself how to read music and play the piano. She participates in choir and talent shows and is getting ready to attend a technical high school where she’ll get to take courses in vocal performance. As the youngest in The Voice competition, Hailey has been waiting for the day she turned 13 so she can finally sing on “The Voice” stage. Her blind audition song was “You Broke Me First” (https://youtu.be/UMX3NNEWZ9Q).
“Griff” Sarah Griffith – 20 years old Photo Credit: Nick Thompson (GQ)
When GQ (an online business featuring fashion news and celebrity profiles) meets “Griff” (Sarah Griffith), clad in a pearly Richard Quinn dress worthy of a Tudor queen, she’s overjoyed: It’s the drizzly June morning her debut mixtape, One Foot in Front of the Other,drops, and Taylor Swift, no less, has just recommended the project to her 166 million Instagram followers. One of her newer recordings: “Black Hole” (https://youtu.be/B2SK_jb68dk) (RQ 10).“It’s really, really surreal,” admits Griff, born Sarah Griffiths in Hertfordshire, just north of London, and of Chinese-Jamaican heritage. Yet it’s easy to see why Swift would be impressed. Totally authentic on social media and fearless when layering vocals to produce her unique, confessional synth pop, Griff is the consummate modern “bedroom pop” star gone boom. Growing up, she felt that “pop was always associated with a lot of fake, music-industry, churned-out stuff.” Griff, on the other hand, taught herself to use Apple’s Logic Pro software on her brother’s laptop via YouTube tutorials.That DIY ethic even extended to the dress she wore to perform at the Brit Awards in May: She stayed up the night before to hand-stitch the fabric into an asymmetric gown. “There’s a lot of kids now taking things into their own hands,” she explains. “There’s a credibility attached to pop again.”
Victory Brinker 9 years old Photo credit: heightzone.com
So, who is Victory Brinker?
As her mom explained leading up to her America’s Got Talent audition, Victory grew up singing “morning, noon and night.” Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the preteen from Latrobe, Pennsylvania has been performing in front of her parents and 10 siblings since she was a toddler and would play America’s Got Talent with them. Her mother, Christine Brinker, told the outlet that Victory had actually been invited to the AGT stage last season, but their plans fell through. Thankfully though, everything worked out better this time around. “When you see your child do something that they love, it’s so overwhelming to watch that,” Christine said. “Just to see her jumping up and down backstage, she could not wait.” Victory’s website further explains that the young classical singer can perform songs in seven different languages. A recent example during the competition is “Juliet’s Waltz” (https://youtu.be/vrRfBmMWpLY) (RQ 8). She discovered classical music at age 6 and quickly fell in love. Before making her AGT debut, her bio notes that she performed on NBC’s Little Big Shots and at Carnegie Hall, various NBA basketball games and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2019 home opener baseball game. Today, she’s well on her way to being crowned the next winner of AGT. What’s more, she already has a plan for what she intends to do with her $1 million prize money should she win the competition. While looking at Simon, she told him she’d buy him a “rainbow shirt that has glitter on it.” “You need some color!” Victory told Simon, making fun of his iconic “white, gray, and black” ensembles. If we had to guess, Simon better start preparing himself for a closet makeover this summer — Victory has a real shot at the title.
2021 – Most Under 16 – Pick Your Favorite Newcomer:
Nachdem Thapelo – 12 years old Photo credit: YouTube screenshot “Halo” https://youtu.be/BlgFctgpcw0Kpncnr Toaopoba – 9 years old Photo credit: YouTube screenshot “Listen” https://youtu.be/LvT6Ob89NVsPeter Rosalita – 10 years old Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
“Mariah better watch out,” judge Heidi Klum said after the Filipino singer hit the high notes of “All By Myself.” 10 year old Peter Rosalita dominates America’s Got Talent in season premiere. His singing chops gave him a commanding presence in the season premiere of “America’s Got Talent” Tuesday. The Filipino contestant slayed the high notes of “All By Myself” (https://youtu.be/meUpKhUKZ94) (RQ 9) earning strong praise from fussbudget judge Simon Cowell. “You have an amazing voice, an amazing personality, an amazing energy,” Cowell gushed. “Everyone is gonna fall in love with you after this audition.” Peter said he would buy a Nintendo Switch and a laptop for online school if he was to win the performance competition’s $1 million grand prize. He got one step closer after all four judges voted him through to the next round. “I predict you’re gonna go far in this competition,” Howie Mandel said.
Anna Dabowska (16 years old) Photo Credit: eska.pl
The Voice Kids is a Polish reality music talent show for aspiring singers aged 8 to 15. Airing on the TVP 2 television network, this is part of the international syndication The Voice based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands as The Voice Kids, created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Tomson and Baron and Dawid Kwiatkowski again took over as trainers. Cleo joined them, replacing Edyta Górniak. The leaders remained unchanged. The second season premiered on New Year’s Day 2019 and was won by 14-year-old Anna Dąbrowska from Wesoła, coached by Cleo. Her winning song in the finale was “Swiat sie pomyl” (https://youtu.be/WLB9sBnhR2Q) (RQ 9).
Maia Gough – 18 years old Photo credit: starburst.forumotion.com
Maia Gough was born on a Friday, April 12, 2002 in South Wales. Her birth name is Maia Gough and she is currently 18 years old. People born on April 12 fall under the zodiac sign of Aries. Her zodiac animal is Horse. At 12 years old at the time, she sang Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” (https://youtu.be/dG63_nwX8tw) for her 2015 Britain’s Got Talent audition. She ended up a semi-finalist. More recently she sang: “No Time to Die” (https://youtu.be/ohYnx9GntKY).
Elena Gatzin – 17 years old Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Elena Gatzin came to Romanian Talent full of emotions and hopes. 12 years ago she moved to Constanta from the Republic of Moldova. It was difficult to settle in Romania and this was due to the emphasis on the Romanian language. Some laughed at her and it made her cry and want to go home. She took the stage at the Romanians “Talent”, full of emotion, not knowing what would happen at the end of the number. He sang an Aura Urzicanu song, and the judges were amazed by the participant’s voice and talent. Elena was faithful and engaged in music as a child, and for this she is grateful to her mother, who supported her with music in high school, although she was very far from home. Elena shyly sat down at the piano and full of emotion began to play what she was doing as a child and feeling great. Her voice impressed the jury, and the chosen song was one with a strong message. An example of her current work shows her polished piano/keyboard ability: “At Last” (https://youtu.be/r4GaOZkO8lc) (RQ 9). “I’m a little excited, but I’m fine. I’m from the Republic of Moldova, but I’ve lived in Constanta for 12 years. It was hard for me because I didn’t speak like the people here, they laughed at my accent. It upset me because I felt different. I wish my mom was with me. I’m a musician, pianist and vocalist. Thanks to the kindergarten teacher, she advised my mom to send me to music school. It’s hard to get to high school 40 miles away. She trusted me so much, but I thanked her very much. I only know the two people I came here with, my mother and child Alyaksandr, “Alena explained.
Maren Morris – 31 years old Photo credit: allanface
Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has released two studio albums. Her 2015 extended play, Maren Morris, charted on two Billboard charts. Her major label debut album, Hero, reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart and number one on the Top Country Albums chart, and was certified platinum in the United States. Morris is also a member of the Highwomen, a group also consisting of Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby. Her first album Walk On was released in 2005. Her debut single, “My Church”, peaked at number one on the Country Digital Songs chart in 2016 and reached the top five on the US Hot Country Songs chart and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance. Her third single, “I Could Use a Love Song”, was her first to reach number one on the US Country Airplay chart. She provided vocals for “The Middle”, a pop collaboration with Zedd and Grey, released in January 2018, which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and received three nominations at the 61st Grammy Awards. Morris’ second album, Girl, was released on March 8, 2019, through Columbia Nashville, preceded by the lead single and title track. The album once again attained the top spot on the Top Country Albums chart and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, while Morris achieved her first top 15 entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the album’s single “The Bones”, (https://youtu.be/gvPMVKUI9go) (RQ 10) which peaked at number 12. To top this off, “The Bones” was just made Song of the year at the American Country Music Awards show. With all of these awards, it is very interesting to make note that earlier she auditioned for both Idols and The Voice where their judges cut her! It confirms that even these professionals miserably fail sometimes to recognize superior talent!
Predictions 2021 (by Charlie Smith of straight.com): Lanie Gardner gets set for breakout year after millions see her covers of Stevie Nicks hits. As this is the time when the Georgia Straight is publishing predictions in a variety of areas, here’s one for the music world. I’m going to suggest that 2021 is the year when a 21-year-old Nashville artist named Lanie Gardner breaks out and hits the big time. Her stunning cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (https://youtu.be/V1LhC1zGouc) (RQ 10) attracted more than nine million views on YouTube since being posted in early October and more than 40 million views across a variety of social-media platforms. Then the charismatic young singer came back with another Fleetwood Mac classic, “Rhiannon” (https://youtu.be/XZ4CqjdJ46c) (RQ 10), which was posted on YouTube in early December. This time, she played an acoustic guitar and sang in a way that put any claims of lip synching to rest. It was almost like listening to a reborn Stevie Nicks, with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood declaring that even he was “absolutely blown away by this”.
Rianna Rusu Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Rianna Eliza Rusu is 15 years old and comes from Iași, Romania. She stunned the whole country with a difficult song (“And I’m Telling You” https://youtu.be/5K7t8994RWw RQ10) on the show “Romanians have Talent”, season 11. The show’s judges got up after Rianna’s moment and only had words of praise for the young singer. Remus and Anișoara Rusu are the young artist’s parents. It was they who always supported Rianna and believed in her talent. Before she started singing, Rianna taught fashion theater at an art club in Iasi, where she was also noticed by a singing teacher she works with today.
Cassandra Star Armstrong (10 years old) Photo credit: album cover
Most kids dream of becoming a veterinarian, teacher or firefighter, but for Cassandra Star Armstrong (from Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada), she said she has never thought of being anything other than a performer. “I’ve honestly never thought of anything else,” Cassandra said. “I’ve always been singing and humming and dancing and I love to make people happy.” At just 10 years old Cassandra has already performed with Broadway stars, started a popular story time series on her YouTube channel and recorded a multitude of songs. A few recent recordings are:
Cassandra captured the attention and hearts of the Fort Frances community at the start of the pandemic last April by starting a story time series where she would read and re-enact children’s books such as The Paper Bag Princessand Rock Away Granny. The story time was developed as a way to connect the community. “A lot of kids in Fort Frances and around Ontario are really sad because they can’t really see their friends… and I knew that books were comforting so I knew it would help,” Cassandra said. She said adults and children have sent her videos to tell her how much her story times have helped them through the pandemic and that she is very grateful for the support and kindness she’s received from people in the community. Not long after, Cassandra and her mother Nikki were contacted by award-winning author and singer/songwriter, Carolyn Sloan, telling them how much she enjoyed Cassandra’s story time of her book Welcome to the Symphony.From there a friendship grew and Cassandra was given the opportunity of a lifetime.
Marina Simioni – 29 years old Photo credit:LinkedIn
Marina Simioni is a 29 year-old professional singer, duel nationality English/Italian from Surrey, UK with a passion for Jazz, Soul and R&B and Musical Theatre. In 2019 she competed in the UK Voice competition where she sang “Team” in the knockout round with the trio Equip to Overcome (https://youtu.be/P0eLzC2jAtk) (RQ 10). Marina was classically trained from an early age and has found her mature, powerful vocal range (D3-F5) was clearly influenced by the likes of the classic Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin to the more contemporary Jessie J. Having trained in Musical Theatre at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Marina has since performed as lead production singer for Costa Cruises to audiences from all over the world and has performed her own singing sets to prestigious private member clubs. She is musically creative, confident, versatile and an exciting performer with a range of repertoires including relaxing lounge music and her own version of well known classics.
Jordan Rabbone – 14 years old escunited.com
Jordan Anthony Rabbone (born 17 December 2004) is an Australian singer. In May 2019, at the age of 14, he auditioned for the eighth season of The Voice Australia, where he was mentored by Delta Goodrem and finished in fourth place. He represented Australia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song “We Will Rise”. Another song he sang in the Voice competition was “What About Us.” (https://youtu.be/NuRDByUxPvU) (RQ 10).
Elena Brinc sang Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” (https://youtu.be/HOPgrqlR0PU) (RQ 10+) for her Croatia’s Got Talent audition in 2018. The video now has over 50 million views as her Golden Buzzer winning performance was a hit with viewers everywhere. Elena took on the inspiring ballad with tremendous power in her voice. Honestly, we hear this song performed many times on talent competition shows but never like this. From the very first note, the judges knew they were in the presence of a star. Her performance even had her family and friends in disbelief and tears as they watched from the audience and also backstage. Not to mention performing a song in English though it is not her native language garnered a lot of attention from fans of Croatia’s Got Talent online. After going viral for her audition on Croatia’s Got Talent, Elena once again sang “Hero” in a YouTube video posted a year later. She also led a choir of Zagreb girls and boys through a performance to commemorate the Day of Remembrance of Vukovar.
Casey Bishop, just 16 years old, recently wowed American Idol‘s celebrity judges with an a cappella rendition of Motley Crue’s “Live Wire” (https://youtu.be/XHR5mt2gBjo) (RQ 9). Although the judges — Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan — seemed surprised by the song choice before Bishop nailed it. It happened amid the second week of auditions during Sunday’s (February 21, 2021) American Idol broadcast for Season 19, the fourth season of the singing competition show on ABC instead of Fox. Bishop, an avowed rock ‘n’ roll fan, started her audition with a bluesy vocal take on the early Motley Crue single, one of the band’s first from their 1981 debut, Too Fast for Love. She’s currently a sophomore at Center for the Arts at Cypress Lake High School in Fort Meyers, Fla., as The News-Press reported. Talking to the Idoljudges, she said she listens to “Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, and then I love blues like Ella Fitzgerald. I love rock, though.” The blues aspect helped clinch her standing among the judges. Following the retooled Motley Crue number, the singer proved her versatility by belting a Sarah Vaughan-inspired version of “My Funny Valentine” (https://youtu.be/jsEyz-lq2hU) (RQ 9). At the start of her audition, Bishop remarked that she had “no experience performing. … The only places I sing are literally my bathroom. I put my song on, pick up my brush and then I just go for it, like in the mirror. I just literally pretend that I’m onstage.”
Helene Fischer – 37 years old Photo credit:
Helene Fischer (born 5 August 1984) is a German singer, dancer, entertainer, television presenter, and actress. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four “Die Krone der Volksmusik” awards and three Bambi awards. According to record certifications, she has sold at least 15 million records. In June 2014, her multi-platinum 2013 album Farbenspielbecame the most downloaded album ever by a German artist and is currently the sixth-bestselling album of all time in Germany. Her signature song “Atemlos durch die Nacht” (https://youtu.be/2czABFw6RnE) (RQ 10) was the bestselling song in Germany in 2014. She has had the best-selling album of the year in Germany five times, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018. She ranked No. 8 on Forbes’ list of “The World’s Highest-Paid Women In Music 2018”, earning $US32 million. Fischer has been referred to as the “Queen of Schlager.”
Christina Grimmie – 22 years old Photo credit: teenvogue.com
Christina Victoria Grimmie (March 12, 1994 – June 10, 2016) was an American YouTuber, singer, songwriter, and actress. In 2009, she began posting covers of popular songs onto YouTube. After releasing her debut EP, Find Me (2011), her YouTube channel reached one million subscribers. After she reached two million subscribers, she released her debut studio album, With Love (2013). Grimmie then became a contestant on season six of The Voice, finishing in third place. She sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (https://youtu.be/lMMIc0_fwv4) (RQ 9) as a part of the competition. Adam Levine, her coach on the show, announced in the finale that, regardless of the results, he would sign her to his label 222 Records. Lil Wayne also offered to sign her to his label, Young Money Entertainment. She was signed with Island Records for a short time before being dropped. Grimmie released her second EP, Side A, in 2016.That same year, she took on an acting role, making her first and only motion picture appearance in The Matchbreaker. On June 10, 2016, Grimmie was fatally shot by Kevin James Loibl while signing autographs following a concert performance at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. Immediately afterward Loibl committed suicide. A motive was never determined as Christina was a kind-hearted individual with no known “enemies.”
Alex Miller – 17 years old Photo credit: talentrecap.com
Alex Miller grew up in Garrard County, Texas, which is a community full of farmers. “My first word was ‘tractor’” he said in an an interview with the Garrard Central Record, “It’s always been special to me, a way to escape and go out and work and stay in shape. I’ve learned a lot through farming, how to work hard and do things on your own. It’s transitioned over into my musical career and aspirations.” He made his big debut at the Garrard County Fair when he was just 4 years old. He also performed at the Lancaster Tobacco Festival when he was just 7 years old. Recently (February 2021), he auditioned for American Idols singing a duet with Luke Bryant “Big City” (https://youtu.be/uQzi9fbjlco) (RQ 9). His song for the audition was an original “I’m Over You, So Get Over Me.” Afterward, Luke said he would be taking him home to perform at the Grand Ol’ Opry. Alex possesses excellent vocals along with his guitar playing ability.
AndraDay – 27 years old Photo credit: Detroit Freepress
Andra Day (born Cassandra Monique Batie; December 30, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress from San Diego, California. Her debut album, Cheers to the Fall, was released in 2015 and peaked at number 48 on the US Billboard 200 chart. At the 2016 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album and the album’s main single, “Rise Up” (https://youtu.be/lwgr_IMeEgA) (RQ 10) was nominated for Best R&B Performance. Day also appeared alongside Stevie Wonder, who is partially credited for her discovery, in an ad for Apple TVin late 2015. Her “Cheers to the Fall” (https://youtu.be/Hrzx3obzUmY) (RQ 9) Tour began in November 2016.
Dax Hovious – 15 years old Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Dax Hovius is a 15 year old singer and guitar player. He’s been playing guitar for 5 years, been singing for 4 years, and writes his own songs. In 2020, he was the winner of The Voice Kids in the Netherlands. A great example of his work is “Blue Suede Shoes” (RQ 9) https://youtu.be/usvLTEaWQ8M. He posts updates on his musical activities in the form of video’s, photo’s and messages on his website. If you want to see more of his work, you can visit his youtube channel by putting Dax Hovius official in the search bar. Mostly he plays rock, rock&roll, rockabilly and Americana, but likes playing blues and other genres as well.
Mimi and Josefin Vagler, also known as Mimi & Josy, are a German singing duo from Augsburg. In 2019, they won the 7th Staffel The Voice Kids is the first duo in the history of the television program. They are the daughters of the soprano Hélène Lindqvist and the music professor Philipp Vogler and most recently attended the Maria Ward Realschule Augsburg. In 2019, the sisters took part in the seventh season of the casting show The Voice Kids. With their blind audition, they convinced all coaches and chose the country singer The BossHoss. In the battles, they prevailed against their opponents Greta and Kimberley. In the sing-offs, The BossHoss decided to send both to the final. Their version of the Radiohead classic “Creep,” (https://youtu.be/wC64ZPJXMGU (RQ 10) which was retrieved more than 60 million times (as of December 2020) on YouTube, became a viral hit. This is one of the best harmonizing duets I’ve heard which is amazing since they were only 13 and 15 at the time! In the live show, Mimi & Josy prevailed over Erik and won in the spectator voting as the first duo in Germany’s history of The Voice. In the final, they performed “Nothing Compares 2 U” (https://youtu.be/A4iKoLD-EjY) (RQ 9) by Sinéad O’Connor. After winning, they recorded their first single “Little Help” (https://youtu.be/vIoxrzjerA8) (RQ 9) with The BossHoss, which was released on the 3rd May 2019. For the single, the duo, which became known as Mimi & Josefin during The Voice Kids, renamed Mimi & Josy. On the morning of the day of release, the two siblings performed in the morning program Sebastian Winkler and the early turners of Bavaria 3, where they first listened to the single on the radio. In the afternoon, they played a free concert in their hometown of Augsburg followed by a meet and greet. The single reached 32th place in the German charts and 41th place in the Swiss hit parade. In the course of 2019, they performed at several major events such as the Augsburg Press Ball and the Hope Gala in Dresden. In September, they performed as a supporting act by Michael Patrick Kelly in front of 10000 spectators on Munich’s Königsplatz. In 2020, the two were once again part of the TV show The Voice Kids, where, as backstage presenters, they gave insights behind the scenes and, incidentally, samples of their own, hitherto unreleased songs. In the fall of 2020, they composed and interpreted the title song “Einmal Reisen” (https://youtu.be/k2CqlSPvxHo) (RQ 10) for the feature film Jim Knopf and the Wilde 13.
The Voice Kids was created by John de Mol, this televised talent show is the junior version of “The Voice” and part of `The Voice Kids’ worldwide franchise. Emma Willis presents as children aged seven to 14 take to the stage to perform in front of a crowd of thousands, hoping to win the grand prize of cash and a family holiday. With `The Voice UK’ judge will.i.am, singer-songwriter Pixie Lott and McFly’s Danny Jones as the judges. The young contestants give it all they’ve got from the blind auditions all the way to the live final. The first episode date was on June 10, 2017.
Lauren Daigle– 28 years old Photo credit: reachfm.ca
Lauren Ashley Daigle (born September 9, 1991) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album, How Can It Be, in 2015. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles and one No.3 on the Billboard Christian Airplay airplay chart (“First”, “Trust in You” No1, and “O’Lord” No3). In 2018, she also recorded the very popular song “You Say” No1 (https://youtu.be/sIaT8Jl2zpI) (RQ 10).
Postmodern Jukebox, also widely known by the acronym PMJ, is a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee (39 years old) in 2011. The other band members pictured above are: Casey Abrams (29, bass player/singer and sixth place finisher in the 2011 American Idols show), Haley Reinhart (30, lead singer and 3rd place finisher in the 2011 American Idols show), Morgan James (38, singer and well known Broadway performer), Ariana Savales (26, singer and burlesque performer), James Hall (trombone), Ben Golden (clarinet), Adam Kubota (bass) and Chip Thomas (drums). PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz. Postmodern Jukebox has amassed over 1.4 billion YouTube views and 5 million subscribers. With over one million views in its first week, and four million in its first year, Robyn Adele Anderson’s cover version of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” -2012- (https://youtu.be/bDlC9m1FDo4) (RQ 7) was Postmodern Jukebox’s first viral music video. The song was included on Introducing Postmodern Jukebox (2013) and reached No. 8 on the Billboard magazine jazz album chart. This was followed by her cover of Miley Cryus’ “We Can’t Stop” (https://youtu.be/pXYWDtXbBB0) (RQ10) in 2013. The band performed on Good Morning in 2014, guest Kate Davis performed a cover version of Meghan Trainir’s song “All About That Bass” -2014- (https://youtu.be/aLnZ1NQm2uk) (RQ 10+) in Scott Bradlee’s living room after three hours of practice. Davis performed on double bass. “I knew the song, probably could have done it on the fly. Maybe that’s why it’s so funny. I remember thinking it was so funny at the time I was going to crack up, maybe five times. “The 1940s arrangement and piano accompaniment is by Bradlee with Dave Tedeschi on drums. The single was a success, catching the attention of Time, Billboard, The Huffington Post and the PBS News Hour America in September.
Carla Wehbe – 27 years old Photo credit: jamaicans.com
Carla is an Aussie singer grown popular creating song covers of artists like Ed Sheeran, Charlie Puth and Justin Bieber on her carlawehbe YouTube channel. Merging current pop melodies with an edgy 80/s nostalgia, Carla Wehbe teleports you back to another era. Her pure pop vocal, matched with a tough exterior and vintage elements, is a combination that is hard to ignore. Before fame, she created her YouTube channel in April 2009 but didn’t post her first cover, a rendition of Justin Bieber’s “Be Alright (Don’t Tell Me)” (https://youtu.be/RHQE0oGwxxI) (RQ 8) until 2012. She also recorded “Stay” (https://youtu.be/QC7iC3DUiaY) (RQ 9) originally written by Maurice Williams in 1960. In 2016, she released her debut EP “Electric Field” (https://youtu.be/XJjw7RaZucQ) (RQ 7). She has two brothers, one of whom is named Joshua. One of her most popular YouTube song covers is of “Skinny Love” by Birdy (https://youtu.be/ESRTn6AAtqo) (RQ 6).
Tessanne Chin – 35 years old Photo credit: jamaicans.com
Tessanne Amanda Chin (born September 20, 1985) is a Jamaican recording artist, best known for winning Season 5 of NBC’s reality TV singing competition The Voice as part of Adam Levine’s team. She has opened for famous acts such as Patti LaBelle, Peabo Bryson and Gladys Knight, and toured for three years with Jimmy Cliff. She is the younger sister of singer Tami Chynn. On the second episode of the Blind Auditions broadcast on September 24, 2013, she performed Pink’s’s song “Try” (https://youtu.be/ifVeTKpjiEA) (RQ 10). All four coaches, namely Adam Levine, CeeLo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton turned their chairs for her but she opted for Adam Levine. On December 10, 2013, her performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (https://youtu.be/UMhvfLgmngk) (RQ 8) for the Semifinal Round became #1 on the iTunes chart, with her becoming the first contestant to achieve the top chart position at the end of an applicable voting window that season. This performance also served as her first U.S. chart appearance, charting at #64 on the Hot 100 chart, #14 on the Digital Songs chart, and #5 on Heatseekers Songs chart. On the Canadian Hot 100, the song made its debut at #39. On December 17, 2013, her performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” (https://youtu.be/vZ7Cp3_H9mg) (RQ 10+) became #1 on the iTunes chart, with her also becoming the first contestant that season to achieve the top chart position twice. (Note: Whitney’s original recording of “I Have Nothing” (https://youtu.be/FxYw0XPEoKE) (RRQ 10+). In a way, Tessanne brought Whitney’s spirit back as she passed away in 2012 at only 48 years old). The following week the cover made its debut on the Hot 100 at #51, #12 on the Digital Songs chart and #15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Her duet with coach Adam Levine, a cover of the Beatle’s “Let It Be” (https://youtu.be/_2K3-H7k9-s) (RQ 8) charted at #76 on the Hot 100 and #24 on Digital Songs. The songs also charted at #1 and #7 respectively on the Heatseekers Songs chart. In Canada, her cover of “I Have Nothing” charted at #32 while “Let it Be” charted at #35. A compilation album with studio versions of her The Voice performances was released on iTunes and charted at #4 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. During the Finale Results show, she was revealed to be the winner of Season 5 obtaining the highest number of votes in Voice history. Jacquie Lee as runner-up and Will Champlin in third place. After her victory was announced, she debuted her first U.S. single “Tumbling Down” (https://youtu.be/sY_nDgC-IhAw) (RQ 9), written by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. She is to date so far, the only foreign-born contestant to win The Voice USA. Tessanne shared on her Facebook page that she planned to release the background song which was featured in her clear scalp and hair commercial. It was co-written by Balewa Muhammad while produced and released by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. “Fire” (https://youtu.be/vcCFO0POGG0) (RQ 10+), is the first official single released on the newly formed Justice League Music Group. On April 26, 2015, Chin performed at the 42nd Daytime Emmy Awards show where she performed the musical classic “What I Did for Love” (https://youtu.be/q_A8MPYM8qg) (RQ 8). Since then, Tessanne performed at the National Memorial Day Concert held in Washington, D.C. on May 24, 2015, performing alongside Joe Mantegna, Gloria Estefan, Stephanie Scott, Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson amongst others where she covered Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” (https://youtu.be/4gwJJDjMC-o) (RQ 20). Chin is in the process of releasing a new album. Tessanne thus has far collaborated with American rapper T.T. and producer Lil’C as well as Jamaican songwriter/vocalist Olaf Blackwood for the upcoming album which remains untitled. Tessanne appears on 2018 single, “Let Me Love You” (https://youtu.be/qgr1bCeGojw) (RQ 8) with GrooveGalore and Honorel. The single is also included on Honorebel’s album, “Above The Noise” (2019). In September 2019, Chin announced she was pregnant with her first child, a girl, on her Twitter and Instagram accounts. She also remarried in June of that year.
Greyson Chance– 23 years old Photo credit: justjaredjr.com
Greyson Chance (born August 16, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He rose to national attention in 2010 with his performance of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” (https://youtu.be/bxDlC7YV5is) (RQ 5) at a grade school music festival which went viral on YouTube, gaining over 68 million views. Two of his original compositions, “Stars” (https://youtu.be/emblM4a76jg) (RQ 4) and “Broken Hearts” (https://youtu.be/-AwoiGR6c8M) (RQ 3), gained over six and eight million views respectively on his channel. Chance’s debut single, “Waiting Outside the Lines” (https://youtu.be/gNh4BnTTv9s) (RQ 2) was released in October 2010 followed by his debut studio album, “Hold On ‘til the Night” (https://youtu.be/QrT1EfdO67s) (RQ 10) in August 2011. On January 13, 2014, Chance released a new song named “Temptation” (https://youtu.be/Z5xkVUGAxHU) (RQ 8) onto his Soundcloud. He performed the song at the Sundance Film Festival. Throughout the year, he continued the process of writing and recording his EP, “Somewhere Over My Head.” On September 16, Chance released a single called “Thrilla In Manila” (https://youtu.be/a5uwbUFfI3w) (RQ 7). Another track named “Meridians” (https://youtu.be/xn1Qi9YsXSs) (RQ 9) was released on March 24, 2015. Both songs, ultimately, did not appear on the final track list. The official lead single, “Afterlife” (https://youtu.be/QjZL1MZQEqk), (RQ 8), was released on October 29, 2015. In 2016, it was succeeded by “Hit & Run” (https://youtu.be/OOPre_zP7zI) (RQ 7) on February 5 and “Back On the Wall” (https://youtu.be/9QP2RLsNfls) (RQ 8) on April 29 as the second and third singles, respectively. On April 28, he released a new music video for his single “Back On The Wall” on his YouTube channel. The EP was released May 13, 2016. Before the release of “Somewhere Over My Head,” from January 27 to February 1, 2016, Chance performed three shows in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. He had a release party of his new EP in YouTube Space LA on May 13, 2016. And on May 28–29, he had another two shows after the release of the EP in San Francisco and Seattle. During promotion of the EP, Chance was also featured on an electronic dance track by tyDit and Jack Novak titled “Oceans” (https://youtu.be/_-i5WUK6eY4) (RQ 7), which was released on February 19, 2016. In February 2016, he was picked as Elvis Duran’s Artist of the Month and was featured on NBC’s Today show hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hota Kotb and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single “Hit & Run”. In June 2016, one month after releasing his new EP, “Somewhere Over My Head,” Chance returned to Asia for a short promo tour starting in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and Manilla, Philippines. On September 15, 2016, Frank Pole released a song titled “Anything” which featured Chance. On December 23, 2016, Chance released a song called “London”. On May 6, 2017, Chance is also featured on Fabian Mazur’s song called “Earn It”. On May 12, 2017, Chance’s cover of “Hungry Eyes” (https://youtu.be/lyh-wNJ4DC0) (RQ 9) was released as part of the soundtrack album for the television film remake of Dirty Dancin. On June 30, 2017, Chance released a song called “Seasons” (https://youtu.be/dEeI6_lXfzc) (RQ 7). On December 8, 2017, Chance released his single “Low” (https://youtu.be/oqoR5OKnrHY) (RQ 9), and on May 4, 2018, he released his single “Lighthouse” (https://youtu.be/kj3qYE91W_c) (RQ 8), collaborating with Danish-American DJ & music producer Fabian Mazur. Another single was released on June 8, 2018 called “Good As Gold” (https://youtu.be/wHixQSPaqiQ) (RQ 10).
Cody Simpson– 23 years old Photo credit: playbill.com
Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian singer, songwriter, dancer, actor and model. After parting ways with his band “The Tide” he began focusing on his solo career. Simpson released the song Golden Thing (https://youtu.be/YmFX6xVWR3I) (RQ 9) he wrote for Mikey Cyrus on 18 October 2019 which crossed over 1 million views on Spotify. In the same year, he participated on The Masked Singer Australia, as the “Robot” and went on to win the show. He’s set to release his upcoming full-length solo album which will cover pop, rock, and urban songs in 2020. As an actor in 2014, he made his television debut by making a cameo in a sitcom Instant Mom. In 2015, Simpson guest starred on the American television sitcom Cougar Town, portraying Pete, a high school student. In the same year he booked a role in Nickelodeon’s film One Crazy Cruise where he played the love interest of Kira Kosarin’s character Ellie Jensen-Bauer and starred as himself. In late 2017, Simpson was cast in the supporting role in Bret Easton Ellis’ thriller film, The Smiley Face Killers opposite actor Crispin Glover. In October 2018, he debuted on Theatre when he was cast in the Broadway musical Anastasia as the leading male character Dmitry, alongside John Bolton and Christy Altomare.
Jacquie Lee–23 years old Photo credit: OnMilwaukee
Jacqueline Ann “Jacquie” Lee (born June 25, 1997) is an American pop singer from Colts Neck, New Jersey. She is best known for being the runner-up of Season 5 of NBC’s singing competition The Voice in 2013 as part of Christina Aguilera’s team and as a solo artist signed to Atlantic Records. Lee recently started releasing music under her given name, Jacquie “The Broken Ones” (https://youtu.be/LGVCI6OrHw8) RQ 8). At the blind auditions on September 24, 2013, Lee performed Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” (https://youtu.be/ScgBbnkMP-I) (RQ 9) persuading Christina Aguilera and Blake Sheldon to turn their chairs. Lee chose Aguilera and remained on her team the entire season. In the Battle rounds, Lee was paired with Briana Cuoco where they sang the song “House of the Rising Sun” (https://youtu.be/dvOVsfwmIMw) (RQ 7) and advanced. During the Knockout round, Lee sang “Stompa” https://youtu.be/umOlwnN3nTshttps://youtu.be/umOlwnN3nTs) (RQ 9) by Serena Ryder against Anthony Paul and Christina selected her to move on to the Live Playoffs, sending Paul home. Lee continued through the Live Rounds and during the Top 5, got an iTunes bonus for reaching the Top 10 overall songs with her studio version of “Angel” (https://youtu.be/iK9yxynlRVI) (RQ 6) by Sarah McLachlan. In the Finals, Lee again received an iTunes bonus from reaching the No. 9 position with her recording of the Jennifer Holliday song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” (https://youtu.be/vs8pzmBYHoE) (RQ 10). On December 17, 2013 she was declared to have come in 2nd place behind winner Tessanne Chin.
Jordan MacKampa – Age 25 Photo credit: kcrw.com Congolese born. Lives in Woodend Coventry, UK. Excellent acoustic guitar player. Upcoming North American tour: SXSW Music Festival. “Magic” https://youtu.be/bEFDQT7mJhE (RQ 10)Victoria Monet McCants – Age 27 Photo credit: Creative Commons – Share Alike 2.0. From Sacramento, California. Signed a contract with Atlantic Records. “Jaguar” album (fantastic video). https://youtu.be/unniQzo65W8 (RQ 10)Tayla Parx–Age 27 Photo credit: screenshot From Dallas TX, lives in LA. “We Need to Talk – I Want You” https://youtu.be/9lZ1EVyVLLo “Thank U Next” written for Ariana Grande https://youtu.be/gl1aHhXnN1k (RQ 9) Grammy nomination for album of year. (3) Top10 singles: “Love Lies,” “High Hopes” And see above… Also, actress in (4) films including Hairspray. And, six TV appearances including Bones.
Arei Moon – Age 28 Photo credit: celebpie.com. Roots from Cape Verde, West Africa. Raised in Orlando, Florida. Won Orlando Idols in 2017. Finalist in the 2020 VOICE show. “Ooh La La” https://youtu.be/P74tu1QsTYI (RQ 6)
Todd Tilghman– Age 42 Photo credit: meridianstar.com Cheryl Owens – May 5, 202 Won 2020 VOICE show. Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Meridian, Mississippi. Father of 8, married high school sweatheart Brooke. “We’ve Got Tonight” https://youtu.be/EeoI_hLD69Q (RQ 10+)
Toneisha Harris– Age 45 Photo credit: YouTube screentrap. Toneisha is from Salisbury, Maryland. Runner-up at the 2020 VOICE show. She sang gospel with her Mom growing up for 15 yrs. After her Dad passed, went solo into R&B. “I Want You To Know What Love Is” (with Foreigner) https://youtu.be/a9iab6mhUY4 (RQ 9)
Ages 20-22.
Twenty 20-22 Year Old Singers On Their Way To Stardom:
I believe there are nineteen artists that are well on their way to stardom (ages 20-24): Lil Nas X, Shawn Mendes, Ronan Parke, Ella Henderson, Bea Miller, Lorde, Cavetown, Gabriella Wilson, Alessia Cara, Zara Larsson, Hailee Steinfeld, Richard Istel, Zan Fisku, Thunderstorm Artis, Lewis Capoldi, Tierra Umi Wilson, Amir Kelly, Kristian Kostov, Louisa Johnson and . Here are their highlights:
Lil Nas X – Age 20 In 2019, “ Old Town Road” made him famous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Ov5jzm3j8 (RQ 9) Vulture – Dropping a Children’s Book Photo credit: Charu Sinha – September 15, 2020Shawn Mendes – Age 22 “ Senorita” reached NO1 in the U.S. in 2019. Duet with Camila Cabelle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcrTQUVkUe0 (RQ 10+) Photo credit: vulture.comRonan Parke – Age 22 From England. Three No1s before he was 20. “Feeling Good” (https://youtu.be/qpnRc2taT6I) (RQ 10) Photo credit: Twitter – Platinum BabyElla Henderson – Age 24 “Ghost” No1 single. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA8AfQaUnXM (RQ 9) paradigmagency.com Photo credit: Marty DiamondBea Miller – Age 21 Won Walt Disney Music Award for Best Song. “Young Blood” – R.I.A.A. Gold https://youtu.be/fMMNrth246k (RQ 8) “Feel Something” https://youtu.be/3eLfRb6_Css (RQ 10) Photo credit: onthemoveworld.comLorde – Age 23 Given name: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor. From New Zealand. Electro pop style. As of 2017, sold > 5M albums worldwide. 2013 chart topping LP “Royals” https://youtu.be/nlcIKh6sBtc (RQ 9)Cavetown– Age 21 At birth: Robin Daniel Skinner From London. 4.4M streamers on Spotify. YouTube channel: 1.46M subscribers. Has released 12 albums. Sample song: “Boys Will Be Bugs” https://youtu.be/uREGk0fT0GQ (RQ 7)Gabriella Wilson “H.E.R.” – Age 23 2014 – first LP: “Something to Prove” 2017 “H.E.R.” Five Grammy nominations. 2020 ”Hard Place” Song of Year nomination. https://youtu.be/zfHbuTG8IHE (RQ 8)Alessia Cara – 22 Photo credit: globalcitizen.com Daniele Selby – September 17, 2017
Alessia Caracciolo (born in Ontario: July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After producing acoustic covers, she signed with EP Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings in 2014 and released her debut single the following year. “Here” (https://youtu.be/UKp2CrfmVfw) (RQ 7) peaked at number 19 on the Canadian Hot 100chart and was a sleeper hit in the United States, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Zara Larsson– Age 21 From Sweden “Uncover” Photo credit: timesofindia.com PTI – January 3, 2017
Zara Maria Larsson (born 16 December 1997) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. At the age of 10, she achieved national fame in Sweden for winning the 2008 season of the talent show Talang, the Swedish version of British TV’s Got Talent. Four years later, in 2012, Larsson signed with the record label Ten Music Group and subsequently released her debut compilation recording, the extended play “Introducing” in January 2013. Larsson’s first original song, “Uncover” (https://youtu.be/U-PXEe-qeK4) (RQ 8) topped the music charts in Scandinavia: Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. In February 2013, “Uncover” was certified Platinum by Universal Music Sweden. In July 2013, Introducing was certified 3× Platinum in the country. Larsson signed a three-year contract with Epic Records in the United States in April 2013. In 2016, she performed at the opening and closing ceremonies for UEFA Euro in France. Larsson’s second studio album, “So Good,” was released on 17 March 2017 and entered at number seven on the UK Albums chart. Her third studio album, “Poster Girl” is expected to be released in 2020.
Hailee Steinfeld– Age 23 She is from Los Angles, CA. “Love Myself” Photo credit: onthisday.com
Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, director, and producer. Her breakthrough role came as Mattie Ross in the drama western film True Grit (2010), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award amongst other accolades. Steinfeld made her breakthrough in music after performing “Flashlight” in Pitch Perfect 2 (2015). She signed with Republic Records soon after and released her debut single, “Love Myself” (https://youtu.be/bMpFmHSgC4Q) (RQ 10). This was followed by her debut extended play Haiz (2015). She went on to release a series of singles, including “Starving”, a collaboration with both Grey and Zedd, which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hit 100 chart, and “Let Me Go”, a collaboration with Alesso, Florida Georgia Line and Watt which peaked at number 14 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. In May 2020, Steinfeld released her second extended play, “Half Written Story,” which was supported by the singles “Wrong Direction” and “I Love You’s.”
Richard Istel– Age 21 Photo credit: sputnik.de June 7, 2017
It’s always fascinating finding new singers, especially when they’re from Europe (Germany in this case). The first thing you notice about Richard Istel, (born: 5-Aug-2013) is his impeccable English — an American English — with absolutely no accent!! When you ask Richie how this was possible, he answered it was simply a talent for emulating sounds! Richard Istel lives in Leipzig with his family and has been incredibly busy touring Germany and performing in Latvia and Poland. In Konin (Poland), he recently won the 13-18 category at the International Children’s Song and Dance Festival. But even way before this, in 2009, Richie made his mark in a German talent show called Das Supertalent by being the only child to reach the final round (he placed 5th). Richie has also been on Teenage Rockstar and placed 3rd at the Europop contest. One original song he recorded is called World‘s Turning (https://youtu.be/9E3n1axGuGo) (RQ 6) with lyrics by his sister Lisa and co-created with his dad, who seems to be a solo entertainer on the accordion. What you hear when Richie sings is a harmonic, rich, treble voice capable of holding notes and full of young power. He has a natural, self-confident performing style and is certain of his ability to charm an audience. His choice of music from the modern Pop genre shows his ability to deliver somber tunes like Stay (https://youtu.be/K4s9PQvrpRQ) (RQ 8), Vampire (https://youtu.be/EkHHMqZW8E0) (RQ 4) andHallelujah (https://youtu.be/5F3MJ8G5Uro) (RQ 6), as well as romping tunes like Hollywood Hills (https://youtu.be/CVf803IYUm0). There are many more covers worth listening to on his Youtube channel: Skyscraper,Video Games, Angeland a very funny home video of him cracking up trying to sing Ben from a few years back. You can find out more about Richard Istel by visiting his fan page.
Zan Fiskum– Age 23 Photo credit: wikicelebs.com From Seattle, Washington. Made the Top9 of the 2020 VOICE show. Has toured the NW Territory already. Her genre has been Christian songs. “Forbidden Art” (https://youtu.be/RqP9NoJ9EKo) (RQ 9)Thunderstorm Artis– Age 23 Photo credit: thefamousinfo.com From Haleiwa, Hawaii. Made the Top5 of the 2020 VOICE show. Already has been touring the west coast. Plays his guitar: “Blackbird.” https://youtu.be/MhXIKrclzHU (RQ 10+)
Lewis Capoldi– Age 24 Photo credit: aceshownoz.com From: Bathgate, Scotland. His Glasgow gigs have been sold out. “”Before You Go” https://youtu.be/Jtauh8GcxBY (RQ 10+) “Someone You Loved” https://youtu.be/zABLecsR5UE (RQ 10+)
UMI (Tierra Wilson) – Age 21 Photo credit: mclub.com.ua Tierra goes by the stage name: UMI. She us from Seattle, Washington. Tierra has signed with RCA Records. She has 50M streams on Spotify. “Remember Me” https://youtu.be/CLcEe3uYlmI (RQ 7)
Amir Kelly- Age 23 Photo credit: lfla.org From Riverside, California. He is considered Blindian (half black, half Indian) Started at Chapman University Music School. He felt disconnected there, so he got into USC. He felt connected to the black community there. In 2015, diagnosed with Stage3 Burkett’s lymphoma. Is cancer free today! He is a “R&B crooner.” “Maui” writer & singer. https://youtu.be/kZhkmZ741dQ (RQ 10+)
Kristian Kostov – Age 20 Photo credit: Facebook screenshot
Kristian Konstantinov Kostov (born 15 March 2000) is a Bulgarian-Russian singer. He was a finalist in season one of The Voice Kids Russia and a runner-up in the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria. He represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song “Beautiful Mess” (https://youtu.be/bgxz23-i3lA) (RQ 10+) finishing in 2nd place. In January 2018, Kostov won the EBBA Public Choice award. In January 2019, Kostov was one of seven first batch singers who would be performing in the seventh season of Hunan Television’s singing reality-competition “Singer” (previously I Am a Singer).
Louisa Johnson – 22 years old Photo credit: short-biography.com
Louisa Johnson (born 11 January 1998), known as Louisa on stage, is an English singer. In 2015, she won the twelfth series of The X Factor. She subsequently released her winner’s single “Forever Young” (https://youtu.be/8Z9BE2Pz_VA) (RQ 10+) which peaked at number nine on the UK Singles chart, and featured on Clean Bandit’s UK top five single “Tears” (https://youtu.be/wRvraPQaqE4) (RQ 9). There were indications that her debut studio album would be released as quickly as possible, maybe as early as February 2016, and would include her debut single “Forever Young” (https://youtu.be/8Z9BE2Pz_VA) ( RQ 10+). However, the singer later declared: “If I don’t like it, no way is it going out. People are going to know me through that album – so it needs to be perfect.” In May 2016, Louisa released a single with British band Clean Bandit called “Tears”. The song was a commercial success, reaching the top five in Scotland and the UK, and charting in many other European countries. It was also certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In June, she performed “Tears” with Clean Bandit and a new version of the song “Over and Over” (https://youtu.be/D2uNHrgkBzk) (RQ 9) with Nathan Sykes at the Summertime Ball. She co-headlined the concert the following year, and appeared as a guest performer in 2018. Louisa released her second solo single, “So Good” (https://youtu.be/svhGUlB9V5U) (RQ 7) in November 2016. The single peaked at number 13 in the UK, and received a gold certification from BPI. The following month, Johnson co-headlined both nights of the annual Jingle Bell Ball at London’s 02 Arena; she co-headlined the concert for second consecutive year in 2017. Her third single, “Best Behaviour” (https://youtu.be/1sA7Ojgzzus) (RQ 8) was released in March 2017. It charted at number 48 in the UK, and was certified silver by BPI. In 2017, she also featured on Olly Murs’ single “Unpredictable” (https://youtu.be/06GsQH47VyQ) (RQ 6), which reached number 32 on the official UK singles chart and received a silver certification from BPI. In March 2018, Louisa released her fourth single, “Yes” (https://youtu.be/O02MnrL_wrc) (RQ 8) a collaboration with the American rapper 2 Chainz, which peaked at number 65 in the UK. On 13 July 2018, Johnson announced via social media that she had left Syco. She also announced the release of her new single for early August with Ministry of Sound. The single “Between You & Me” (https://youtu.be/3JPWE5VDOGQ) (RQ 7), recorded in collaboration with One Bit, was released on 10 August 2018. Later that month, she was featured on Mars Moniz’s single “999” (https://youtu.be/0yK4XKmyT8Q) (RQ 9). In 2019, she collaborated with Sigma on the single “Here We Go Again” (https://youtu.be/uqCgS24GFps) (RQ 9) which charted in the UK at number 98. She also featured on Kream and Eden Prince’s single “Ain’t Thinkin Bout You” (https://youtu.be/kAAlMNT3MQo) (RQ 6), and released “Ain’t Got You” (https://youtu.be/AB7VhZY0ezk) with Steve Void in 2019. In January 2020, Johnson announced a collaboration with fitness clothing brand USA Pro. Following the announcement, she released “Like I Love Me” (https://youtu.be/dSo2AAPE6C4) (RQ 8) to promote the collaboration.
Anthony Gariula – 21 Years Old Photo credit: book-celebs.com
Anthony Gariula, is a teen pop music recording artist, with a huge audience on the video creating app Vine with more than 275,000 followers and 70 million loops as of February 2016. He has signed with Cheiron Records. His goal has always been to inspire people through music. He started writing music at a very young age and loved to sing for family and friends when he was little. His single “Barricade” (https://youtu.be/nN7Bwcc4mOs) (RQ 7) was his first song to hit the iTunes Charts. In fall 2015, he released the song “So I Don’t Drown” (https://youtu.be/G7BnJYFcgtk) (RQ 9). In 2018, while auditioning for The Four, he sang “In My Blood” (https://youtu.be/-SERW0vN7A8) (RQ 9). His brother is named Louis, and his parents are Jude-Ann and Rich Gargiula. He was introduced to audiences across America when he appeared and performed live on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for the first time at the very young age of 7: “Think” (https://youtu.be/junlSsSmx4E) (RQ 8).
Eleven more 20 yr olds – good chance to make it:
There are another eleven artists that are 20 who stand a very good chance to making a living singing. They are: Madison Beer, Daya, Ravyn Lenae, Mallrat, Kodie Shane, Lenon Stella, Jasmine Thompson, Grace Davis, Maxtoon (Maia), Claud Mintz and Arlo Parks. Here is a quick preview of them:
Daya – 20 years old Real name: Grace Martine Tandon. She has performed at the White House. Her first hit “Hide Away” was in high school, 2017 Grammy for Best Dance “Don’t Let Me Down” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwHQfn0s94M. (RQ 9) “Insomnia” (https://youtu.be/JybV1mL6EMA) (RQ 10) Photo credit: discogs.com
Jasmine Thompson “Sun Goes Down” was charted Top10 all over Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo4cmTaEDIk (RQ 9) Photo credit: deviantart.coGrace Davis 2018 X Factor Winner “Don’t Go” original song https://youtu.be/vzl4NKR4DGs (RQ 8) Photo credit: 6b33.netMaxtoon (Maia) From Oakland, CA. Known for playing the ukulele. Released LP “Plum Blossum” streamed 100M x. In 2019, released “ Prom Dress”. Streamed 90m x. https://youtu.be/AeUeLzBO0go (RQ 7) 2020, first single: “Fever Dream”Claud Mintz Photo credit: Do312.com From Brooklyn NY. Raised in Highland Park, IL. Signed with Phoebe Bridges label. “Just to Forget” https://youtu.be/gOFJVShfkIY (RQ 9) “Toast” duet with Josh Mehling https://toastmp3.bandcamp.com/album/toast-epArlo Parks Born: Anais Oluwatoyin Estelle Marnho Photo credit: MME.com From West London. A “tender-tone” singer. Tour planned to include: Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, Hamburg, Denmark, Munich, Switzerland, Italy, Barcelona, Madrid, Netherlands, Cologne and London. “Hurt” https://youtu.be/2qz4cAAwtv0 (RQ 7) “Sophie” https://youtu.be/6ljQX9DUhOY (RQ 9)
Nine more 20 yr olds – longshots to make a career singing:
In addition to the twelve aforementioned singers, these additional artists in their 20s would fall into my “longshot” category for their potential in the music industry:
Chloe Bailey “Upper Register” (https://youtu.be/pntB7it50ls) (RQ 6). Chloe’s sister Halle, who is only 19, looks more promising including doing Ariel in the Little Mermaid.
Avicii– Age 28 Name at birth: Tim Bergling From Sweden. A DJ, remixer, record producer, musician, songwriter, specialized in audio programming. Checkout the audience’ total involvement! Song: “Wake Me Up” https://youtu.be/1A6__HssHW8 (RQ 10) So sad to report, he committed suicide. Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255.
19 Year Olds.
Six 19 Year Olds On Their Way To Stardom:
I have identified twelve singers that are 19 that are blessed with talent. Of these, I believe five that are well on their way to a singing career: Nola Cryus, Billie Ellish, Nova Miller, Lydia Knight, Solomia Lukyanets and Malu Trevejo. Here are their highlights:
Noah Cryus From Nashville Has had a string of hit singles including: “Make Me Cry” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwX4wrYLwfU (RQ 10+) “Dear August” with PJ Harding https://youtu.be/lTqoKjCqqew (RQ 10) She is Miley Cryus’ sister Photo credit: Twitter – @AussieCyrens Sunday Brunch TV ShowBillie Ellish First to win four Grammy categories in 2019. Her first No1 song was: “Bad Guy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDfgMOUjCI (RQ 10+) fashionista.com American Vogue Cover Photo Credit: Whitney Bauck – February 3, 2020 Nova Miller Name at birth: Astrid Fanny Grandstrom. From Sweden. She has a five octave vocal range. Released 11 singles. “Turn Up The Fire” has 11M views on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EXMsW3FoQuE (RQ 10+)Lydia Knight & the Regrettes Lead vocalist of this punk rock band. Recorded 2 studio albums, 2 EPs, 2 as featured artist. Song example: “I Dare You” https://youtu.be/WOgQpjARYyc (RQ 10+)Solomia Lukyanets Photo credit: thefamouspeople.com
Solomia Lukyanets is a Ukrainian opera singer who gained fame for appearing on ‘The Voice Kids Ukraine’ and ‘The Voice Kids Germany’. A native of Kiev, Solomia started singing when she was three years old. In 2004, she won her first international competition. In 2012, she successfully auditioned for the inaugural season of ‘‘The Voice Kids Ukraine’. She lasted up until the final episode and was eventually declared one of the two runner-ups. She later moved to Berlin, Germany with her family. Solomia has appeared on the German version of ‘The Voice Kids’ as well. She has been listed as the youngest performing opera singer in the Ukrainian Book of Records. She is quite popular on social media. She has about 56 thousand followers on Facebook and more than seven thousand subscribers on YouTube. For her prodigious musical skills, she is considered to be a phenomenon in the world of opera. Here is a sample of here music: “Time To Say Goodbye” (https://youtu.be/ZT-rdjv8wgQ) (RQ 9).
Malu Trevejo Photo credit: billboard
María Luisa “Malu” Trevejo (born October 15, 2002) is a Cuban-born singer, now based in Miami, Florida who performs in both Spanish and English. She became famous for her videos on the video sharing app Musical.ly. She’s now also an Instagram personality with more than 8 million followers. On September 22, 2017, she released her debut single, “Luna Llena”(https://youtu.be/E-zcNpZJX78) (RQ 10+) through Universal Music Latin. It has acquired over 100 million views on her YouTube channel as of November 2019. Not long after, she released another single “En Mi Mente” which has surpassed 10 million views.
Eight More 19 Yr Olds could make it:
The other eight 19 year olds which have lots of potential:
Angie Vasquez From Mexicali (Baja, California) Photo credit: reddit.com
Angie Vasquez (At birth: Ángela Vázquez Espinoza). “Rolling in the Deep” (https://youtu.be/9bh6Hlt_7Ms) (RQ 10+).
Daisy Clark Photo credit: Famous Birthdays
Daisy Clark, a singer-songwriter, has risen to fame through her self-titled YouTube channel. She is best known for her cover of “Bellyache” (https://youtu.be/ldMJRZTNdnQ) (RQ 7) by Billie Eillish, which Eilish herself reacted to. Another popular cover of hers is the Avril Lavigne song “Complicated” (https://youtu.be/Hr_Kh2VNQrA) (RQ 9). After her YouTube channel was created in 2011, she later posted the inaugural video “Wide Awake/Pumped Up Kicks/Paradise Fern” in August 2012. In February 2017, she released her debut single “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (https://youtu.be/8foh6QC0n1c) (RQ 9) to iTunes and Spotify. Her boyfriend, Max Harris, is also a YouTuber and musician. One of her most popular song covers is of Emeli Sande’s “Read All About It (Part 3).
18 Year Olds.
Four 18 Year Olds Already On Their Way To Stardom
I believe there are eight 18 year old singers that are extremely gifted. Of the eight, three are already on their way to singing careers: Loren Gray, Jay IV, Maddie Jane and Laura Bretan. Their highlights immediately follow the others with lots of potential…
6 More 18 Yr Olds Could Make The Big Time
The other six singers with lots of potential are:
Madysyn Rose From Nashville Photo credit: reverbnation.com
Claudia Harrison Photo credit: YouTube screenshot From Perth, Australia. Grandfather taught her opera, father taught surfing. Australia’s VOICE: “O Mio Babbino Caro” https://youtu.be/hxn3k7wmC8Y (RQ 10) “Different Worlds” https://youtu.be/QAed_xe1_rI (RQ 8)
Meghan Daniella Photo credit: YouTube screenshot. From Douglasville, Georgia. Sings with a distinctive raspy voice. Top9 2020 Voice contestant. “Dream Girl” https://youtu.be/NYOqXI2TZHs (RQ 5)
Joanna Serenko Photo credit: InformationCradle
Joanna Serenko is a famous American singer, pianist as well as a songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri who was a contestant on season 18 of “The Voice”, a show that airs on NBC. Joanna started piano and voice lessons at 6 and later went on to join marching band, show choir and musical theater. After opening for a local musician in high school, Joanna started to gain traction in her community and recently won a citywide talent competition. Joanna’s mother is a nurse and would love for her to pursue a job in the medical field. However, her mom and dad are very encouraging of her musical aspirations and are both in support of her decision to put college on hold and pave her own path while chasing her dreams on “The Voice.” An album of hers: “Best of Me” https://youtu.be/rEAzgpmu5ro(RQ 9).
One 18 Yr Old Retired Too Early?
Rhema Marvanne Photo credit: pandora.com
Rhema Marvanne Voraritskul (7 years old at the time) became famous in 2010 for singing a near perfect version of “Amazing Grace” (https://youtu.be/DDDlxmsciqY) (RQ 10). Unfortunately, She is no longer active in singing gospel music.
In 2016, Bretan was the winner of Romania’s Got Talent. Following that win, Bretan auditioned for season eleven of America’s Got Talent when she sang “Nessun dorma” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot. The act received a standing ovation from Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Mel B, and Howie Mandel; afterwards Mel B pressed her golden buzzer, sending Bretan directly to the quarterfinals. Bretan performed in the first live show on July 26, 2016, and advanced to the semifinals with the audience vote. She gave another well-received performance in the semifinals, but missed out on the audience vote later and lost the “Dunkin Save” vote. However, Bretan won the judges’ vote and passed onto the finals. Bretan performed “O mio babbino caro”https://youtu.be/qF7C3f9L74shttps://youtu.be/qF7C3f9L74s (in the finals, earning very favorable reviews from the show’s judges. “Today you look like a princess, but tonight you rule the stage like a queen,” said Klum. She finished in sixth place overall. In 2017, Bretan performed “I Dreamed a Dream” in the finale of season one of The Voice Kids Romania. In December 2018, Bretan was announced as one of the semi-finalists for the 2019 edition of Selecția Națională, Romania’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. She performed her song “Dear Father”, winning in the televote but finishing 3rd in the jury, being the runner up in the overall results. She also recorded “Believe” with The Tenors (https://youtu.be/QHWg_TtmkEU (RQ 10).
17 Year Olds.
Three Can’t Miss Singers, Two Longshots
I believe there are five singers worth mentioning. The “longshots“ in terms of earning a long term singing career would be Elsie Fisher and Allegra Miles.
Elsie Fisher Photo credit: newsday.com Joseph V. Amodio – July 5, 2018
Elsie was in the movie “Despicable Me 2” – where she was the voice of Agnes (https://youtu.be/qQeOnGI7H-s) (RQ 10). If she does make it, the type of singing will most likely be behind the scenes doing voice work for animated movies.
Allegra Miles Photo credit: YouTube screenshot Won a Peggy & Rick Katz award. Was a contestant on the 2020 VOICE show. “Use Somebody” https://youtu.be/DFuopE6XhM8. (RQ 9)
On the other hand, Sophie May Williams and Manon Maley have shown lots of future potential and Angela Aguilar has already displayed a high degree of success (see some details below):
Manon Maley 2019 Voice for Kids finalist “Writings on the Wall” https://youtu.be/wFQgLXNC3ek (RQ 9) Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
One 16 Year Old Stands Alone:
There are seven 16 Year Olds worth mentioning. One of the seven seems to stand alone, and has done so since 2013. Her name is Amira Willighagen.
Amira Willighagen – 9 yrs old Won Holland’s Got Talent in 2013 Winning song: “Nessun Dorma” https://youtu.be/r8KrpwqxE4g (RQ 10+) Photo Credit: YouTube Final Live Show December 28, 2013
16 Year Olds (see 17 year olds for playlist link):
Amira Willighagen – 16 Years Old Recorded her first album “Amira” in 2014. Her second album was released in 2015: “Merry Christmas” Includes “Ave Maria” https://youtu.be/tEImCJWI_ak (RQ 10) Performed at the Classics is Groot 2017: “Amazing Grace” https://youtu.be/7PJWRKkMpHM (RQ 10) In 2018 she released “With All My Heart” Marked a change from opera to classical. “Gabriellas Sang” https://youtu.be/m5unawKpysw (RQ 10) In 2019, she performed at concerts around the world. In 2020, she released a set of four CDs.
The Most Unique 14 Year Old
Courtney Hadwin Photo credit: justjared.com August 14, 2018
This 14 year old might be the most unique of all of the singers mentioned in this section of my blog: Courtney Hadwin “Hard to Handle” (https://youtu.be/Upx9Qdl1yJg) (RQ 10). “Nutbush City Limit” (https://youtu.be/aUgke-UydXo) (RQ 7). (To me, like many others, she seems to be capable of bringing back the old-school soulfulness of such artists like Janice Joplin.
Courtney Hadwin’s (14 years old) future is so bright, wearing shades won’t protect you. Channeling the great Janis Joplin, the young British phenom delivered the goods once more when she guested on America’s Got Talent: The Champions on Monday night. “I’ve always been quite shy in I do find it difficult to talk to people,” the teen said in a pre-recorded interview. “When I do sing, I feel like I turn into a different person.” And before our eyes, the AGT season 13 finalist did just that. Hadwin rocked out with her performance of “Pretty Little Thing,” (https://youtu.be/JO2xa_gU4bE) an original composition. Afterwards, AGT judge Simon Cowell admitted he was stunned by Hadwin’s second-place result last season, after which she signed with Syco Music and Arista Records. “When you were on the show last time and you didn’t win,” Cowell said at the top of Hadwin’s performance, “my mouth literally dropped. So many people were disappointed, hence the reason you’re here today.” When asked how she felt to be competing against the champs, Hadwin was humble. “I didn’t expect to be getting invited to Champions. So just to be here is an honor.”
Seven More Talented 16 Year Olds:
The third singer like Angela Aguilar, also has established himself as a solid singer: Ruel. In addition to Ruel, there are six more featured 16 year olds: Jess Folley, Holly Tandy, Rai-Elle Williams, Emma Boertien, Calysta Bevier, and Darci Lynne Farmer. Their links follow immediately below.
Ruel He has already been given a shoutout by Elton John His hit “Don’t Tell Me” already is heavily charted https://youtu.be/eE48SVjGMUc (RQ 8) Photo credit: last.fm “Face to Face”
Jess Folley 2017 The Voice Kids winner “Got It Bad” https://youtu.be/lJj8lL1AM2Y (RQ 8) Photo credit: berkofest.com September 9, 2019Holly Tandy Made the 2018 X Factor quarter finals “If I’ve Got You” https://youtu.be/lLhyhn99UXc (RQ 9) 2017 UK X Factor Auditions Photo credit: YouTube – Anthony YingRai-Elle Williams 2018 X Factor Quarter Finalist “Always On My Mind” https://youtu.be/EzwKqxGQCuw (RQ 10) metro.co.uk “Stromzy On Her Side” Photo credit: Adam Bloodworth – November 10, 2017Emma Boertien Winner of Season 10 of Holland’s VOICE “Don’t Play That Song for Me” https://youtu.be/acGkGI4O7xQ (RQ 9) Photo credit: journalistiekwindesheim.nlCalasta Bevier Ovarian cancer survivor. 2016 AGT Golden Buzzer for: “Fight Song” https://youtu.be/IrJ9_GRYKkg (RQ 7)
Darci Lynne Farmer is an American ventriloquist and singer. She was the winner of season twelve of the NBC competition show America’s Got Talent (as a 12 year old). She sang “Summertime” (https://youtu.be/rk_qLtk0m2c) (RQ 9). She was also the runner-up of the first season of America’s Got Talent: The Champions.
15 Year Olds
Seven 15 Year Olds Moderately Successful To Date:
Even though this age group is trending to be very young, I think there are seven of eleven singers that all have potential to become successful as professional singers.
Benicio “Beni” Bryant. Was a finalist in 2019 in America’s Got Talent. I am on the fence with Beni. I think he really belongs in the good chance of making it status. “Who I Am” (https://youtu.be/UejFKnrt620) (RQ 8).
Allie Sherlock Photo credit: alliesherlockofficial.com
Allie Sherlock. Performed on Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018. Invited to LA to work with producer Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic records. It looks like she is moving up in the world of music! She is from Dublin, Ireland. “Unchained Melody” (https://youtu.be/6uecFirb4T4) (RQ 9).
Four 15 Year Olds Building Strong Careers
The other four: Grace Vanderwall, Raksana Wegiel, Gala Alia and Joshua Regala are all seemingly on their way to strong singing careers. Here are snapshots of the four:
Grace Vanderwall At twelve, she performed with her uke on AGT Won AGT IN 2016. 675M streams worldwide. She sang “Today & Tomorrow” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI7zXvGdh8Y (RQ 9) Photo credit: forbes.comRaksana Wegiel First Polish singer to win Eurovision (2019) She sang: “Anyone I Want to Be” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSoXmTva1ZI (RQ 8) Photo credit: wideoportal.com January 5, 2020Gala Aliaj Photo credit: from her website. She is from Brussels, Belgium. Gala won the 2020 Belgium Voice for Kids. Has been a professional model for over ten years. “You Make Me Feel My Love” https://youtu.be/T-Wa7NreAEw (RQ 10) “Don’t Know Why” https://youtu.be/pfcBdupAX-o (RQ 8) JoshuaRegala Photo credit: YouTube screenshot. From: Navan, Ireland. A finalist in the 2020 UK for Kids. Sang a duet with his girlfriend (Marby): “You Are the Reason” (https://youtu.be/dfCQj5Cj1dY) (RQ 7)
14 Year Olds.
Four 14 Year Old Longshots
The four singers that would be “longshots” as future potential professional singers are:
Charlotte Summers Photo credit: startracksphoto.com Sara De Boer – August 20, 2019
Charlotte Summers. From Marbella, Spain. Competed in America’s Got Talent. A model. Also, acted in Little Big Shots. “I Put a Spell On You” (https://youtu.be/Q7SrqxBCmSY) (RQ 9).
Hello Sunday Photo credit: fashionchandigarh.com
Hello Sunday. Duet made up by Myla Finks and Chelsea Glover. Made it to the 2019 semi finals of the VOICE. “Fight For You” (https://youtu.be/-cyxSyMatBE) (RQ 7).
Kevin Dukes Photo credit: agt.fandom.com
Kelvin Dukes. Quarterfinalist in the 2020 America’s Got Talent show. “Ain’t No Way” (https://youtu.be/QC8DnUlvUso) (RQ 7).
Justine Degryse Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Justin Degryse. Finalist in 2020 Voice Kids Belgium. He is from Orsmaal. “Lovely” (https://youtu.be/tDNfPUAF14U) ( RQ 7).
Seven 14 Year Olds Already Building Singing Careers
In my opinion, four of eight singers have the most potential on becoming professional singers in the long run. The four are: Angelina Jordan, Danieliya Tuleshova, Sam Wilkinson, Iveta Tumasonyte, Mason Ramsey, Carter Rubin and Kaue Penna. Their highlights are included below.
Born on July 18, 2006, Daneliya Tuleshova age is 16 years old. She hails from Almaty, Kazakhstan to the mother, Elena Tuleshova. The young artist spent childhood days with siblings- Ameli Tuleshova and Timur Tuleshova. On the blind audition of The Voice Kids Ukraine, Daneliya Tuleshova rocked the song “Cold Stone” (https://youtube.com/watch?v=jGUqIU6u8Ew&feature=share) in the most promising way ever. Thoughtfully, she won the judges and audiences spectrum and the entitled the successor of The Voice Kids in 2017. All the credit goes to her training mode at the age of eight. Besides The Voice Kids, she has the honor of People’s Favorite national award in Kazakhstan, Bravo music award in Russia and Ayalagan Astana national contest. Besides, the star is active on social media. As of January 2019, her Instagram account has more than 305k followers. Likewise, her Facebook account has 12k followers. She also has a YouTube channel with more than 235k subscribers. Another song “What About Us: https://youtu.be/zvUyDrNG2Xw.
Sam Wilkinson 2019 The Voice Kids Winner “When My Guitar Gently Weeps” https://youtu.be/9ODffVcM72w (RQ 8) Photo credit: YouTube – screenshotIveta Tumasonyte 2019 semi-finalist in Ireland’s Got Talent “Rise” https://youtu.be/Uqictx43D3M (RQ 10+) Photo credit: YouTube screenshotMason Ramsey Photo credit: Billboard
Mason Ramsey is an American singer and voice actor. In March 2018, after gaining Internet fame from a viral video of him yodeling Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” at a Walmart, Ramsey was signed to Big Loud. He is known for his single “Famous” (https://youtu.be/69WmX3PmguM) (RQ 10). He has also appeared on the “Ellen” (DeGeneres) show where she offered an opportunity for Mason to play on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville where she taped his live performance (https://youtu.be/SkgUbSvuqV0).
Carter Rubin Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Carter Rubin, 14, is a singer who chose to sing “Before You Go” (https://youtu.be/w4lF4CxdO2I) (RQ 10) by Lewis Capaldi and managed to get two of the four 2020 The Voice coaches to turn their chairs. Both Gwen Stefani and John Legend wanted Rubin on their teams, but Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton refrained from turning around. Stefani believed that she was listening to a female singer; she muses, “She’s going to be big.” When fellow coach John Legend hits his buzzer to move Rubin forward, the house lights come on to reveal a teenage boy. Stefani then hits her buzzer, and as her chair turns to face the stage, she sees Rubin, dressed in blue jeans, a black shirt, and a blazer. Following his song, she marvels, “You do not look like your voice, OK? … I cannot believe what I’m hearing and seeing right now. This is a shock.” Jokes fellow coach Blake Shelton, “Where is this person who was singing?” When Carter says he’s from Long Island, Legend exclaims, “Strong Island!” Fellow coach Kelly Clarkson compliments him on his smile and tells him, “You have a really great voice, especially finding out that you’re 14. That’s insane.” He is best known as the winner of 19th season of the American talent competition The Voice. He has the distinction of being the youngest male winner and the second-youngest winner overall. Carter’s mother, the founder and president of the autism advocacy group Families in Arms was present with her son at Universal Studios Hollywood, where the NBC show is shot. Rubin explained that his older brother Jack was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2.
The Voice Kids (Brazilian season 5). The fifth season, premiered on Rede Globo on January 5, 2020 in the 12:45 p.m. / 11:45 a.m. daytime slot. On March 18, Globo announced that the live shows which were scheduled to begin on March 29 (following a two-week hiatus due to the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled broadcast), would be postponed until later in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Five episodes featuring highlights from the blind auditions and the battles aired during the hiatus. On August 7, Globo confirmed that the season would return on September 13, 2020, with a special pre-taped episode. The live shows were reduced from five to four and changed to remote shows with pre-recorded performances at the contestants’ home. On October 11, Kauê Penna (14 years old in 2020) from Team Brown won the competition, marking Brown’s first win as a coach. Kaue sang “Run to You” (https://youtu.be/V0imz1iyK9E) (RQ 10). This is one of the best auditions I have ever witnessed!
13 Year Olds.
All Five 13 Year Old Singers Look Promising
I believe there are four 13 year old singers that deserve mentioning and, in this case, all four look to be on track to become professional singers in the long run. They are: Viki Gabor, Melani Garcia, Angelina Nava, Justine Afante and Anna Duboc. Here are brief highlights of each:
Viki Gabor From Poland. Won Junior Eurovision in 2019. Sang “Superhero” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnmYnUNsXhw) (RQ 10) Has recorded two uncharted singles Photo credit: last.fm.com
Melanie Garcia Taught herself operatic singing First single: “Viva por ella” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l-4zjkXXB4) (RQ 9) Also performed Freddie Mercury’s “Barcelona” Photo credit: quotev.com – Chapter One
Angelina Nava From France. Won the French Voice for Kids (2017) Won 2nd place at Junior Eurovision (2018) She sang: “Jamais sans toi” (Never Without You) https://youtu.be/PvG1jbZgFcA (RQ 8) Photo credit: letras.comJustine Afante Won the 2020 The Voice for Kids “Never Enough” (https://youtu.be/cmrnqxbUwVQ) (RQ 10) entertainment.inquirer.net “2020 Voice Kids judges blown away” Photo credit: Allan PolicarpioAnna Duboc Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Anna Duboc, in trying to capture the essence and musical excitement, she used standard clichés we usually reach for to describe such a phenomenon – naturally gifted, prodigy, old soul, on fire – seem limiting. Anna has already sung with Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli and Kenny Loggins and has appeared with her middle school choir at Carnegie Hall. Now, with the release of her latest original song, “Ballad” (https://youtu.be/pIs_uStChTg) (RQ 7), the multi-talented singer, songwriter, and performer is quickly emerging as a powerful, eloquent, and inspirational voice of her generation and beyond. Anna has accomplished much during her 13th year. In addition to ‘Ballad,’ she recorded Demi Lovato’s “Stone Cold” (https://youtu.be/NPKLmnhmOHg) (RQ 8) live for You Tube as a follow up to her 2 original songs, “Blamed it on Me” (https://youtu.be/HnKcbLW49gY) (RQ 9) and “Yellow Car” (https://youtu.be/j4c9LJeNQJQ) (RQ 6). She has now accumulated over 2 million views on You Tube. Having come from a highly artistic family, Anna has been singing, dancing, and performing on stage since she was four years old. Her mother Carol has penned hits for Patti Labelle, Tom Jones, and others and has hit the charts with numerous jazz albums over the past 18 years. While one of Anna’s great grandmothers was a prima ballerina, the other was a concert pianist. Her great grandfather was an opera singer. From ages 4 to 7, Anna sang “Yesterday” so often that her tennis coach nicknamed her after the Beatles classic. Influenced by everyone from Queen to Ariana Grande and Rihanna and more recently Billie Eilish, Anna began writing songs in the third grade and created a CD of her music for a school assignment. Anna’s musical theater resume is off the charts as well. Her theatre school, the Adderley School for Performing Arts, has been the home of Jack Dylan Grazer (from Stephen King’s “It” and “Shazam”), Dakota Lotus (from Disney’s “Coop and Cami”), and Golden Globe winner Ben Platt (from “The Book of Mormon,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Dear Evan Hansen”). Anna performed the lead role in “Anything Goes,” her first musical, at age 5 with Grazer and as Penny in “Hairspray” with Lotus. Other shows she has starred in include “West Side Story,” “Les Miserable,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and “Ruthless.”Anna has also enjoyed being a member of the MnR Dance Team, a competitive group that competes throughout Southern California and performs for local children’s charities. After winning the combination dance and singing solo competition, Anna was asked to sing the solo at Staples Center in front of Shaquille O’Neal and the L.A. Clippers. In August 2019, she performed numerous solos in the “Footloose” revival concert with Kenny Loggins and his band to an awestruck crowd!
12 Year Olds
Two 12 Year Old Longshots:
In the age category, I have identified six singers for your consideration. The first two, Angelica Hale “Shallow” (https://youtu.be/eFSKxzXRmvU) (RQ 6) and Fayth Ifil “Proud Mary” (https://youtu.be/aii62acsp_E) (RQ 7) would be more “longshots” to become successful over the long haul to become a professional singers. See their snapshots below:
Angelica Hale Photo credit: justjaredjr.com
Faith Ifil Photo credit: facebook.com
Four Other 12 Year Old Singers. One Can’t Miss.
The third twelve year old, Emanne Beasha, already has what it takes to make it in the professional singing ranks. Emanne currently sings mostly operatic music. However, a glimpse of her future can be heard Emanne singing a Christmas carol “O Holy Night” (https://youtu.be/4imgfYZZiQw) (RQ 9) Then, another example of her amazing ability is when she briefly met guitarist Mark Bruner at the Oklahoma City airport where they spontaneously jammed together singing “Yesterday” (https://youtu.be/dQHfOjllOnA) (RC 5). The fourth twelve year old showing a high professional singing level even at such a young age is Dara McNicholl. The fifth singer, also with loads of potential, is Ashley Marina. The sixth singer, Naomi Aye, sings and already plays the piano like a professional. Emanne, Dara, Ashley and Naomi’s profiles are posted below:
Emmane Beasha Currently living in North Port, Florida. An American-Jordanian singer of Circassian decent Won the Arabs Got Talent in its 5th season Entered AGT in 2019. Made the Judges Cut Round She sang: “Nessen dorma” https://youtu.be/fjecfrF6ZOU (RQ 10+) She got the golden buzzer to the quarter finals for: “Caruso” Photo credit: Creative CommonsDara McNicholl 2020 The Voice Kids Finalist “I Who Have Nothing” (https://youtu.be/4ZQx-odXZyA) (RQ 9) vimeo.com Photo credit: Panela de SeriesAshley Marina AGT audition June 16, 2020 Original song “You’ll Always Be My Hero” (https://youtu.be/KdWy8EvYBLA) (RQ 9) Photo credit: YouTube screenshotNaomi Aye Second place at the 2020 France Voice for Kids Photo credit: YouTube screenshot “Bohemian Rhapsody” https://youtube.com/watch?v=7KG5UQyx1dk&feature=share (RQ 10) “I Will Never Love Again” https://youtu.be/rqxo6hr6zSc
Under 12 Years of Age.
Three Singers Standout
It is ways difficult to predict what will happen to a young person’s voice after showing natural instincts for stage presence under the age of 12. There were three performers that took part in the 2020 The Voice for Kids that merit singling them out: George Elliot (10), Victoria Alsina (8) and Rebecca Sayaque (10).
Three Very Good Singers, One Can’t Miss
Also, Roberta Battaglia (10) won 4th place at AGT in 2020. Claire Ryann Crosby (a sweet duet with her father) has such a wonderful polished presence for being only 6! Eight-year old Taisiya Skomorokhova’s Russian Voice for Kids finalist very polished performing skills! And, Maria Zakharova looks like a “can’t miss” professional singer at only 10. Alexa Curtis won the 2014 Australia’s VOICE for Kids, then made the AGT quarterfinals, but I would call her a longshot. Here are George, Victoria, Roberta, Alexa’s, Claire’s, and Maria’s snapshots:
George Elliot– 10years old “Plug In Baby” (https://youtu.be/5x4gAdzVLlg) (RQ 7) Photo credit: newsbreak.comVictoria Alsina– 8years old “Girl on Fire” https://youtu.be/kg7jjWszb18 (RQ 6) Photo credit: liverpoolecho.co.ukRoberta Battaglia – 10years old AGT 2020 Judge Sofia Vergara gives golden buzzer https://youtu.be/5zegPHj_nCk Also “What About Us” https://youtu.be/TD7_-33-Ve4 (RQ 9) Photo credit: YouTube screenshotAlexa Curtis– 10years old 2014 Australia’s VOICE for Kids winner “Colours Of The Wind” https://youtu.be/HF5TA2WsZSs (RQ 6) Photo credit: YouTube screenshotClaire Ryann Crosby – 6years old “Baby Mine” from the Dumbo movie https://youtu.be/F5MyvgDXA1E (RQ 7) Photo credit: YouTube screenshotMaria Zakharova–10 years old 2016 Russian Voice for Kids finalist “Still Loving You” https://youtu.be/gHf01WZN3vk (RQ 10+) Photo credit: YouTube screenshotTaisiya Skomorokhova – 8years old 2020 Finalist – Russia’s Voice Kids “Goomba Boomba” https://youtube.com/watch?v=JIGwf4sEQDw&feature=share (RQ 10) Unbelievable dancing performer and singer Rebecca Sayaque – 10 years old Photo credit: YouTube screenshot 2020 France Voice for Kids winner “You Raise Me Up” https://youtu.be/8Wk2FGlEKHY (RQ 10) “Don’t Worry About Emmanuel Moire” https://youtu.be/IvbWaIdP2z0Yaroslava Degtyareva (7 years old) Photo credit: YouTube screenshot
Yaroslava Degtyareva (also called Yasya) is a young Russian singer. She started singing at the age of five, shortly after being involved in a serious car accident. The girl was so seriously injured that she couldn’t even walk. Yaroslava got several serious surgeries, including the replacement of an eyeball and the insertion of a pin into the leg. The girl’s mother was worried because her daughter had to relearn how to move and to walk. However, little Yaroslava was always positive and cheered on by her mother. Despite her young age, the girl kept on going to achieve her dream, a dream to sing. Finally, at the age of 7, she has risen to the big stage as part of the project “The Voice of Russia: Kids,” and has become one of the finalists on the show where she sang “Cuckoo” (https://youtube.com/watch?v=kH0W3u8siYg&feature=share) (RQ 8). Her special tender voice moved the audience: Yaroslava has stolen the hearts of Russian and International viewers and made it to the finals stage of the competition. This talented little girl has an amazing performance singing the Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song”. Her voice is inspiring, powerful and moving and it leaves us with our jaws dropped. It would be an incredible performance from an experienced adult performer but to come from one so young and so tiny, it is beyond words. She knows how to hold our visual attention despite barely moving except to rock from one foot to the other. Yaroslava continues with her rehabilitation.
There are three sections in this post: 110 Female artists, 26 Male artists and 35 groups or bands. For the purposes of ease of listening, here are six associated playlists:
Here are the lady’s mini-biographies and links to their music:
Lisa Loeb Photo credit: songfacts.com
Lisa Loeb (born in Dallas on March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She started her career with the number 1 hit song “Stay (I Missed You)” (https://youtu.be/i9HGwRbMiVY) from the film Reality Bites, the first number 1 single for an artist without a recording contract. Her studio albums include two back-to-back albums that were certified gold; these were Tails and Firecracker. Loeb’s film, television and voice-over work includes guest starring roles in the season finale of Gossip Girl, and two episodes, including the series finale, of Netflix’s Fuller House. She also starred in two other television series, Dweezil & Lisa, a weekly culinary adventure for the Food Network that featured her alongside Dweezil Zappa, and Number 1 Single on E! Entertainment Television. She has also acted in such films as House on Haunted Hill, Fright Night, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, and Helicopter Mom. Loeb has released children’s CDs and books such as Catch the Moon, Lisa Loeb’s Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs, and Songs for Movin’ and Shakin’, Nursery Rhyme Parade! is her album and long-form video of over 30 children’s favorites. She co-wrote the lyrics and co-composed the music to Camp Kappawanna, a family musical that was premiered in New York in March 2015 by the Atlantic Theater Company. In 2016, she released her children’s CD Feel What U Feel, which won Best Children’s Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Loeb’s latest album, A Simple Trick to Happiness, was released in February 2020.
Edith Piaf Photo credit: Boston Globe
Édith Piaf, born Édith Giovanna Gassion,19 December 1915 – 10 October 1963) was a French singer-songwriter, cabaret performer and film actress noted as France’s national chanteuse and one of the country’s most widely known international stars. Piaf’s music was often autobiographical, and she specialized in chanson and torch ballads about love, loss and sorrow. Her most widely known songs include “La Vie en rose” (1946), “Non, je ne regrette rien” (https://youtu.be/Q3Kvu6Kgp88) (RQ 9) (1960), “Hymne à l’amour” (1949), “Milord” (1959), “La Foule” (1957), “L’Accordéoniste” (1940), and “Padam, padam…” (1951). Since her death in 1963, several biographies and films have studied her life, including 2007’s Academy Award-winning La Vie en rose. Piaf has become one of the most celebrated performers of the 20th century.
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), professionally known as Dusty Springfield, was an English pop singer and record producer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. With her distinctive mezzo-sopranosound, she was an important singer of blue-eyed soul and at her peak was one of the most successful British female performers, with six top 20 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 and sixteen on the UK Singles Chart from 1963 to 1989.
One of her best was “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” recorded in 1966 (https://youtu.be/1PUT2a5NafI) (RQ10). She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and UK Music Hall of Fame. International polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time. Her image, supported by a peroxide blondebouffant hairstyle, evening gowns, and heavy make-up, as well as her flamboyant performances, made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties.
Note: after the 110 Female Artists, there are another 25 Male Artists and 35 Bands or Groups listed from the 1950s and 1960s…
Faye Adams 97 Years Old Photo credit: sentireblues.blogspot.com “Shake a Hand” https://youtu.be/vjMgS0KaZz0 (RQ 6)
Faye Adams was born in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was David Tuell, a gospel singer and a key figure in the Church of God in Christ. At the age of five she joined her sisters to sing spirituals, regularly performing on Newark radio shows. Under her married name, Faye Scruggs, she became a regular performer in New York nightclubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
While performing in Atlanta, Georgia, she was discovered by the singer Ruth Brown, who won her an audition with the bandleader Joe Morris of Atlantic Records. Having changed Scruggs’s name to Faye Adams, Morris recruited her as a singer in 1952, and signed her to Herald Records. Her first release was Morris’s song “Shake a Hand“, (https://youtu.be/E4hJLKu71ZI?feature=shared) which topped the US Billboard R&B chart for ten weeks in 1953 and reached number 22 on the US pop chart. It sold one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. In 1954, Adams had two more R&B chart toppers with “I’ll Be True” (later covered by Bill Haley in 1954 and by a young Jackie DeShannon in 1957) and “It Hurts Me to My Heart”.
Delores LaVern Baker (Born in Chicago on November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were “Tweedle Dee” (1955), “Jim Dandy” (1956), and “I Cried a Tear” (1958).
Fontella Marie Bass (Born in St. Louis on July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter best known for her number-one R&B hit “Rescue Me” in 1965.
She was the daughter of gospel singer Martha Bass, who was a member of the Clara Ward Singers, and the older sister of R&B singer David Peaston. At an early age, Fontella showed great musical talent. At the age of five, she provided the piano accompaniment for her grandmother’s singing at funeral services, she sang in her church’s choir at six, and by the time she was nine, she had accompanied her mother on tours throughout the South and Southwest America.
Bass continued touring with her mother until age of sixteen. As a teenager, Bass was attracted by more secular music. She began singing R&B songs at local contests and fairs while attending Soldan High School from which she graduated in 1958. At 17, she started her professional career working at the Showboat Club near Chain of Rocks, Missouri.
In 1961, she auditioned on a dare for the Leon Claxtoncarnival show and was hired to play piano and sing in the chorus for two weeks, making $175 per week for the two weeks it was in town. She wanted to go on tour with Claxton but her mother refused and according to Bass “… she literally dragged me off the train”. It was during this brief stint with Claxton that she was heard by vocalist Little Milton and his bandleader Oliver Sain who hired her to back Little Milton on piano for concerts and recording.
Cilla Black Photo credit: music-that-we-adore.blogspot.com
Priscilla Maria Veronica White, better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, television presenter, actress, and author. Championed by her friends, the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (https://youtu.be/ZUxn6JLwdDY) and “You’re My World” (https://youtu.be/o6drD2SCwHE) both reached number one in the UK in 1964. She had 11 top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart between then and 1971, and an additional eight hits that made the top 40. In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 showed that her version of “Anyone Who Had a Heart” was the UK’s biggest-selling single by a female artist in the 1960s. “You’re My World” was also a modest hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Teresa Brewer (born as Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Brewer was born in Toledo, Ohio, the eldest of five siblings. Her father was a glass inspector for the Libbey Owens Company (now part of Pilkington Glass), and her mother was a housewife.
Maxine Brown 81 Years Old (Born in Kingstree, SC: August 18, 1939) Photo credit: discogs.com “All in My Mind” (1951) https://youtu.be/XZ7AtcpUfHU (RQ 8)
Maxine Brown began singing as a child, performing with two New York City based gospel groups called the Angelairs and the Royaltones when she was a teenager. In 1960, she signed with the small Nomar record label, who released the deep soul ballad “All in My Mind” (which was written by Maxine) late in the year. The single became a hit, climbing to number two on the US R&B charts (number 19 pop), and it was quickly followed by “Funny”, which peaked at number three.
Brown was poised to become a star and she moved to the bigger ABC-Paramount in 1962, but left the label after an unsuccessful year and recording several non-chart singles for the label, and signed to the New York-based uptown soul label, Wand Records, a Scepter Records subsidiary, in 1963.
Brown recorded a string of sizable hits for Wand over the next three years. Among these were the Carole King/Gerry Goffin songs “Oh No Not My Baby”, which reached number 24 on the pop charts in 1964, and “It’s Gonna Be Alright”, which peaked at No. 26 on the R&B charts the following year. She also recorded duets with label-mate Chuck Jackson, including a reworked version of an Alvin Robinson hit, “Something You Got”, which climbed to No. 10 on the R&B chart. However, the company turned its focus to other bigger-selling acts, especially Dionne Warwick.
Ruth Brown 1928-2006 Photo credit: waybackattack.com “Teardrops From My Eyes” No1 (1950) https://youtu.be/KNvPbLJt2F8 (RQ 9)
Ruth Alston Brown (Born in Portsmouth, VA on January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes known as the “Queen of R&B”. She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as “So Long”, “Teardrops from My Eyes” and “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean”. For these contributions, Atlantic became known as “the house that Ruth built” (alluding to the popular nickname for the old Yankee Stadium). Brown was a 1993 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Anita Jane Bryant (Born in Barnsdale, OK on March 25, 1940) is an American singer and anti-gay rights activist. She scored four Top 40 hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including “Paper Roses” that reached No. 5 on the charts. She was also a former Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and was a brand ambassador from 1969 to 1980 for the Florida Citrus Commission.
Angelina Helen Catherine Cordovano (Born in The Bronx on June 28, 1936 – November 22, 1988), known professionally as Cathy Carr, was an American pop singer. As a child, she appeared on The Children’s Hour, a television show locally aired in New York; sponsored by Horn & Hardart, a cafeteria chain which had locations in New York and Philadelphia. She later became a singer and dancer with the USO and joined big band orchestras such as those of Sammy Kaye and Johnny Dee.
In 1953 she signed with Coral Records, but had no hits for them, later switching to Fraternity Records, a small company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, in early 1955. It was for Fraternity that she had her only major hit, “Ivory Tower“, which was her third record for Fraternity.
Vikki Carr 79 Years Old Photo credit: projects.latimes.com “It Must Be Him” https://youtu.be/J-qgHOQ1ofg (RQ 10)
Florencia Bisenta de Casillas-Martinez Cardona (Born in El Paso, TX on July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Her parents are of Mexican ancestry and has performed in a variety of musical genres, including pop, jazz and country, while her greatest success has come from singing in Spanish. She established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation in 1971. Vikki Carr has won three Grammys and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammys in 2008 at the 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
Mindy Carson 93 Years Old Photo credit: gramho.com “Wake the Town and Tell the People” https://youtu.be/GM3b0nHcpVY (RQ 8)
Mindy Carson (Born in NYC on earth July 16, 1927) is an American former traditional pop vocalist. She was heard often on radio during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1949, Carson signed with RCA Victor. Although her initial recordings for RCA Victor failed to sell well, the success of Eileen Barton’s novelty hit “If I Knew You Were Coming I’d’ve Baked a Cake” prompted the company to try a similar recording for Mindy Carson. Her recording of “Candy and Cake” was backed with “My Foolish Heart” and the record became a rare two-sided hit. However, after a number of unsuccessful follow-up recordings, RCA Victor dropped her in 1952.
Carson then moved to Columbia Records, and her duet with Guy Mitchell, “Cause I Love You That’s-A-Why”, climbed on the charts to the top 25. She also guest-starred on ABC’s 1957 series The Guy Mitchell Show. “All the Time and Everywhere”, a big hit in the United Kingdom for Dickie Valentine, went nowhere for Carson and other U.S. recording artists. A cover of The Gaylords’ big hit “Tell Me You’re Mine” charted at #22, and a few others made the top 30 in 1952, 1953 and 1954. Her song “Memories Are Made of This” with the Ray Conniff Orchestra was issued in 1955.
In August 1955 she scored a hit when her recording of “Wake the Town and Tell the People” reached #13, despite the fact that the trends in popular music were moving to Rock’n’Roll and she was not generally a rock singer. Carson had a minor hit with “The Fish”, the single prior to “Wake The Town…”, which was a mild rocker based on a proposed dance craze. The record appeared in both the Cashbox and Music Vendor retail surveys. She had only one more hit, Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Since I Met You Baby” in 1957. By 1960, her recording career was over.
Mama Cass (Elliot) 1941-1974 Photo credit: findingagrave.com “Dream a Little Dream of Me” No. 87 (https://youtu.be/P4T3tMkjRigRQ) (RQ 10+) Note: before going solo, Mama sang with the Mamas & Papas from 1965-68. See Post 7.
Cass Elliot (born in Baltimore, MD, as Ellen Naomi Cohen; September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and actress who is best known for having been a member of the Mamas and the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. In 1998, she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her work with the Mamas and the Papas.
June Christy 1925-1990 Photo credit: JazzWax “Something Cool” https://youtu.be/4GkUM4jE-ZE (RQ 6) (for Hugh Hefner at his Playboy mansion)
June Christy (born in Springfield, IL, as Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990) was an American singer, as known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool. After her death, she was hailed as “one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time”.
Carol Channing 1921-2019 Photo credit: playbill.com “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” https://youtu.be/nCJd_rG6Jy4 (RQ 7)
Carol Elaine Channing (Born in Seattle, WA, on January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and comedian, known for starring in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, whether singing or for comedic effect.
Channing began as a Broadway musical actress starring in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949 and Hello, Dolly! in 1964, and winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the latter. She revived both roles several times throughout her career, playing Dolly on Broadway for the final time in 1995. She was nominated for her first Tony Award in 1956 for The Vamp, followed by a nomination in 1961 for Show Girl. She received her fourth Tony Award nomination for the musical Lorelei in 1974.
Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian) 74 Years Old Photo credit: biography.com
Note: Recorded: 26 studio albums & 2 Collaboration albums and acted in 20 movies (winning two Academy Awards).
Cher (born in El Entro, CA, as Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Commonly referred to by the media as the “Goddess of Pop”, she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry. Cher is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment, as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances throughout her six-decade-long career.
Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their song “I Got You Babe” peaked at number one on the US and UK charts. By the end of 1967, they had sold 40 million records worldwide and had become, according to Time magazine, rock’s “it” couple. She began her solo career simultaneously, releasing in 1966 the transatlantic top three single “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”. After her divorce from Sonny Bono in 1975, she launched a comeback with the disco album Take Me Home (1979) and earned $300,000 a week for her 1979–1982 concert residency in Las Vegas. (Sonny was killed in a skiing accident in South Lake Tahoe on January 5, 1998).
Having sold 100 million records to date, Cher is one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Her achievements include a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Cannes Film Festival Award, the Billboard Icon Award, and awards from the Kennedy Center Honors and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. She is the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart in six consecutive decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s. Outside of her music and acting, she is noted for her political views, social media presence, philanthropic endeavors, and social activism, including LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Petula Clark Photo credit: npg.org.uk Also see Post #30 for more information
Born in Surry, England as Sally Olwen Clark; on 15 November 1932. Her stage name became Petula Clark. She is a British singer, actress, and composer. Her professional career began during World War II, as a child entertainer on BBC Radio. In 1954 she charted with “The Little Shoemaker” (https://youtu.be/O50ZHG9LWFw) (RQ 7)— the first of her big UK hits—and within two years began recording in French. International successes included:
Hits in German, Italian, and Spanish followed. In late 1964 Clark’s global success extended to America with a four-year run of career-defining, often upbeat, singles, many written or co-written by Tony Hatch (and Hackie Trent). These songs include her signature song “Downtown” (https://youtu.be/Zx06XNfDvk0) (RQ 10). She had a string of followup hits including:
Patsy Cline (born in Winchester, VA, as Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. Tragically, at only 31 years old, while returning home from a benefit gig in Kansas City, she was killed in a small plane flown by her manager Randy Hughes (along with singers Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins). No-one survived the crash.
She is considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to successfully cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart.
Rosemary Clooney 1928-2002 Photo credit: britannica.com “Come On – a My House” https://youtu.be/mriXncI96lw (RQ 8)
Rosemary Clooney (Born in Maysville, KY, on May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song “Come On-a My House”, which was followed by other pop numbers such as “Botch-a-Me”, “Mambo Italiano”, “Tenderly”, “Half as Much”, “Hey There”, and “This Ole House”. She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney’s career languished in the 1960s, partly due to problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002.
Judith Marjorie Collins (born in Seattle, WA on May 1, 1939) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer and songwriter with a career spanning over 60 years. She is known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records (which has included folk music, show tunes, pop music, rock and roll and standards) and for her social activism. Collins has released 28 studio albums, 4 live albums, numerous compilation albums and 4 holiday albums.
Collins’ debut album A Maid of Constant Sorrow was released in 1961, but it was the lead single from her 1967 album Wildflowers, “Both Sides, Now” – written by Joni Mitchell – that gave Collins international prominence. The single hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Singles chartand won Collins her first Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance.
She enjoyed further success with her recordings of “Someday Soon”, “Chelsea Morning”, “Amazing Grace”, and “Cook with Honey”. Collins experienced the biggest success of her career with her recording of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” from her best-selling 1975 album Judith. The single charted on the BillboardPop Singles chart in 1975 and then again in 1977, spending 27 non-consecutive weeks on the chart and earning Collins a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, as well as a Grammy Award for Sondheim for Song of the Year. In 2017, Collins’ rendition of the song “Amazing Grace” was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant”. In 2019, Judy Collins scored her first #1 album on an American Billboard Chart with Winter Stories at the age of 80 years old.
Italian-American Norma Jean Speranza(stage name: Jill Corey) was born in Avonmore, Pennsylvania, a coal mining community about forty miles east of Pittsburgh. Her father, Bernard Speranza, was a coal miner, and she was the youngest of five children. She is a 1953 graduate of Bell-Avon High School. Corey began singing as an imitator of Carmen Miranda at family gatherings and on amateur shows in grade school (never winning any prizes, usually finishing last). At the age of 13, she began to develop her own style. She won first prize at a talent contest sponsored by the Lions Club, which entitled her to sing a song on WAVL in Apollo, Pennsylvania. This got her an offer to have her own program. By the age of 14 she was working seven nights a week, earning $5 a night, with a local orchestra led by Johnny Murphy. By the age of 17 she was a local celebrity talent.
At the home of the only owner of a tape recorder in town, with trains going by in the background and no accompaniment, she made a tape recording to demonstrate her singing skills to the outside show business world. The tape came to the attention of Mitch Miller, who headed the artists & repertory section at Columbia Records. He normally received over 100 record demos a week, and this one, with a 17-year-old girl and its train background, would not have been likely to gain his attention. He telephoned her in Avonmore, and the next morning she flew to New York to be heard by Miller in a more normal studio setting. Miller had Life Magazine send over reporters and photographers, and had her audition with Arthur Godfrey and Dave Garroway. The Life photographers reenacted her signing a contract with Columbia, and all this happened in a single day, with her headed back to Avonmore that night.
Both Garroway and Godfrey called her, and it was her choice to pick one; she picked Garroway, who took the name Jill Corey out of a telephone book. Within six weeks the Life article, with a cover picture and seven pages, came out. Jill Corey became the youngest star ever at the Copacabana nightclub, and had numerous hit records.
Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931 – September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962’s “The End of the World”. She started out as part of the Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Victor. In the late 1950s, she became a solo star. One of the first women to achieve major stardom in the country music field as a solo vocalist, she was an acknowledged influence on Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton and was hailed as an “extraordinary country/pop singer” by The New York Times music critic Robert Palmer.
Doris Day (born in Cincinnati, OH, Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, “Sentimental Journey” and “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time” with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.
Jackie DeShannon 79 Years Old Photo credit: anericandreams.fandom.com “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” https://youtu.be/RCXu6LRxzV4 (RQ 10+)
Jackie DeShannon (born in Hazel, KY, as Sharon Lee Myers, August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards, as both singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the Rock and Roll period. She is best known as the singer of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”, and as the composer of “When You Walk in the Room” and “Bette Davis Eyes”, which were covered by The Searchers and Kim Carnes, whose versions have been hits for both these acts.
Anna Marie “Patty” Duke (Born in NYC on December 14, 1946– March 29, 2016) was an American actress and health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Like many teen stars of the era, and bolstered somewhat by her appearance in the musical Billie, Duke had a successful singing career, including two Top 40 hits in 1965, “Don’t Just Stand There” (#8) and “Say Something Funny” (#22). She also performed on TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show.
Shirley Marie O’Garra (stage name Shirley Ellis, married name Shirley Elliston; Born in The Bronz, NY on January 19, 1929 – October 5, 2005) was an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian heritage. She is best known for her novelty hits “The Nitty Gritty” (1963, US no. 8), “The Name Game” (1964, US no. 3) and “The Clapping Song” (1965, US no. 8 and UK no. 6). “The Clapping Song” sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Betty Everett (Born in Greenwood, MS on November 23, 1939 – August 19, 2001) was an American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling “Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)”, and her duet “Let It Be Me” (https://youtu.be/YwTh4OkPTb0) (RQ 9)with Jerry Butler.
Shelly Fabares 76 Years Old Photo credit: Jerry Reuss “Johnny Angel” https://youtu.be/wwIYSofgpY0 (RQ 10+) Note: Also see Post 36
Michele Ann Marie “Shelley” Fabares (Born in Santa Monica, CA on January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom Coach (1989–97), the latter of which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.
Fabares’ national popularity led to a recording contract and two “Top 40” hits, including “Johnny Angel,” which went to number one on the BillboardHot 100 in April 1962, and peaked at number 41 in the UK. It sold over one million copies and was certified gold. She released an album, Shelley! “I was stunned about that, to put it mildly,” she later said. “After all, I never could sing.”
This was followed by a second album, The Things We Did Last Summer (album), which included two hit songs “Johnny Loves Me” (no. 21) and “The Things We Did Last Summer” (no. 46).
Fabares left The Donna Reed Show in 1963 (she would return periodically until its end in 1966) to pursue other acting opportunities. She released a third album, Teenage Triangle in 1963.
Marianne Faithfull 73 Years Old Photo credit: wmagazine.com “As Tears Go By” https://youtu.be/_phZZgkT1Jk (RQ 9)
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (Born in London on 29 December 1946) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single “As Tears Go By” and became one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States.
Toni Fisher (born in LA as Marion Colleen Nolan; December 4, 1924 – January 11, 1999), also billed on her records as Miss Toni Fisher, was an American pop singer. She was known for her recordings of “The Big Hurt”, “West of the Wall”, “Maybe (He’ll Think Of Me)”, and “Why Can’t The Dark Leave Me Alone”. She was later known as Toni F. Monzello, following her marriage to Henry Monzello.
Mary Ford 1925-1977 Photo credit: findagrave.com “Vaya Con Dios” (with Les Paul) https://youtu.be/QqZ0Sdz_V40 (RQ 10)
Mary Ford (born in El Monte, CA as Iris Colleen Summers; July 7, 1924 – September 30, 1977) was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits, including “How High the Moon” and “Vaya con Dios”, which were number one hits on the Billboard charts. In 1951 alone they sold six million records. With Paul, Ford became one of the early practitioners of multi-tracking.
Connie Francis 82 Years Old Photo credit: dailydoowop.com
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born in Newark, NJ on December 12, 1937), better known as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, former actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw.
Success had finally seemed to come with “The Majesty of Love”, Francis was informed by MGM Records that her contract would not be renewed after her last solo single.
Francis considered a career in medicine and was about to accept a four-year scholarship offered at New York University. At what was to have been her final recording session for MGM on October 2, 1957 with Joe Lipman and his orchestra, she recorded a cover version of the 1923 song “Who’s Sorry Now?” written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. Francis has said that she recorded it at the insistence of her father, who was convinced it stood a chance of becoming a hit because it was a song adults already knew and that teenagers would dance to if it had a contemporary arrangement.
Francis, who did not like the song and had been arguing about it with her father heatedly, delayed the recording of the two other songs during the session so much, that in her opinion, no time was left on the continuously running recording tape. Her father insisted, though, and when the recording “Who’s Sorry Now?” was finished, only a few seconds were left on the tape.
The single seemed to go unnoticed like all previous releases, just as Francis had predicted, but on January 1, 1958, it debuted on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and on February 15 of that same year, Francis performed it on the first episode of The Saturday Night Beechnut Show, also hosted by Clark. By mid-year, over a million copies had been sold, and Francis was suddenly launched into worldwide stardom. In April 1958, “Who’s Sorry Now?” reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 in the US. For the next four years, Francis was voted the “Best Female Vocalist” by American Bandstand viewers.
As Connie Francis explains at each of her concerts, she began searching for a new hit immediately after the success of “Who’s Sorry Now?” since MGM Records had renewed her contract. After the relative failure of the follow-up singles “I’m Sorry I Made You Cry” (which stalled at No. 36) and “Heartaches”(failing to chart at all), Francis met Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, who sang a number of ballads they had written for her. After a few hours, Francis began writing in her diary while the songwriters played the last of their ballads. Afterwards, Francis told them that she considered their ballads too intellectual and sophisticated for the young generation and requested a more lively song. Greenfield urged Sedaka to sing a song they had written that morning with the Shepherd Sisters in mind. Sedaka protested that Francis would be insulted, but Greenfield said that since she hated all the other songs they had performed, they had nothing to lose. Sedaka then played “Stupid Cupid.” When he finished, Francis announced that he had just played her new hit song. It went on to reach number 14 on the Billboard chart and was her second number 1 in the UK.
The success of “Stupid Cupid” restored momentum to Francis’ chart career, and she reached the U.S. top 40 an additional seven times during the remainder of the 1950s. She managed to churn out more hits by covering several older songs, such as “My Happiness” (number 2 on the Hot 100) and “Among My Souvenirs” (number 7), as well as performing her own original songs. In 1959, she gained two gold records for a double-sided hit: on the A-side, “Lipstick on Your Collar” (number 5), and on the B-side, “Frankie” (number 9).
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (Born in Newport News, VA on April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career.
Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz, who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly her interpretations of the Great American Songbook.
While Fitzgerald appeared in movies and as a guest on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spotswere some of her most notable acts outside of her solo career. These partnerships produced some of her best-known songs such as “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, “Cheek to Cheek”, “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall”, and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”.
In 1993, after a career of nearly 60 years, she gave her last public performance. Three years later, she died at the age of 79 after years of declining health. Her accolades included fourteen Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Annette Joanne Funicello (Born in Utica, NY on October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She rose to prominence as one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. As a teenager, she transitioned to a successful career as a singer with the pop singles “O Dio Mio”, “First Name Initial”, “Tall Paul” and “Pineapple Princess”, as well as establishing herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful “Beach Party” genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s.
Barbara George (16 August 1942 – 10 August 2006) was an American R&B singer and songwriter. Born Barbara Ann Smith at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, she was raised in the 9th ward New Orleans, Louisiana and began singing in a church choir. She was discovered by singer Jessie Hill, who recommended her to record producer Harold Battiste. Her first record on Battiste’s AFO (All For One) record label, the certified gold single “I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More)”, which her mother Eula Mae Jackson wrote, was issued in late 1961 and topped the R&B chart and made number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was later recorded by many other artistes, including Freddie King, Paul Revere & the Raiders (1966), the Merseybeats, Ike and Tina Turner, and Bonnie Raitt (1972).
Two subsequent releases, “You Talk About Love” (on AFO) and “Send For Me (If You Need Some Lovin’)” (on Sue Records), reached the Billboard Hot 100 later in 1962 but failed to match the national success of her first hit.
Later recordings such as the 1979 Senator Jones produced “Take Me Somewhere Tonight”, met with more limited success, and George largely retired from the music industry by the early 1980s, with subsequent singles never achieving the success of “I Know”. She sang on the Willy DeVille album, Victory Mixture.
Barbara gave birth to three sons, Tevin, Albert, and Gregory. Tevin trained as a professional boxer and is listed as the United States 1986 winner of the Golden Gloves award subsequently going on to perform in the Olympic Trials.
George died in August 2006 in Chauvin, Louisiana, where she had spent the last ten years of her life, six days before her 64th birthday.
Bobbie Gentry 78 Years Old Photo credit: everyuknumber1.com “Ode to Billy Joe” https://youtu.be/nv33eaygVDQ (RQ 10)
Bobbie Lee Gentry (born in Woodland, MS as Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter who was one of the first female artists to compose and produce her own material.
Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Southern Gothic narrative “Ode to Billie Joe”. The track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was third in the Billboard year-end chart of 1967, earning Gentry Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1968.
Gentry charted 11 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and four singles on the United Kingdom Top 40. Her album Fancy brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. After her first albums, she had a successful run of variety shows on the Las Vegas Strip. In the late 1970s Gentry lost interest in performing, and subsequently retired from the music industry. News reports conflict on the subject of where she currently lives.
Georgia Gibbs (born in Worcester, MA, as Frieda Lipschitz, August 17, 1918 – December 9, 2006) was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim (and notoriety) in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of radio and television variety and comedy programs. Her key attribute was tremendous versatility and an uncommon stylistic range from melancholy ballad to uptempo swinging jazz and rock and roll.
Through 1949 and 1950 she appeared on TV shows Cavalcade of Stars and All Star Revue. In 1951 she signed with Mercury Records where she ultimately had success “sticking with plain Georgia Gibbs”. Possessed of a versatile voice, she cut a long list of well-received records in every category from torch songs to rock-and-roll, jazz, swing, old fashioned ballads and cha-chas. The most successful, 1952’s “Kiss Of Fire”, which she performed on The Milton Berle Show in that spring, reached #1 on the pop music charts. “Kiss of Fire” was adapted from the Argentinian tango El Choclo and the lyrics, arrangement and delivery communicate passion on a Wagnerian scale.
Sultry and throbbing, with a touch of vibrato, Gibbs’s voice is best showcased on romantic ballads and torch songs like “My Melancholy Baby”, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, “Autumn Leaves”, and “You Keep Coming Back Like a Song”. Yet she could also belt out steaming jazz numbers like “Red Hot Mama”, “A-Razz-A-Ma-Tazz”; jive with tunes like “Ol Man Mose”, “Shoo Shoo Baby”; or rock out with “I Want You to Be My Baby”. Her Swingin’ With Her Nibsalbum (1956) demonstrated her natural affinity for improvisation as well.
In 1957, Gibbs signed with RCA Victor going on to chart with over 40 songs before retirement from singing, and was briefly successful doing rock ‘n’ roll songs as well. Her Mercury record “Silent Lips” was a big hit in Sweden (September 1958-March 1959) peaking at number 5 in the best selling charts, and there were even several Swedish cover versions of that song, “Ingenting” by among others Towa Carson, Lill-Babs and Britt Rylander. Also “The Hula Hoop Song” did well in Sweden (February–March 1959) peaking at number 12. She continued to appear on many television shows including The Ed Sullivan Show, and hosted one of her own, Georgia Gibbs and her Million Record Show. She cut her final album Call Me, in 1966 and rarely performed after that.
MacKenzie Gisele 1927-2003 Photo credit: avelyeman.com “Hard to Get” https://youtu.be/dJa7PWoiAqM (RQ 8) Note: MacKenzie plays the piano
Gisèle MacKenzie (born in Winnipeg, Canada as Gisèle Marie Louise Marguerite LaFlèche; January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003) was a Canadian-American singer, actress, and commercial spokesperson, best known for her performances on the US television program Your Hit Parade.
The daughter of a Winnipeg doctor, McKenzie spent her childhood in Manitoba where she studied violin and attended the Sacred Heart School as a child. As a teenager she studied violin and voice at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario. She had at least two Canadian Broadcasting Corporationradio programs, Meet Gisèle, where she played hostess to Jack Benny, Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Fred Astaire, James Stewart, and others, and Gisele and Mr. Cable.
She took on the stage name MacKenzie and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1951 to replace The Andrews Sisters on CBS Radio’s daily program, Club Fifteen, starring Bob Crosby, where she alternated as regular vocalist with Jo Stafford. She became a naturalized US citizen in 1955.
MacKenzie recorded albums and singles on various record labels, most notably Capitol and RCA, Everest, Mercury, Liberty Sunset, Cricket Playhour (Pickwick). In 1953 she reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart, with her rendition of “Seven Lonely Days”.
Her biggest selling song was “Hard To Get” in 1955. She was also an accomplished classical violinist, who studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music and performed many comedic musical duets with mentor Jack Benny. In an often-played clip, she and Benny perform a violin duet of “Getting to Know You”, in which she breaks their synchronization several times to add some extra musical flourishes, to his mock irritation. Finally, he breaks in with a lengthy (and stereotypically mediocre) flourish of his own, and evokes audience laughter with mock indignation: “Fool around with Me, sister!”
Lesley Sue Goldstein (Born in NYC on May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16 (in 1963), she recorded the pop hit “It’s My Party” (a US number one), and followed it up with other hits, including the hit “You Don’t Own Me”, and seven further Billboard top 40 hits.
Eydie Gorme 1928-2013 Photo credit: thefamouspeople.com “Blame It On the Bossa Nova” https://youtu.be/sn4Fly9cOn0 (RQ 10)
Eydie Gormé (born in The Bronx, NY as Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who had hits on the pop and Latin pop charts. She sang solo and with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on albums, television, Broadway, and in Las Vegas.
Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg (Born in Philadelphia, PA on September 20, 1924 – March 10, 2016), known professionally as Gogi Grant, was an American pop singer. She is best known for her No. 1 hit in 1956, “The Wayward Wind”.
At the age of 12, she moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Venice High School. In California, she won a teenage singing contest and appeared on television talent shows.
She worked as a car saleswoman in the early 1950s. In 1952 she began to record, using first the name “Audrey Brown” and later “Audrey Grant”. She was given the name “Gogi” by Dave Kapp, the head of Artists and Repertory at RCA Victor, who liked to patronize a restaurant called Gogi’s LaRue. (Another source says that Grant asked Kapp, “What is a Gogi?” She continued, “His answer was, ‘Darned if I know, I dreamed it last night.'”)
In 1955 Grant signed with a small record company, Era Records, and had her first top ten hit with “Suddenly There’s a Valley”. The next year, she had an even bigger hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart with “The Wayward Wind” and holding there for six weeks. The song sold over one million copies in the United States alone, and peaked at No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart. She was voted the most popular female vocalist by Billboardmagazine. This single returned to the Hot BillboardHot 100 in 1961.
Bonnie Buckingham (Born in Seattle, WA on March 25, 1923 – January 13, 2019), better known as Bonnie Guitar, was an American singer, musician, producer, and businesswoman. She was best known for her 1957 country-pop crossover hit “Dark Moon”. She became one of the first female country music singers to have hit songs cross over from the country charts to the pop charts.
Brenda Holloway 74 Years Old Photo credit: classic.motown.com “Every Little Bit Hurts” https://youtu.be/lfBXQhJ8yeM (RQ 8)
Brenda Holloway (born in Los Angeles on June 21, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, “Every Little Bit Hurts”, “When I’m Gone”, and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.” The latter, which she co-wrote, was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. She left Motown after four years, at the age of 22, and largely retired from the music industry until the 1990s, after her recordings had become popular on the British “Northern soul” scene.
Jan Howard 1929-2020 Photo credit: idolnetworth.com “For Loving You” with Bill Anderson https://youtu.be/rc3cwW383Uc (RQ 7)
Jan Howard (Lula Grace Johnson; born in West Plains, MO on March 13, 1929 – March 28, 2020) was an American author, country music singer and songwriter. As a singer, she placed 30 singles on the Billboard country songs chart, was a Grand Ole Opry member and was nominated for several major awards. As a writer, she wrote poems and published an autobiography. Additionally, she was married to American country songwriter Harlan Howard.
Wanda Jackson 83 Years Old Photo credit: Pinterest.com “In the Middle of a Headache” https://youtu.be/QdbUh2qVDAs (RQ 9) Note: Also see Post 18
Wanda Lavonne Jackson (born in Maud, Oklahoma on October 20, 1937) is a retired American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 1960s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers, and a pioneering rock-and-roll artist. She is known to many as the “Queen of Rockabilly” or the “First Lady of Rockabilly”.
Jamesetta Hawkins (Born in Los Angeles on January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazzand gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as “The Wallflower”, “At Last”, “Tell Mama”, “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”, and “I’d Rather Go Blind”. She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch.
Joni James 90 Years Old Photo credit: peoplepill.com “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” https://youtu.be/sHJQ6BGyFXg (RQ 8)
Joni James (born in Chicago as Giovanna Carmella Babbo on September 22, 1930) is an American singer of traditional pop music. Babbo was born to an Italian-American family, one of six children supported by her widowed mother. As an adolescent, she studied drama and ballet, and on graduating from Bowen High School, located in the South Chicago neighborhood, went with a local dance group on a tour of Canada. She then took a job as a chorus girl in the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago.
After doing a fill-in in Indiana, she decided to pursue a singing career. Some executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) spotted her in a television commercial, and she was signed by MGM in 1952. Her first hit, “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” sold over two million copies. She had a number of hits following that one, including “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (a cover of Hank Williams’ hit) and “Have You Heard?”. She was the first American to record at London’s Abbey Road Studios, and recorded five albums there. She was also very popular across parts of the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the Philippines where she performed at Manila’s now defunct EM Club in 1957. She also scored a big hit in Manila with Filipino composer Salvador Asuncion’s work titled “In Despair”.
James had seven Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Why Don’t You Believe Me?” (#1 in 1952) “Have You Heard?” (#4 in 1953) “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (#2 in 1953) “Almost Always” (#9 in 1953) “My Love, My Love” (#8 in 1953) “How Important Can It Be?” (#2 in 1955) and “You Are My Love” (#6 in 1955) as well as sixteen other Top 40 hits from 1952 to 1961. She has sold more than 100 million records and recorded more than 25 albums.
Damita Jo 98 Years Old Photo credit: soulwalking.com “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You” https://youtu.be/R1bpKmy-HvA (RQ 10+)
Damita Jo DeBlanc (Born in Austin, TX on August 5, 1930 – December 25, 1998), known professionally as Damita Jo, was an American actress, comedian, and lounge music performer.
She was the featured vocalist on albums by Steve Gibson and the Red Caps during the 1950s. She later married Gibson, but they parted ways professionally and personally in 1959. The couple had a daughter, Stephanie Latrelle Gibson born April 12, 1955. She carried on the families musical tradition as a singer and pianist where her lessons began at the age of 4. Later marrying Nathan Fred Shelton of West Virginia, and having twin boys, Bruce Thomas Shelton and Brian Stephen Shelton in Montclair, New Jersey.
Credited as Damita Jo, DeBlanc had some chart success in the early 1960s with two answer songs: 1960’s “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You” (an answer to “Save the Last Dance for Me”) and 1961’s “I’ll Be There” (an answer to “Stand by Me”). Both songs were originally sung by Ben E. King (the former with the Drifters) and made the R&B top 20, and “I’ll Be There” also reached number 12 on the pop chart. In 1962 she recorded “Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in her Stocking)”, previously made famous by the Andrews Sisters and Bill Haley, for Mercury Records. In 1966 she had a minor hit with a cover of the Jacques Brel song “If You Go Away.” She was successful in Sweden, where “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You” peaked at number 2 (March 1961), “Do What You Want” at number 5 (July 1961) and “Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in her Stocking” at number 3 (January 1962).
Betty Johnson (born on March 16, 1929; Guilford County, NC) is an American traditional pop and cabaret singer who reached her career peak in the 1950s.
Her professional debut was in a family group, the Johnson Family Singers, including her parents and three brothers, singing a repertoire primarily of religious material. The family won a singing contest in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was signed to a contract on a WBT (AM), a major radio station in that city. The family sang on broadcasts from 1938 to 1951, and Betty did some solo work on the station as well beginning in 1943. By 1948, she had her own 15-minute radio program.
From 1949 to 1954 she was married to Dick Redding, having one son from that marriage, Harold Richard Redding (born 1952), known as “Dicky.”
In 1951, Percy Faith, who had known her from her Columbia recordings, tried to convince Mitch Miller (A&R director at Columbia) to sign her, but Miller, who included Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney among the artists he had signed, was not interested.
Johnson released a children’s album with country singerEddy Arnold produced by Simon & Schuster, who subsequently signed her to their own recording label, Bell Records in 1954. In the same year she signed with Csida-Grean, a management company which had handled Arnold’s career. Charles Grean of that company produced many of her subsequent recordings. In 1955, she signed with RCA Victor, which sent her to Chicago, Illinois. She married Grean in 1957, and though the marriage would only last until 1961, the professional relationship continued.
In Chicago, Johnson worked with Arnold again on his syndicated television series, Eddy Arnold Time, backed by a group who had worked with her family on the Grand Ole Opry, The Jordanaires. That group later became well known as a backing group for Elvis Presley. While in Chicago, she also did some work on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club beginning in 1955, which led to a contract with a small record company, Bally Records. After one not-so-notable recording for Bally, she clicked with her biggest hit, “I Dreamed”, in 1956. She continued to appear on The Breakfast Club until 1957.
She then was hired by Jack Paar for his television show, Tonight. This led to a record contract with Atlantic Records in 1957, for which she had her next big hit, “Little Blue Man”, A novelty number which featured Fred Ebb as the voice of the “Little Blue Man”, repeatingly saying: “I Rov You… to Bits”. ‘Johnson continued on Tonight until 1962 when Paar was replaced by Johnny Carson, while also making appearances on a number of other television shows.
In 1964 she married Arthur Gray, an investment banker in New York City. She had two daughters, Elisabeth (born 1966) and Lydia (born 1968), from this marriage. From then until 1993 she mostly stayed out of show business, going to college (attending some classes at Dartmouth College beginning in 1977, but ultimately getting her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1981).
Kitty Kallen 1921-2016 Photo credit: famousinheaven.com “In the Chapel in the Moonlight” https://youtu.be/pzC3Qhe7S_U (RQ 10)
Kitty Kallen (born in Philedelphia, PA as Katie Kallen on May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-WWII pop scene and the early years of rock ‘n roll. Kallen performed with popular big band leaders of the 1940s, including Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, before establishing a solo career.
She is widely known for her 1954 solo recording ‘”Little Things Mean a Lot,” (https://youtu.be/2C7SzKv2uLU) (RQ 9) a song that stayed at the U.S. number one spot for nine consecutive weeks, charted in the U.S. for almost seven months, hit #1 on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million copies. Voted “most popular female singer” in 1954 in both Billboard and Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the London Palladium in 1955 at the top of her career and stopped singing before an audience for four years. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues, she ultimately returned and went on to achieve 13 top-ten career hits.
Carole King (born in Manhattan, NY as Carol Joan Klein on February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at the Brill Building and later as a solo artist. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1962 and 2005.
Eartha Kitt (born in St. Matthews, SC as Eartha Mae Keith on January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer, actress, dancer, voice actress, comedienne, activist, author, and songwriter known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of “C’est si bon” (https://youtu.be/nVvHQfMrfq4 (RQ 9) and the Christmas novelty song”Santa Baby”, both of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Orson Welles once called her the “most exciting woman in the world”.
Brenda Lee 75 Years Old Photo credit: todayinmadonnahistory.com “I’m Sorry” No1 https://youtu.be/r-TkjEdB1kE (RQ 10+)
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born in Atlanta, GA on December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ray Charles. She is known for her 1960 hit “I’m Sorry”, and 1958’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, which has become a Christmas standard.
Peggy Lee 1920-2002 Photo credit: disney.fandom.com “Why Don’t You Do It Right?” https://youtu.be/4zRwze8_SGk (RQ 8)
Norma Deloris Egstrom (Born in Jamestown, ND on May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman’s big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music.
Ketty Lester (born in Hope, AR as Revoyda Frierson; August 16, 1934) is an American singer and actress known for her 1962 hit single “Love Letters”, which reached the top 5 of the charts in the U.S. and the UK. She is also known for her role as Hester-Sue Terhune on the American television series Little House on the Prairie.
Barbara Lewis 77 Years Old Photo credit: pophistorydig.com “Hello Stranger” https://youtu.be/J5BRuWS9iAk (RQ 10) Note: Backup singers better than lead
Barbara Ann Lewis (born in Salem, MI on February 9, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues. She was writing and recording by her teens with record producer Ollie McLaughlin, a black DJ at Ann Arbor radio station WHRV, now WAAM. Lewis’ first single release in 1962, the uptempo “My Heart Went Do Dat Da,” did not chart nationally, but was a local hit in the Detroit, Michigan area. She wrote all of the songs on her debut LP, including the hit “Hello Stranger” which reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and featured extensive use of the Hammond organ. Lewis had moderate follow-up hits with “Straighten Up Your Heart” (#43) and her original “Puppy Love” (#38) before Bert Bernsproduced her million-seller “Baby I’m Yours” (U.S. #11) (https://youtu.be/h_qrBYtIGb4)!(RQ 8) written by Van McCoy. Berns also produced the followup “Make Me Your Baby” (U.S. #11) which had originally been recorded by the Pixies Three, and Lewis’ final Top 40 hit “Make Me Belong to You” (#28 in 1966), written by Chip Taylor and Billy Vera.
Kathy Linden 82 Years Old Photo credit: Foto Gallery “Billy” https://youtu.be/G1EWoQ2Hp3s (RQ 6) Note: Has a very young sounding voice
Kathy Linden (born 1938) is an American pop singer from Moorestown Township, New Jersey. She grew up in Burlington, New Jersey. Linden scored two big hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 late in the 1950s. The first was “Billy”, a song originally written in 1911; it hit number seven in 1958. The second was “Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye”, a song written by a radio program director named Jack Vaughn; it rose to number eleven in 1959. Both singles were released on Felsted Records and featured Joe Leahy’s backing orchestra. Linden was known for having a breathy, childlike voice, even as a married woman in her 20s.
Linden’s talents appeared early. Her first public appearance was as a tap and ballet dancer when she was five years old. Since then, she acted in school plays and musicals, appeared in public pageants, played piano and violin in several local symphony orchestras, and with an all-girl string quintet called the Singing Strings. She attended the University of New Hampshire Summer Youth Music School in 1954, was a soprano soloist with the All State Chorus in 1955, and studied at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. At 19, she was discovered by record producer and trumpeter Joe Leahy when she auditioned for him. He was so intrigued with her sound that he recorded her and her first release was “It’s Just My Luck to Be Fifteen.” He transferred her recording contract to Felsted Records, a subsidiary of London Recordswhich had just set up shop that year. She debuted on Felsted with “Billy”.”Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye” became an international hit, not least in Sweden, where Linden’s version peaked at no 3, where it stayed for many weeks in September and October 1959.
After more recordings for Felsted and subsequently Monument and Capitol, some of which became regional hits, Linden retired from show business in 1963 to devote more time to her family and other personal interests.
In 2015, Linden gave her first and only radio interview since her retirement. She told former Casey Kasem interviewer Ronnie Allen that her life had changed enormously around 1980 when she became a Christian and started writing inspirational songs and singing and leading worship at many churches. In 1985, she was interviewed and sang on the Joy Program on TV. In 1992, she made a pilgrimage to Israel and led worship on the boat on the Sea of Galilee. She also led worship in both maximum and minimum security prisons of Southern California for three years.
Eva Narcissus Boyd (Born in Belhaven, NC, on June 29, 1943 – April 10, 2003), known by the stage name of Little Eva, was an American pop singer. Although some sources claim that her stage name was inspired by a character from the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she stated in an interview that she was named after her aunt, which prompted her family to call her “Little Eva”. She had twelve siblings. At the age of fifteen she moved to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager, she worked as a maid and earned extra money as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
It is often claimed that Goffin and King were amused by Boyd’s particular dancing style, so they wrote “The Loco-Motion” for her and had her record it as a demo (the record was intended for Dee Dee Sharp). However, as King said in an interview with NPR and in her “One to One” concert video, they knew she could sing when they met her, and it would be just a matter of time before they would have her record songs they wrote, the most successful being “The Loco-Motion”. Music producer Don Kirshner of Dimension Records was impressed by the song and Boyd’s voice and had it released. The song reached No. 1 in the United States in 1962. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. After the success of “The Loco-Motion”, Boyd was stereotyped as a dance-craze singer and was given limited material.
LuLu (Kennedy-Cairns) 72 Years Old Photo credit: Pinterest.com “To Sir With Love” https://youtu.be/yTapoA5RQyo (RQ 9) Note: Also see Post 30
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns (born in Sterlingshire, Scotland as Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie; 3 November 1948), known professionally as Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, television personality and businesswoman. Noted for her powerful singing voice, Lulu is internationally known, but especially by UK audiences in the 1960s. Later in her career she had hits internationally with “To Sir with Love” from the 1967 film of the same name and with the title song to the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. In European countries, she is also widely known for her Eurovision Song Contest 1969 winning entry “Boom Bang-a-Bang”, and in the UK for her 1964 hit “Shout”, which was performed at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Barbara Lynn 78 Years Old Photo credit: hymm.se “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” https://youtu.be/LoaLCc2jR_g (RQ 8) Note: Also, an excellent left-handed lead guitarist
Barbara Lynn (born in Beaumont, TX as Barbara Lynn Ozen, later Barbara Lynn Cumby, January 16, 1942) is an American rhythm and blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her R&B chart-topping hit, “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” (1962). In 2018, Lynn received a National Heritage Fellowship.
Loretta Lynn 88 Years Old Photo credit: guideposts.org “Coal Miner’s Daughter” https://youtu.be/f9eHp7JJgq8 (RQ 10) Note: One of 22 No1 charted songs
Loretta Lynn (Born in Butcher Hollow, KY as Loretta LynnWebb on April 14, 1932) is an American singer songwriter. In a career which spans six decades in country music, Lynn has released multiple gold albums. She is famous for hits such as “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)”, “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)”, “One’s on the Way”, “Fist City” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” along with the 1980 biographical film of the same name.
Vera Lynn (Born in Essex, England as Dame Vera Margaret Lynn Welch on 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) Lynn was an English singer, songwriter and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during the Second World War. She was widely referred to as the “Forces’ Sweetheart” and gave outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India and Burma during the war as part of Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). The songs most associated with her are “We’ll Meet Again”, “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover”, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “There’ll Always Be an England”.
Gloria Lynne (born in Harlem, NY as Gloria Wilson; November 23, 1929 – October 15, 2013), also known as Gloria Alleyne, was an American jazz vocalist with a recording career spanning from 1958 to 2007. Lynne sang with the local African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Choir. At the age of 15, she won first prize at the Amateur Night contest at the Apollo Theater. She shared the stage with contemporary night club vocal ensembles as well as with Ella Fitzgerald, she recorded as part of such groups as the Enchanters and the Dell-Tones, in the 1950s. She recorded as a soloist under her birth name, though most of her work was released under her stage name on the Everest and Fontana labels. In 1958, she was signed to Everest.
Although showing much promise early on, especially after TV appearances, including the Harry Belafonte Spectacular, her development suffered through poor management. Some unscrupulous recording ‘executives’ profited while she was left virtually penniless – a victim of unpaid royalties – and only saved by the fact that she was able to work steadily and earn her money from live performances.
During her earlier years on the road, Lynne shared bills with RnB, jazz, traditional pop music, and pop singers including Ray Charles, Billy Eckstine, Johnny Mathis and Ella Fitzgerald. TV specials include two with Harry Belafonte. Her final recording was “I Wish It Would Snow” featuring Bucky Pizzarelli.
Betty Madigan (born in Washington, DC in 1928) Her first hit record was “Double Crossing Blues”, with the Johnny Otis Quintette and the Robins (a vocal group), released in 1950 by Savoy Records, which reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. She made several hit records for Savoy with the Johnny Otis Orchestra, including “Mistrusting Blues” (a duet with Mel Walker) and “Cupid’s Boogie”, both of which also went to number 1 that year. Four more of her records made the Top 10 in the same year: “Misery” (number 9), “Deceivin’ Blues” (number 4), “Wedding Boogie” (number 6), and “Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues)” (number 6). Few female artists performing in any genre had such success in their debut year.
Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records. But just as quickly as the hits had started, they stopped. She recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, but only one, “Ring-a-Ding-Doo”, made the charts, reaching number 8 in 1952. Not working with Otis was part of her problem; the other part was her deepening dependence on heroin, to which she was addicted by the middle of the decade.
In 1954, she returned to Houston to live with her father and recuperate. Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, to treat her addiction. In 1962, Kenny Rogers discovered her singing at a Houston club and helped her get a contract with Lenox Records, owned by his brother Lelan.
Phillips eventually recovered enough to launch a comeback in 1962. Now billed as Esther Phillips instead of Little Esther, she recorded a country tune, “Release Me”, with the producer Bob Gans. This went to number 1 on the R&B chart and number 8 on the pop chart. After several other minor R&B hits for Lenox, she was signed by Atlantic Records. Her cover of the Beatles’ song “And I Love Him” nearly made the R&B Top 20 in 1965. The Beatles flew her to the UK for her first overseas performances.
She had other hits in the 1960s for Atlantic, such as the critically acclaimed Jimmy Radcliffe song “Try Me”, which featured a saxophone part by King Curtis (and is often mistakenly credited as the James Brown song of the same title), but she had no more chart-toppers.
Little Peggy March 72 Years Old Photo credit: radioking.com “I Will Follow Him” https://youtu.be/jgPMYQTINNk (RQ 10+)
“Little” Peggy March (born Margaret Annemarie Battavio, March 8, 1948, in Lansdale, Pennsylvania) is an American pop singer. In the United States, she is primarily known for her 1963 million-selling song “I Will Follow Him”. Although she is sometimes remembered as a one-hit wonder (despite many strong and promising singles), she continued to have success in Europe well into the 1970s.
Barbara Mason (born August 9, 1947, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American soul singer with several R&B and pop hits in the 1960s and 1970s, best known for her self-written 1965 hit song “Yes, I’m Ready”. Mason initially focused on songwriting when she entered the music industry in her teens. As a performer, though, she had a major hit single with her third release in 1965, “Yes, I’m Ready” (#5 pop, #2 R&B). She had modest success throughout the rest of the decade on the small Arctic label, run by her manager, top Philadelphia disc-jockey, Jimmy Bishop. She reached the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 again in 1965 with “Sad, Sad Girl”, and “Oh How It Hurts” in 1967. A two-year stay with National General Records, run by a film production company, produced one album and four singles which failed to find success.
The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio (from Middletown, OH) in American popular music. Among their most popular songs are “Sincerely” and “Sugartime,” (https://youtu.be/bRvEHn6fKWE) (RQ 8), both number-one hits.
The group was composed of three sisters:
Ruby Christine McGuire (July 30, 1926 – December 28, 2018)
Dorothy “Dottie” McGuire (February 13, 1928 – September 7, 2012)
Phyllis Jean McGuire (February 14, 1931 – December 29, 2020)
The McGuire Sisters signed with Coral Records in 1952. In the same year, they appeared on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, and Godfrey hired them for his other shows, where they remained for seven years. The November 1953 issue of Cosmopolitan called them “Godfrey’s Merry McGuires”. The sisters often were compared to the Andrews Sisters. Maxene Andrews said in an interview with Joe Franklin on WOR (AM) radio in 1979, “The McGuire Sisters were fine once they stopped imitating the Andrews Sisters.” While working on the Godfrey show, the McGuires befriended the singer Lu Ann Simms and attended her wedding to the music publisher Loring Buzzell in July 1956. Buzzell’s publishing Her first hit record was “Double Crossing Blues”, with the Johnny Otis Quintette and the Robins (a vocal group), released in 1950 by Savoy Records, which reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. She made several hit records for Savoy with the Johnny Otis Orchestra, including “Mistrusting Blues” (a duet with Mel Walker) and “Cupid’s Boogie”, both of which also went to number 1 that year. Four more of her records made the Top 10 in the same year: “Misery” (number 9), “Deceivin’ Blues” (number 4), “Wedding Boogie” (number 6), and “Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues)” (number 6). Few female artists performing in any genre had such success in their debut year.
Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records. But just as quickly as the hits had started, they stopped. She recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, but only one, “Ring-a-Ding-Doo”, made the charts, reaching number 8 in 1952. Not working with Otis was part of her problem; the other part was her deepening dependence on heroin, to which she was addicted by the middle of the decade.
In 1954, she returned to Houston to live with her father and recuperate. Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, to treat her addiction. In 1962, Kenny Rogersdiscovered her singing at a Houston club and helped her get a contract with Lenox Records, owned by his brother Lelan.
Phillips eventually recovered enough to launch a comeback in 1962. Now billed as Esther Phillips instead of Little Esther, she recorded a country tune, “Release Me”, with the producer Bob Gans. This went to number 1 on the R&B chart and number 8 on the pop chart. After several other minor R&B hits for Lenox, she was signed by Atlantic Records. Her cover of the Beatles’ song “And I Love Him” nearly made the R&B Top 20 in 1965. The Beatles flew her to the UK for her first overseas performances.
She had other hits in the 1960s for Atlantic, such as the critically acclaimed Jimmy Radcliffe song “Try Me”, which featured a saxophone part by King Curtis (and is often mistakenly credited as the James Brown song of the same title), but she had no more chart-toppers.
Bette Midler (born in Honolulu, HA on December 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, author, and comedian. In a career spanning over half a century, Midler has won four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Tony Awards. Midler began her professional career in several Off-Off-Broadway plays prior to her engagements in Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation on Broadway in the late 1960s. She came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing in the Continental Baths, a local gay bathhouse where she managed to build up a core following. Since 1970, Midler has released 14 studio albums as a solo artist, selling over 30 million records worldwide, and has received four Gold, three Platinum, and three Multiplatinum albums by RIAA. Many of her songs became chart hits, including her renditions of “The Rose”, “Wind Beneath My Wings”, “Do You Want to Dance”, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, and “From a Distance.” She won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “The Rose”, and Record of the Year for “Wind Beneath My Wings”.
Jody Miller 78 Years Old Photo credit: discogs.com “Queen of the House” https://youtu.be/gdMISGruB0Q (RQ 9) Note: This was a spoof on “King of the Road”
Jody Miller (born November 29, 1941) is an American country music singer. Born Myrna Joy Miller, in Phoenix, Arizona, she was raised in Blanchard, Oklahoma, the youngest of five sisters. Miller began her career in the early 1960s as a folk/pop singer, singing in the Los Angeles area and appearing on Tom Paxton’s television series. She released her first album on Capitol Records in 1964 and had a modest pop hit that year with “He Walks Like a Man” in the US but a big hit in Australia, reaching No. 8 on the national charts. competition, Miller and Donaggio presented differently arranged versions of the entry “Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)”. The song came in at # 7 and was only a moderate hit until Dusty Springfield recorded an English version in 1966 which was eventually released as “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”. Also in 1965, Jody Miller released an answer record to Roger Miller’s (no relation) blockbuster hit “King of the Road”, titled “Queen of the House” (which became her signature hit, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100and at number 5 on the country singles chart). Miller won the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song in 1966.
Miller scored a second top 40 pop hit that year with “Home of the Brave”, a No. 25 Hot 100 hit that was historically significant for tackling the issue of noncomformity and tolerance. The theme prevented it from making headway in the more socially conservative country charts of 1965. By the mid-1960s, Miller became a pioneer crossover female vocalist, opening the doors for Linda Ronstadt, Anne Murray, and Olivia Newton-John, and others as a pop singer recording a strong country influence and finding success in both genres. Miller’s pop success petered out by the late 1960s. Tammy Wynette’s record producer, Billy Sherrill, was a fan of Miller. He signed her to Epic Records in 1970 to record specifically for the country market. She had two country hits right off the bat in 1970 with “Look At Mine” nearly making the Top 20 and a Top 20 hit with “If You Think I Love You Now (I Just Started)” in early 1971. She recorded a remake of the Chiffons 1963 hit “He’s So Fine”, which hit the top 5 on the country chart and No. 53 on the pop chart that summer, garnering another Grammy award nomination.
Several major country hits followed, many of them remakes of pop/rock classics such as “Baby I’m Yours,” “Be My Baby,” and “To Know Him is to Love Him”. Among the new country songs she had hits with were the top tens “There’s a Party Goin’ On,” “Good News,” and “Darling, You Can Always Come Back Home.” She also continued to have hits with cover versions of pop hits like “House of the Rising Sun”, a hit for The Animals, “Reflections” (different from the Diana Ross and the Supremes hit), and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, an Aretha Franklin hit. Miller’s last top 30 country hit was 1977’s “When the New Wears Off Our Love” and two years later she made her final chart appearance.
Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962 Photo credit: whowhatwear.com “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” https://youtu.be/hEyWqVfY4vo (RQ 10) Note: She acted in 29 movies including the top three: “The Seven Year Itch” “Some Like It Hot” “Don’t Bother to Knock”
Jane Morgan 96 Years Old Photo credit: en.m.wikipedia.com “The Day the Rains Came” https://youtu.be/uJ4P7v8OEgs (RQ 9)
Jaye P. Morgan 88 Years Old Photo credit: discogs.com “That’s All I Want From You” https://youtu.be/YSwWxSCh8iM (RQ 7)
Laura Nyro 1947-1997 Photo credit: beneaththeundertow.com “Wedding Bell Blues” https://youtu.be/XvKzCspqGgQ (RQ 10+) As a writer, she influenced > 20 successful artists
Patti Page 1927-2013 Photo credit: theboot.com “Greatest Hits” Including “Hush-Hush Sweet Charlotte” https://youtu.be/wYPIf7d6vcA (RQ 10) Note: also see Post 29
Jane Powell 91 Years Old Photo credit: americanhistory.si.edu “True Love” https://youtu.be/NLXm8DxOs78 (RQ 10) Note: was also an actress in more than 10 movies
Della Reese 1931-2017 Photo credit: Pinterest.com “Rhapsody in Black” https://youtu.be/qzQh8l8LtqU (RQ 9) Note: Also was known for acting in: the TV series “Touched By an Angel”
Debbie Reynolds 1932-2016 Photo credit: vulture.com “Tammy” https://youtu.be/etExP7050GI (RQ 10) Note: also acted in 78 movies
DORIS TROY Photo credit: udiscovermusic.com “Just One Look” https://youtu.be/I8OQVUS6YuY (RQ 9) Richard Havers – January 6, 2019
Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as “Mama Soul”. Her biggest hit was “Just One Look”(https://youtu.be/GI3OYR_XM0w) (RQ 10) a top 10 hit in 1963. She was also one of the four female back up singers on “The Dark Side of the Moon” (https://youtu.be/DLOth-BuCNY) (RQ 9) by Pink Floyd.
Here are the male artist mini-biographies and links to their music:
Harry Belafonte Photo credit: blackdoctor.org
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, songwriter, activist, and actor. One of the most successful Jamaican American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the “King of Calypso” for popularizing the Trinidadian Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is known for his recording of “The Banana Boat Song” (https://youtu.be/YO7M0Hx_1D8) (RQ 9), with its signature lyric “Day-O”. He has recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in several films, including Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme Photo credit: mcallumtheatre.com
Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as “Steve and Eydie.” One of their best duets was “Baby Its Cold Outside”(https://youtu.be/g4kb0hlGA9k) (RQ 10). The two first appeared together as regulars on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954 and continued performing as a duo until Gormé’s retirement in 2009. Gormé died August 10, 2013. Lawrence had success on the record charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s with such hits as “Go Away Little Girl” (https://youtu.be/k0OrTZd5KM0) (RQ 10) (U.S. #1), “Pretty Blue Eyes” (U.S. #9), “Footsteps” (U.S. #7), “Portrait of My Love” (U.S. #9), and “Party Doll” (U.S. #5). “Go Away, Little Girl” sold over one million copies and was awarded a Gold record.
Peter(Asher) and Gordon (Waller) Photo credit: ontherecords.net
Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single “A World Without Love”. Peter Asher and his sister Jane were child actors in the 1950s. They played siblings in a 1955 episode of the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. Jane Asher dated The Beatles’ Paul McCartney between 1963 and 1968, and Peter and Gordon recorded several songs written by McCartney but credited to Lennon–McCartney. Those hits included “A World Without Love” (https://youtu.be/Tdx6lLvvRyg (RQ 10), (US & UK #1), “Nobody I Know” (US #12; UK #10), “I Don’t Want To See You Again” (US #16, but not a hit in the UK), and “Woman”.
Bobby Vee Photo credit: telegraph.co.uk
Robert Thomas Velline (Born in Fargo, ND. April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer, songwriter and musician who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. He produced six gold singles:
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock folk and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and since at least 2008 in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.
CHUCK BERRY Photo credit: Farewell to Father of Rock RollingStone – April 7, 2017
Chuck Berry contributed to the depth of the music in the 50s and 60s by recording a total of 64 albums along with 45 singles. One of his most popular even today is: “Johnny B. Goode” (https://youtu.be/6ROwVrF0Ceg) (RQ 10+). The song was first introduced in March of 1958. Go ahead a play it, then “cut a rug.”
Len Barry (born Leonard Borisoff; June 12, 1942 – November 5, 2020) was an American vocalist, songwriter, and record producer. He was raised in Philadelphia. Barry had little thought of a show business career while still in school. Instead, he aspired to become a professional basketball player upon his graduation. It was not until he entered military service and had occasion to sing with the US Coast Guard band at Cape May, New Jersey, and was so encouraged by the response of his military audiences, that he decided to make music a career.
Upon his discharge from military service, Barry returned home to Philadelphia and formed the Dovells. Barry was the lead singer, appearing on all of the group’s best selling records, such as “Bristol Stomp” (https://youtu.be/qaCCoXze9Rk) (RQ 8), “Hully Gully Baby” (https://youtu.be/LNGUei3oR0Qhttpand) (RQ 5) “You Can’t Sit Down” https://youtu.be/QXWSoku2shE() (RQ 10) among others. “Bristol Stomp” sold over one million copies and was awarded a RIAA gold disc. As a Dovell, he also toured with James Brown. Barry also made film appearances with the Dovells in films such as Don’t Knock the Twist, and toured the UK with the Motown Revue. Barry also had guest appearances on US television on American Bandstand, Shindig, and Hullabaloo. Soon after leaving the group, Barry recorded his first solo single “Lip Sync” (https://youtu.be/6hcaKsL1bdE) (RQ 6).
As someone who sang rhythm and blues, he recorded hits in 1965 and 1966 for Decca Records in the US and released by Brunswick Records: “1-2-3” (https://youtu.be/DcxcbzAYD9Y) (RQ 10) Like a Baby” (https://youtu.be/KHtASr311eE) (RQ 7) and “I Struck It Rich” (https://youtu.be/6jjym0Lo9ag) (RQ 7) a song he wrote with Leon Huff of the Philadelphia International Record producers, Gamble and Huff.
His first two hits also made the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart. “1-2-3” reached number three. Those songs also peaked at number 2 and 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively. “1-2-3” sold over four million copies, and gave Barry his second RIAA gold disc and a Grammy Award nomination for Contemporary Rock & Roll Male Vocal Performance. Both “1-2-3” and “Like a Baby” were composed by Barry, John Madara, and David White.
PHe performed at the Apollo Theatre in New York; the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.; The Regal Chicago, in Chicago; Illinois; The Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan; and The Uptown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also toured with Sam Cooke, The Motown Revue in the United Kingdom, and appeared on Top of the Pops. // He became a major singing star in The United Kingdom. Highlights of his European tour included featured performances at the London Palladium and Royal Albert Hall Billboard as well as numerous appearances throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Barry’s respect for the Native American culture led him to write and produce the instrumental “Keem-O-Sabe” (https://youtu.be/Vp7xdlwLvgM) (RQ 5). The song went to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 for “The Electric Indian.”
He also did writing and production work with WMOT Productions. With Bobby Eli he helped write the hit singles “Zoom” for Fat Larry’s Band and “Love Town” for Booker Newberry III.
GENE CHANDLER Photo credit: Rolling Stone – Ira Robbins September 12, 1985
Gene Chandler achieved early success in his career recording “Duke of Earl” in 1962 (https://youtu.be/h6Uht69h8Is) (RQ 10). The record reached Billboards’s No1 rating and was recognized with a gold record. He followed up this recording with “Groovy Situation” (https://youtu.be/QFOnZAzjeoU) (RQ 10) which also won a gold record as well. Afterward, he was briefly jailed for drug use in 1976. At 45, he was living in the Chicagoland area and still keeping his hand in music where he signed Fastfire to a new label in NYC.
DEE CLARK Photo credit: lyricstranslate.com
Dee Clark was from Blytheville, Arkansas. He lived from 1938-1990. He was only 52 when he passed. His given first name was Delectus. They moved to Chicago in 1941. His mother Essie was a gospel singer and encouraged his son to pursue his love for music. His first recording was done in 1952 called “Hambone.” His first groups he sang for were: The Hambones and Goldentones/Kool Gents. He began his solo career in 1957 following Little Richards style. He produced three hits over the next four years. The first two: “Hey Little Girl (https://youtu.be/fbYEVDpXepw) (RQ 10+) and Just Keep It Up” (https://youtu.be/Yce0Ug5ElWw) (RQ 9) reached the Top20 on Billboard. But the third one in 1961, “Raindrops” (whttps://youtu.be/WUnwOwz6OvQ) (RQ 10+) as a major power ballad augmented by thunderstorm noise. It sold over a million copies. While he produced several more songs, none were as successful as Raindrops.
James Joseph Croce (January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and numerous singles. I have included him in the 1960s group as four of his seven active years occurred then. While he worked very hard learning his trade in the late sixties, his hits started coming in 1972. Then, in 1973, he lost his life in a plane crash…
His first two albums were commercially unsuccessful, failing to chart or produce any hit singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After forming a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen his fortunes turned in the early 1970s. His breakthrough came in 1972; his third album: “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” (https://youtu.be/iPfM-GROsZ8) (RQ 10) produced three charting singles, including:
The follow-up album, “ Life and Times,” contained the song “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” (https://youtu.be/QvwDohEEQ1E) (RQ 10+) which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.
On September 20, 1973, the day before the lead single to his fifth album, “I Got a Name” (https://youtu.be/O_BEFyNNIvM) (RQ 10+) was released, Croce, along with five others, was killed in a plane crash, at the height of his popularity. Croce’s music continued to chart throughout the 1970s following his death. His wife, Ingrid Croce, was his early songwriting partner and she continued to write and record after his death, and his son A. J. Croce himself became a singer-songwriter in the 1990s.
DALE DAWKINS Photo credit: rocky-52.net
Dale Hawkins began recording in 1956. In 1957, Hawkins was playing at Shreveport, LA clubs, and although his music was influenced by the new rock and roll style of Elvis Presley and the guitar sounds of Scotty Moore, Hawkins blended that with the uniquely heavy blues sound of black Louisiana artists for his recording of his swamp-rock classic, “Susie Q” (https://youtu.be/GmrETlIXzLg) (RQ 9). Fellow Louisiana guitarist and future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Burton provided the signature riff and solo.
The song was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll. An accompanying album, Oh! Suzy Q was released in 1958. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version of the song (https://youtu.be/18kqUNG9mO4) on their 1968 debut album helped launch their career and today it is probably the best-known version.
“Take Five” (https://youtu.be/vmDDOFXSgAs) (RQ 10+) is a jazz standard composed by saxophonist Paul Desmond and originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album Time Out at Columbia Records’ 30th Street Studios in New York City on July 1, 1959. Two years later it became a surprise hit and the biggest selling jazz single ever! Revived since in numerous movie and television soundtracks, the piece still receives significant radio airplay. The single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996. “Take Five” is written in the key of E Minor, in ternary (ABA) form. Rhythmically, the five beats to the bar are split unevenly into 3 + 2 quarter noted; that is, the main accents (and chord changes) are on the first and fourth beats.
José Monserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945), better known simply as José Feliciano, is a blind, Puerto Rican musician, singer and composer, best known for many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors “Light My Fire” (https://youtu.be/7RtTWDv-yWMfth) (RQ 10) and the best-selling Christmas single, “Feliz Navidad.” His music is known for its fusion of styles: Latin, jazz, blues, soul and even rock, created primarily with his unique, signature acoustic guitar sound. His oftentimes mellow easy listening influences are easily recognizable in many songs heard around the world.
Robert “Bobby” Thomas Freeman (June 13, 1940 – January 23, 2017) was an American rock, soul and R&B singer, songwriter and record producer from San Francisco, best known for his two Top Ten hits, the first in 1958 on Josie Records called “Do You Want to Dance” (https://youtu.be/_-tmZHMnlAo) (RQ 6) and the second in 1964 for Autumn Records, “C’mon and Swim” (https://youtu.be/h6S5v6lLEgs) (RQ 10+).
Dobie Gray Photo credit: New York Times December 11, 2011 – Paul Vitello
Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter, whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop, and musical theatre. His hit songs included “The In Crowd” (https://youtu.be/qF7KU50IY34) (RQ 9) in 1965 and “Drift Away” (https://youtu.be/gr_eVcCAUXo) (RQ 10+) which was one of the biggest hits of 1973, sold over one million copies, and remains a staple of radio airplay.
In the 1960s, Burl Ives began singing country with greater frequency. In 1962, he released three songs that were popular with both country music and popular music fans: “A Little Bitty Tear”, “Call Me Mister In-Between”, and “Funny Way of Laughin’.” Ives had several film and television roles during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1962, he starred with Rock Hudson in The Spiral Road, which was based on a novel of the same name by Jan de Hartog. He also starred in Disney’s Summer Magic with Hayley Mills, Dorothy McGuire and Eddie Hodges and a score by Robert and Richard Sherman. In 1964, he played the genie in the movie The Brass Bottle with Tony Randall and Barbara Eden. Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (https://youtu.be/P_dI6fVZwd0) (RQ 10) charted No4 and “Silver and Gold” became Christmas standards after they were first featured in the 1964 NBC-TV presentation of the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated family special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Overall he charted 22 single recordings.
Chuck Jackson (born July 22, 1937) is an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He has performed with moderate success since 1961. His hits include:
Between 1957 and 1959, he was a member of The Del Vikings, singing lead on the 1957 release “Willete” (https://youtu.be/REK7KpIiS0k) (RQ 6). After leaving them, he was “discovered” by Luther Dixon when he opened for Jackie Wilson at the Apollo Theater. He signed a recording contract with Scepter Records. “I Don’t Want to Cry,” his first single, which he co-wrote (with Luther Dixon) and recorded in November 1960, was his first hit (released in January 1961). The song charted on both the R&B and pop charts.
In 1962, Jackson’s recording of the Burt Bacharach-Bob Hilliard song “Any Day Now” became a huge hit and his signature song. His popularity in the 1960s prompted him to buy the time on his contract from Scepter and move to Motown Records. There he recorded a number of successful singles, including “Honey Come Back” (https://youtu.be/N-S3-w4Lp3M) (RQ 5). He later recorded for All Platinum and other labels, but with minimal success.
David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock musicians, including Paul McCartney, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Davis Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell and Cass Elliot. One of Mason’s best known songs is: “Feelin Alright” (https://youtu.be/DQcCqckIM_w) (RQ 6), recorded by Traffic in 1968 and later by many other performers, including Joe Cocker, whose version of the song was a hit in 1969. For Traffic, he also wrote “Hole in My Shoe” (https://youtu.be/a77yHpjdUtU) (RQ 7), a psychedelic pop song that became a hit in its own right. “We Just Disagree” (https://youtu.be/p8_FOQ7-P30) (RQ 10), Mason’s 1977 solo US hit, written by Jim Krueger, has become a staple of US classic hits and adult contemporary radio playlists.
Robert Parker passed (of natural causes) in January of 2020 at 89. He was from New Orleans originally. While he recorded other semi-popular songs, in 1966 “Barefootin” (https://youtu.be/2VZakvxRD44) (RQ 10+) reached No1 on the Billboard charts.
Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) was an American singer-songwriter who recorded most notably at the Sun Studio, in Memphis beginning in 1954. Amongst his best-known songs are “Blue Suede Shoes” (https://youtu.be/DRNyvO4QouY) (RQ 7), “Matchbox” (https://youtu.be/OTA8m_luor4) (RQ 9) and “Everybody is Trying to Be My Baby” (https://youtu.be/d1sY356CRgM) (RQ 9).
According to Charlie Daniels, “Carl Perkins’ songs personified the rockabilly era, and Carl Perkins’ sound personifies the rockabilly sound more so than anybody involved in it, because he never changed.” Perkins’s songs were recorded by artists (and friends) as influential as Elvis, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton which further established his place in the history of popular music. Paul McCartney claimed that “if there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles.”
LITTLE RICHARD theguardian.com Michael Gray – May 10, 2020
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Nicknamed. “The Innovator, The Originator, and the Architect of Rock and Roll”, Richard’s most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding back beat and raspy shouted vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. Richard’s innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and fink. He influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations. In 1955, “Tutti-Frutti” (https://youtu.be/Cj059o9OwqY) (RQ 9), one of Richard’s signature songs, became an instant hit, crossing over to the pop charts in both the United States and overseas in the United Kingdom. His next hit single, “Long Tall Sally” (1956) (https://youtu.be/2OfhmVmhL7s) (RQ 9), hit No. 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart, followed by a rapid succession of fifteen more in less than three years.
Neil Sedaka (born March 13, 1939) is an American pop singer, pianist, composer and record producer. Since his music career began in 1957 as a short-lived founding member of the Tokens, he has sold millions of records as a performer and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody.
Sedaka was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Mac Sedaka, was a taxi driver and a whose parents came to the United States from Istanbul in 1910. Sedaka’s mother, Eleanor, was of Polish and Russian descent. Neil grew up in Brighton Beach, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Sedaka was a first cousin of the singer Eydie Gorme, whose mother was Mac Sedaka’s sister.
He demonstrated musical aptitude in his second-grade choral class, and when his teacher sent a note home suggesting he take piano lessons, his mother took a part-time job in an Abraham & Straus department store for six months to pay for a second-hand upright. In 1947, he auditioned successfully for a piano scholarship to the Julliard School of Music’s Preparatory Division for Children, which he attended on Saturdays. His mother wanted him to become a classical pianist like his contemporary Van Cliburn, and Sedaka continued to show fondness for (and capacity to play) classical music throughout his life. At the same time, to his mother’s dismay, Sedaka was discovering pop music; his mother would eventually acquiesce when Sedaka received a five-figure royalty check for his hit “Calendar Girl” in 1961. When Sedaka was 13, a neighbor heard him playing and introduced him to her 16-year-old son, Howard Greenfield, an aspiring poet and lyricist. They became two of the Brill Building’s composers.
Sedaka and Greenfield wrote songs together throughout much of their young lives. Before rock and roll became popular, Sedaka and Greenfield found inspiration from show tunes. When Sedaka became a major teen pop star, the pair continued writing hits for Sedaka and numerous other artists. When the Beatles and the British Invasion took American music in a different direction, Sedaka was left without a recording career. In the early 1970s, he decided a major change in his life was necessary and moved his family to Britain. Sedaka and Greenfield mutually agreed to end their partnership with “Our Last Song Together”. Sedaka began a new composing partnership with lyricist Phil Cody, from Pleasantville, New York. His (10) all-time number one hits include:
Robert Stanley Vinton Jr. (born April 16, 1935), known professionally as Bobby Vinton, is an American singer and songwriter who briefly appeared in films. In pop music circles, as a teen idol he became known as “The Polish Prince”, as his music pays tribute to his Polish heritage. His most popular song was “Blue Velvet”, a cover of Tony Bennett’s 1951 song, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963 and number two in the UK in 1990. It also served as inspiration for the film of the same name.
After two years’ service in the United States Army, where he served as a chaplain’s assistant, Vinton was signed to Epic Records in 1960 as a bandleader: “A Young Man With a Big Band”. The break for the Epic Records contract had come after Vinton and his band appeared on Guy Lombardo’s TV Talent Scoutsprogram. However, two albums, Bobby Vinton Dancing At The Hop and Bobby Vinton Plays for his Lil Darlin’s as well as several singles were not successful, and with Epic ready to drop him from its roster, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile. The song was titled “Roses Are Red My Love,” (https://youtu.be/EYjIdBFpr9E) (RQ 10+). (RQ 10+). Vinton had to do his own promotion for the song; he bought one thousand copies and hired a young woman to deliver a copy of the record and a dozen red roses to every local DJ. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also a hit on the Country and R&B charts. The success of the song pushed Epic to renew Vinton’s contract and change his status from bandleader to solo singer.
Arguably, his most famous song is 1963’s “Blue Velvet,” (https://youtu.be/9Cr_apcZkpY) (RQ 10+), originally a minor hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, that also went to number one. 23 years later, Davis Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1990, “Blue Velvet” reached number 2 in the UK singles chart, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. The 1990 reissue also hit number 3 in the Irish Singles. Chart and number 7 in Australia.
In 1964, Vinton had two number 1 hits: “There! I’ve Said It Again” (https://youtu.be/YLAhVU0NOm0) (RQ 10). This song was a number 1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe. The second hit was: “Mr. Lonely” (https://youtu.be/dCwgYCMq11g) (RQ 10). Vinton’s version of “There! I’ve Said It Again” is noteworthy for being the last U.S. Billboard number-one single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100’s summit by “I Want To Hold Your recorHand.” Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, scoring 16 top-ten hits, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles, and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the Top 30, though many of them would remain popular in concerts or continue to have hits for certain periods of time.
Vinton wrote “Mr. Lonely” during his chaplain’s assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced “Roses Are Red” and launched Vinton’s singing career. It was released as an album track on the 1962 Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental) LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Grecco release it and it flopped. Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include “Mr. Lonely” on his Bobby Vinton’s Greatest Hits LP. Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. “Mr. Lonely” shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach number 1 on the Hot 100 on 12 December 1964. Epic then released the LP Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely, giving the song a unique claim to fame since it now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song has continued to spin gold for its composer in the 45 years since it hit number 1. Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter and features the song in the film’s opening, and it was also the basis for Akon’s 2005 hit, “Lonely.”
Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr. (January 20, 1923 – June 19, 2013), professionally known by the stage name “Slim” Whitman, was an American country music, western music and folk music artist singer-songwriter and instrumentalist known folir his yodeling abilities and his smooth, high, three-octave-range falsetto in a style christened as “countrypolitan”. He personally stated that he had sold in excess of 120 million records, although the recorded sales figures give 70 million, during a career that spanned over seven decades, and consisted of a prolific output of over 100 albums and around 500 recorded songs, that not only consisted of country music, but also of contemporary gospel, Broadway show tunes, love songs and standards.
In the 1990s and 2000s a new generation was exposed to Whitman through his songs featured in the film Mars Attacks!; his famed “Indian Love Call” (https://youtu.be/HBuk1HXcz1kd) (RQ 9). And, then he would kill the invading Martians every time the record was played and his rendition usfamoof “I Remember You” was heard in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses.
Brian Wilson (1942- ). Photo credit: RadarOnline Lead Singer for The Beach Boys – Greatest Hits (https://youtu.be/w2VvkoV8I54)
Bands or Groups (35):
Danny & The Juniors; Day, Bobby & His Satillites; Fred, John & His Playboy Band; Gilmore, Jimmy & The Fireballs; Jay & The Techniques; Little Anthony & The Imperials; Mickey & Sylvia; Santos & Johnny; Shirley & Lee; Small Faces; Spiral Staircase; The American Breed; The Box Tops; The Capitals; The Coasters; The Contours; The Crests, The Danleers; The Dells; The Diamonds; The Exciters; The Fifth Dimension; The Five Satins, The Fleetwoods; The Guess Who; The Isley Brothers; The Knickerbockers; The Left Bank, The Lettermen; The Platters; The Riverias; The Seeds; The Surfaris; The Trempelos; and The Vogues.
Here are individual mini-biographies of each band or group:
LittleAnthonyand the Imperials Photo credit: bandsintown.co
Little Anthony and the Imperials is an American rhythm and blues/soul vocal group from New York City founded by Clarence Collins in the 1950s and named in part for its lead singer, Jerome Anthony “Little Anthony” Gourdine, who was noted for his high-pitched voice. In addition to Collins and Gourdine, the original Imperials included Ernest Wright, Glouster “Nate” Rogers, and Tracey Lord, the last two of whom were subsequently replaced by Sammy Strain. Changing their name to “The Imperials”, the group signed with End Records in 1958. Their first single was “Tears on My Pillow” (https://youtu.be/x33hBl5HIi0) which was an instant hit. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. The group was one of the very few doo-wop groups to enjoy sustained success on the R&B and pop charts throughout the 1960s. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009, 23 years after the group’s first year of eligibility for induction.
The Exciters Photo credit: musicfinder.online
Brenda Reid, Carolyn (Carol) Johnson, Lillian Walker, and Sylvia Wilbur formed the group while at high school together in Queens, New York City, in 1961. They were originally called the Masterettes, as a sister group to another group called the Masters, and released their first recording, “Follow the Leader”, in early 1962. Wilbur then left the group to be replaced by Penny Carter, and they auditioned for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, winning a recording contract. Penny Carter then left, and was replaced by Herb Rooney, a member of the Masters; Reid and Rooney later married. The group’s name was changed to The Exciters, and their first hit record, arranged by George “Teacho” Wiltshire and produced by Leiber and Stoller for United Artists Records, was “Tell Him”, which reached no. 4 on the U.S. pop chart in early 1963. The song had previously been released unsuccessfully, as “Tell Her”, by Gil Hamilton later known as Johnny Thunder. According to Jason Ankeny at AllMusic, the Exciters’ version of “Tell Him” “…boasted an intensity that signified a sea change in the presentation and perception of femininity in popular music, paving the way for such tough, sexy acts as the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes.” Dusty Springfield was on a stop-over in New York City en route to Nashville to make a country music album with Springfield in 1962, when she heard The Exciters’ “Tell Him” (https://youtu.be/ox-9l9GElTo) (RQ 9) playing while taking a late-night walk by the Colony Record Store on Broadway. The song helped Springfield decide to embark on a solo career with a pop/soul direction. She’d recall: “The Exciters sort of got you by the throat…out of the blue comes blasting at you “I know something about love”, and that’s it. That’s what I wanna do.” Other songs by the group included “He’s Got the Power” (written by Ellie Greenwich and Tony Powers), “Get Him”, and Northern Soul classic “Blowing Up My Mind”. The Exciters also recorded “Do-Wah-Diddy”, written by Greenwich and Jeff Barry, in 1963; with a revised title of “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” it was covered shortly after by Manfred Mann, for whom it was an international hit. They were one of the opening acts for the Beatles during their first North American tour in August–September 1964. During this tour, they became the first black musicians to perform at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida; the stadium’s management had initially refused to allow the Exciters to perform because of their race, but when the Beatles said they would refuse to perform too, the group was allowed to go on. In 1965, the Exciters left the Leiber-Stoller management team, and the United Artists label, for Roulette Records. There they issued a remake (with revised lyrics) of the Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers’ song “I Want You to Be My Boy”. They continued to record through the 1960s for Bert Berns’ labels Bang and Shout, and later for RCA, but with little success. Ronnie Pace and Skip McPhee replaced Johnson and Walker. The group broke up in 1974.
The Guess Who Photo credit: ontherecords.net
The Guess Who is a Canadian rock band, from Winnipeg, in 1965. Formed as a garage rock band, their musical style encompassed the pop rock and psychedelic genres. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, the group found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s primarily under the leadership of songwriters Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman (later of Bachman-Turner Overdrive) and recorded many hit singles, including ( I can’t believe “American Woman” was their only No1 Billboard hit):
Robert James Byrd (July 1, 1930 – July 27, 1990), known by the stage name Bobby Day (and His Satellites) was an American rock and roll and R&B singer, multi instrumentalist, music producer and dsongwriter. He is best known for his 1958 hit record “Rockin’ Robin” (https://youtu.be/4OFESufsZG0) (RQ 7), written by Jimmie Thomas. He also recorded more than thirty other songs including “Little Bitty Pretty One” (https://youtu.be/kQinZhTaWNI) (RQ 9) and “Over and Over” (https://youtu.be/kdboU4i7x7k) (RQ 10+) which also was very popular.
Danny & The Juniors Photo Credit: waybackattack.com Michael Jack Kirby
Danny & the Juniors are an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally consisting of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova. Formed in 1955, they are most widely recognized for their 1957 hit single “At the Hop” (https://youtu.be/F3SrtN6tMyg) (RQ 9).
Jay and the Techniques Photo credit: soulwalking.co.uk
Jay & the Techniques was an American pop group formed in Allentown, Pennsylvania during the mid-1960s. The band was best known for its Top 10 debut single, “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” (https://youtu.be/rrk9XUJKuHc) (RQ 8), which was released in 1967 and reached No. 6 in the Billboard Hot100 chart. The track was arranged by Joe Renzetti, and written by Maurice Irby, Jr. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc Although this song served as the band’s primary hut, the group also captured various chart positions with “Keep the Ball Rollin” (#14) (https://youtu.be/TpJ4rVhWhag) (RQ 9) and “Strawberry Shortcake”. “Keep the Ball Rollin” also notched up sales in excess of a million copies, to secure a second gold disc for this group. However, its position on the 1960s pop charts declined after “Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music” was released. They made their final effort with the R&B hit, “Number Onderful”, but after that, the group disbanded.”Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” and “Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music” (the latter a cover of a single first released in 1967 by Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon) were both released in the UK by Mercury Recirds and, while neither song charted in the UK, in the early 1970s both songs became dance favourites of the British Northern Soul music scene.In 1996, Mercury Records released a compilation album of the band’s hits entitled The Best of Jay & The Techniques. Original band members:
Jay Proctor: Lead vocalist and primary founder of the group
George “Lucky” Lloyd: Second vocalist
Dante Dancho: Lead guitar
Chuck Crowl: Bass guitar
Karl Landis (Lippowitsch): Drums (was replaced by Paul Coles, Jr.)
Ronnie Goosley: Saxophone
Jon Walsh: Trumpet (was replaced by Danny Altieri)
Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson and Melba Moore often served as backing vocalists
JIMMY GILMORE & THE FIREBALLS chuckyg.com 2001-2016 Charles R. Grosvenor Jr.
Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs had a monster number one single in late 1963 with “Sugar Shack,” (https://youtu.be/CLl5rdBW-94) (RQ 9) a light pop/rocker dominated by the vibrating sound of a primitive precursor to the synthesizer, the Solovox. The song was singled out for special venom by Griel Marcus in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, who called it “the worst excuse for itself rock and roll had yet produced.” The public disagreed, sending it to number one; surprisingly, it also topped the R&B charts. Gilmer and the band made the Top 20 one more time with “Daisy Petal Pickin’,” a transparent “Sugar Shack” soundalike, right down to the Solovox. They cut various flops for Dot in the mid-’60s, and Gilmer recorded a Buddy Holly tribute album on his own. Signing to Atlantic in 1967, the Fireballs had another Top Ten hit with Tom Paxton’s “Bottle of Wine,” without giving top billing to Gilmer, although he was still in the band. Gilmer left the Fireballs shortly afterwards, though, and the Fireballs saga petered out after a few other low-charting singles in the late ’60s.
John Fred & His PlayboyBand Photo credit: last.fm
John Fred Gourrier (May 8, 1941 – April 14, 2005), known by his stage name John Fred, was an American blue-eyed soul, swamp pop, tick and roll, and R&B performer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. One of their most famous recordings was: “Judy in Disguise” (https://youtu.be/Biu95fyvmLI) (RQ 9).
Mickey and Sylvia Photo credit: Shazam
Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool were an American R &B duo which produced “Love is Strange” (https://youtu.be/zxZ8rwN8Wrk) (RQ 9) together in 1957. They sang together beginning in 1954. This best known single reached No11 on the U.S. Pop Chart and was awarded a gold disc by RIAA. Sylvia had a followup hit record in 1973 called “Pillow Talk” (https://youtu.be/NA2X1040_gY) (RQ 4). Sylvia passed on in 2011 at the age of 76 and Mickey did so in 2012 at the age of 87.
Santos and Johnny Photo credit: Qobuz
Brothers Santos and Johnny Farina were an rock and roll instrumental duet from Brooklyn, NY. They were best known for their record “Sleep Walk” (https://youtu.be/YBRCvVpknvg) (RA 9) which was released in 1959. It reached the top of the rock and roll charts. Both continue to be active in the music industry including owning a record company (Aniraf).
SHIRLEY & LEE Photo credit: 64 Parishes – David Kunian
Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee topped the R&B charts in the 1950s. They were from New Orleans and began singing together as children in the Baptist church. Their first recording was “I’m Gone” (https://youtu.be/X5F1sfcQSWc) (RC 7) in 1952. They were only 13 at the time and, after a few more songs, became known as “The Sweethearts of the Blues.” I’m Gone reached No2 on the R&B charts. One of their most famous songs from 1956 was “Let the Good Times Roll” (https://youtu.be/uM9yYL6BD-4) (RQ 9).
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Mariott, Ronnie Lane, Kenny Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band’s keyboardist in 1966. The band was one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the 1960s, recording hit songs such as “Itchycoo Park” (https://youtu.be/JGEgRnvFzLY) (RQ 10), “Lazy Sunday” (https://youtu.be/yzgVk3mOSko) (RQ 10), “All or Nothing” (https://youtu.be/ViKz0gQpzuQ) (RQ 8), and “Tin Soldier” (https://youtu.be/H7v5ZqcReLM) (RQ 9), as well as their concept album “Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake.” They later evolved into one of the UK’s most successful psychedelic bands until 1969.
The Spiral Starecase was an American pop band, best known for its 1969 single “More Today Than Yesterday” (https://youtu.be/HRNPppaIW6I) (RQ 10). The band, from Sacramento, California, United States, was recognizable for its horns and lead singer/guitarist Pat Upton’s voice. Thgroup also included Harvey Kaye (organ), Dick Lopes (saxophone), Bobby Raymond (bass guitar), Gene Austin (bass guitar), Vinny Parello (drums), Mark Barrett (drums) and Al Sebay (electric guitar).
The American Breed was formed in in 1958 in Cicero, Illinois, United States, initially known as Gary & The Knight Litesthe. The founding members included Gary Loizzo (vocals and guitar), Charles “Chuck” Colbert, Jr. (bass guitar and vocals), Al Ciner (guitar and vocals), and Jim Michalak (drums). The band enjoyed its greatest success in 1967 and 1968. They released five singles that reached the charts, including “Step Out Of Your Mind”, “Green Light”, and “Bend Me, Shape Me” https://youtu.be/PSHo146tQjQ() (RQ 10). The latter track was their biggest seller, and sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
The Box Tops Photo Credit: Bruno Ceriotti – rock historian
The Box Tops is an American rock band formed in Memphis in 1967. They are best known for these hits: “The Letter” (https://youtu.be/HIWY8UyW9bw). (RQ 10+).”Cry Like a Baby” (https://youtu.be/dmhtxLSUhYU) (RQ 9).”Soul Deep” (https://youtu.be/jpDNqTjlRes) (RQ 8).They are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They performed a mixture of current soul music songs by artists such as James & Bobby Purify and Clifford Curry; pop tunes such as “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Keith Reid, Gary Booker, and Mathew Fisher of Procal Harum; and songs written by their producers, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and Chips Moman. Vocalist Alex Chilton went on to front the power pop band big Star and to launch a career as a solo artist, during which he occasionally performed songs he had sung with the Box Tops.
The Capitals Photo credit: discogs.com
The Capitols were an American, Detroit, Michigan-based soul trio, widely known in 1966 for their Billboard hit single “Cool Jerk” (https://youtu.be/OX9nOCOjukQ) (RQ 8). The band members were: Sam George, Don Storball, and Richard Mitchell. Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of the dance, and dance songs in general, Storball wrote a song about the pimp jerk, renaming it “Cool Jerk” in order to prevent possible banning by radio stations. Realizing that the song had potential, the group re-formed and contacted McLaughlin in order to secure studio time to record the song.
Attempting to exploit the success of their hit single, the Capitols released two albums in 1966, Dance the Cool Jerk and We Got a Thing That’s in The Groove,both featuring mostly covers of popular Motown and soul songs. Both albums were somewhat of a commercial and critical failure, though Dance the Cool Jerk did spend one week in the Billboard 100 at number 95 in July 1966. The group released eight additional singles after “Cool Jerk”, only two of which made the Billboard charts getting no higher than number 65.
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Members include: J.W. Lance, Primotivo Candelara, Eddie Whitefield and Dennis Anderson. Beginning with “Searchin” (https://youtu.be/CDrxqcxo-Ec) (RQ 4), “Young Blood” (https://youtu.be/e-Exe4YUJyI) (RQ 9) and “Yakety Yak” (https://youtu.be/epCN0f7FTIY) (RQ 10) were their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s.
The Contours were one of the early African-American soul singing groups signed to Motown Records. The group is best known for its classic chart-topping 1962 hit, “Do You Love Me” (https://youtu.be/l3zJZ2d4cis) (RQ 9) a million-selling single that became a major hit all over again in 1964 covered by the band Dave Clark Five (charted again atNo11).”Do You Love Me,” allegedly, originally was meant for The Temptations. But, in a 2008 interview for MOJO Magazine, Joe Billingslea stated that this was not the case. In the article, Billingslea stated to author Phil Alexander that the song’s author, Motown founder Berry Gordy, offered the song to the Contours first, only intending to give The Temptations the song after he saw that the Contours were having trouble with it. However, after practicing the tune again, Gordy gave the nod—and the song—to the Contours. The resulting record, with its shouted lead vocals from Billy Gordon, hit No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and crossed over to No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1962. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
The Crests Photo credit: doo-wop.blogg
The Crests were an American doo wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several top40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, “16 Candles” (https://youtu.be/yoOuTSBAWWA) (RQ 9) rose to #2 on the Billboard charts in February 1959 selling over one million copies and earning a gold disc status. Another popular on the radio today is “Trouble in Paradise” (https://youtu.be/-G6yszZy1P0) (RQ 7).
THE DANLEERS Photo credit: KKbox.com
The Danleers were an American doo-wop formed in Brooklyn, NY in 1958. They could also easily fit into my blog post “One Hit Wonders” as their 1959 song: “One Summer Night” (https://youtu.be/QT4LJxBBaF0) (RQ 10) sold over one million copies. A great example of a “street corner” group whose original members were: Jimmy Weston, Johnny Lee, Willie Ephraim, Nat McCune and Roosevelt Mays.
THE DELLS soulwalking.co.uk
The Dells were an American R&B vocal group, vocal quintets. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Mickey and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first recording in 1954 and two years later had their first R&B hit with “Oh What a Night.” (https://youtu.be/Z1ozQT8yQXA.) (RQ 10) After disbanding due to a near-fatal car crash in 1958, the band reformed in 1960 with Funches being replaced by Johnny Carter. This lineup remained together until Carter’s death in 2009. In 2004, The Dells were inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The group performed until illness forced longtime lead singer Marvin Junior and bass vocalist Chuck Barksdale into retirement, ending the group’s 60-year run.
The Diamonds Photo credit: Doo Wop Eklablog
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. One of their most popular hits was – “Little Darlin” in 1957 (https://youtu.be/5FYoYYChb0Y) (RQ 9). The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (bass). They were most noted for interpreting and introducing R&B vocal group music to the wider pop music audience. Contrary to a popular myth, the father of Tom Hanks was never a member of the group.
Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to “the Fifth Dimension” by 1966. They became well known during the late 1960s and early 1970s for their popular hit songs “Up, Up and Away,”, “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “Medley: Aquarious/Let the Sunshine In” https://youtu.be/VlrQ-bOzpkQ() (RQ 10), “Wedding Bell Blues”,”One Less Bell to Answer”, “Never My Love”, and “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All” as well as The Magic Garden album. The five original members were: Billy Davis Jr., Florence La Rue, Marilyn McCoo, Lemonte McLemore and Ronald Townson.
The Five Satins Photo credit: blogfinger
The Five Statins, formed in New Haven, Connecticut in 1954, consisted of leader Fred Parris, Lewis Peeples, Stanley Dortche, Ed Martin and Jim Freeman and Nat Mosley. With little success, the group reorganized, with Dortche and Peeples leaving, and new member Al Denby entering. The group then recorded “In the Still of the Night” (https://youtu.be/fBT3oDMCWpI) (RQ 9), a big hit in the United States, which was originally released as the B-side to the single, “The Jones Girl”. The single was initially issued on the tiny local “Standord” label (45 stock # 200) and after some local Connecticut sales, it was released the following year on the New York label Ember (45 stock # 1005), and “In The Still Of The Night” ended up charting at number three on the R&B ichart and number 25 on the pop chart.Two singles later, the follow-up track “Pretty Baby (That’s Why I Sing)” (Ember 1025) got weeks of airplay on powerful CHUM in Toronto, in November 1957. An August 1958 release, “A Night To Remember” (Ember 1038), got some Boston airplay. During late 1959 (in SanFrancisco, CA) and early 1960 (in both san Antonio, TX and Rochester, NY), their classic 45 side garnered renewed current airplay, becoming a Top 10 hit in all three listed markets. “In The Still of the Night” became an even bigger hit when it appeared as the lead track on Original Sound Records’ Oldies But Goodies Vol. 1. The series eventually ran to 15 volumes. The series has been in continual print in one form or another since that first volume was released in 1959. In total, their signature track sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
THE FLEETWOODS Photo credit: Discogs
The Fleetwoods were an American singing group from Olympia, Washington, United States, whose members were Gary Troxel, Gretchen Christopher, and Barbara Ellis. The Fleetwoods’ first hit was “Come Softly To Me” (https://youtu.be/Dkf-Dhihdrc) (RQ 10), which was also covered by others. The UK’s Frankie Vaughn and The Kaye Sisters had a Top 10 chart hit in the United Kingdom with the song, though The Fleetwoods exceeded them, simultaneously charting in the UK’s Top 5.
Their second hit, “Graduation’s Here” (https://youtu.be/azowVqsgQyY) (RQ 8) was co-written by Ellis and Christopher, with Troxel later adding a scat line in counterpoint. That one was followed by “Mr. Blue,” (https://youtu.be/_9ceb6uzG3I) (RQ 7) which, like “Come Softly To Me”, also topped the US pop chart.
The Fleetwoods continued recording into the 1960s. They hit the Top 10 again with a remake of thomas Wayne’s “Tragedy” (https://youtu.be/1bohMPplkpY) (RQ 7) in 1961. Though they went on to have a total of eleven hits on the Hot 100, the beginning of the end for the group came when Troxel had to fulfill his obligation to go onto active duty in the United States Navy. He joined the Naval Reserve in 1956. Additionally, the British Invasion of the mid 1960s changed the public’s taste. The trio’s hits ended in 1963 with Barbara Ellis singing melody on “Goodnight My Love” (https://youtu.be/5ZSbONkGyC0) (RQ 10). Vic Dana, who was to go on to a successful solo career, replaced Troxel in the group when he was in the service, solely for live performances.
THE ISLEY BROTHERS legacyrecordings.com
The Isley Brothers are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio that started as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O’Kelly Isley Jr, Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, the group has been cited as having enjoyed one of the “longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music.” After moving to the New York City area in the late 1950s, the group had their first successes during these early years, first coming to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, “Shout,” (https://youtu.be/nEjLFpU2pJ4) (RQ 10+) written by the three brothers. Initially a modest charted single, the song eventually sold over a million copies. In the 1960s, the group recorded songs for a variety of labels including the top 20 single “Twist and Shout” (https://youtu.be/cTaqn8_gMR0) (RQ 10) and the Motown single “This Old Heart of Mine,” (https://youtu.be/5sD8tuRCsec) (RQ 7) before recording and issuing the Grammy Award winning hit “It’s Your Thing” (https://youtu.be/Tqc_EhmL8-E) (RQ 10+) on their own label, T-Neck Records.
The Knickerbockers Photo credit: 60s70s The Best
The Knickerbockers band was formed in 1962 in Bergenfield, New Jersey, by brothers Beau Charles (guitar and vocals) and John Charles (bass and vocals) (birth names: Robert and John Carlos Cecchino respectively), with fluctuating personnel until 1964, when they met Buddy Randell (vocals and sax) (birth name: William Crandall). Randell was previously of the Rockin’ Saints and The Royal Teens, who had a hit with “Short Shorts” (https://youtu.be/UcvjXAtzaMU) (RQ 7) in 1958. They took their name from Knickerbocker Road (County Route 505), which runs through Tenafly, the next town to the east of Bergenfield. The classic line-up consisted of Randell, the Charles brothers, and drummer Jimmy Walker (previously the drummer with the Massena, New York-based Atco Records act The Castle Kings). They were spotted by producer and singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller playing the University Twist Palace in Albany, New York, and he subsequently signed them to Los Angeles-based Challenge Records. Throughout The Knickerbockers’ three years of recordings, the group tirelessly pursued current trends; the vocals on “Jerk Town” (https://youtu.be/MCh67v_8usE) (RQ 8) for example, are heavily derivative of the Four Seasons. Furthermore, the song’s lyrics refer to “hit rods”, like many other popular songs of the day. The group had a top-20 hit in 1965 with “Lies” (https://youtu.be/1I_bG4VBHCU) (RQ 10+) on which the group emulated the Beatles’ harmonies and playing so perfectly that the record was often passed off to the unsuspecting as an actual Beatles cut. // The follow-up to “Lies” was “One Track Mind” (https://youtu.be/M2JPEtw_3es) which was nearly a hit as well. However, the band’s label, Challenge Records, could not handle the distribution, and the single only reached number 45. The Knickerbockers soldiered on, appearing in the movie Out of Sight (1966) and as regulars on Dick Clark’s ABC-TV program, Where the Action Is (1965–1967).
The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, “Walk Away Renee” (https://youtu.be/qDfrW5cWqMU) (RQ 10) and “Pretty Ballerina” (https://youtu.be/m-Ep5x-DETc) (RQ 8). The band often used what the music press referredto as “baroque” string arrangements, which led to their music being variously termed as “Bach-rock” or “baroque rock.”
The Lettermen Photo credit: Deseret News
The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio. The Lettermen’s trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light LP arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both #7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contemporary chart (including one #1), 32 consecutive Billboard chart albums, 11 gold records, and five Grammy nominations. The Lettermen were unknown until they signed with Capitol Records in 1961. Their first single for Capitol, “The Way You Look Tonight,” (https://youtu.be/rahlSR7nvsc) (RQ 10) succeeded on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and climbed to No. 13. Their next, “When I Fall in Love,” (https://youtu.be/cbL8VsbqKHk) (RQ 10+) reached the Top10 in late 1962 and hit No. 1 on AC. They had several other Top 10 hits, such as 1965’s “Theme from a Summer Place” (https://youtu.be/NlnNHKJam5s) (RQ 10+). In late 1967, Bob Engemann resigned and was replaced by Jim Pike’s younger brother, Gary Pike. The hits continued with the 1967 medley: “Goin Out of My Head” (https://youtu.be/o8gX3pIZUCQ) (RQ 9), “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (https://youtu.be/lRkF82ZTui4) (RQ 8) and in 1968 with “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” (https://youtu.be/do0Hdn_BHno) (rq 10). In the 1969’s “Hurt So Bad”, (https://youtu.be/GTf18vueoKg) (RQ 10) which reached No. 12 and lasted 21 weeks on the Hot 100, second only to the 22 weeks for The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” within that calendar year. The last successful single was in 1971, John Lennon’s “Love”a solo by Jim Pike.
The Platters Photo Credit: The Boston Globe Herb Reed passed away June 6, 2012
The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Originally, their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre. The act has gone through several personnel changes, with one of the most successful incarnations comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, Herb Reed, and Zola Taylor. The group had 40 charting singles on the Billboard Hot100 chart between 1955 and 1967, including number-one hit: “Smoke Gets in your Eyes” (https://youtu.be/H2di83WAOhU) (RQ 10+). The Platters are one of the first African-American groups to be accepted as a major chart group and are one of the most successful vocal groups in the world. The group had four top 100 compilation albums in the Australian top 100 between 1975 and 1986.
The Rivieras were made up of teenagers from South Bend Central High School. (This band should not be confused with the Coed Records East Coast rhythm & blues band of the same name which had hits in the late 1950s and the early 1960s.) Originally called the Playmates, but they were forced to change their name as there was already a band with that name. They renamed themselves after an automobile, the Buick Riviera. They were one of the many bands in America that became part of the frat rock movement in the early 1960s. The Rivieras consisted of Marty “Bo” Fortson on vocals and guitar, Joe Pennell on guitar, Otto Nuss on organ, Doug Gean on bass guitar, and Paul Dennert on drums. The band had its only hit in 1964 with a cover version of the song “California Sun” (https://youtu.be/Yy57Xdk9u0o) (RQ 10) by Joe Jones. It climbed the pop charts when the No. 1 song was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles.
The Seeds Photo credit: discogs.com
The Seeds were formed in 1965 when lead singer Sky Saxon responded to an advertisement. Saxon, who had relocated to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City, had recorded a string of 45s under the name Richie Marsh. The band secured regular gigs at the LA club Bido Lito’s and quickly gained a local reputation for high energy live performances.
Keyboardist Daryl Hooper was a major factor in the Seeds’ sound; the band was one of the first to utilize keyboard bass. Guitarists Jan Savage (born Buck Jan Reeder) and Jeremy Levine along with drummer Rick Andridge completed the original quintet, but Levine left shortly after the first recording sessions for personal reasons. Although Sky Saxon was usually credited as bass player, he did not play bass on any of the Seeds’ recordings. This was handled by session musicians, usually Harvey Sharpe. On stage, keyboardist Daryl Hooper would perform the bass parts via a separate bass keyboard, in the same manner as Ray Manzarek later did with The Doors.
The Seeds’ first single, “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine,” (https://youtu.be/fSqMaqKs9Eg) (RQ 3) was a regional hit in southern CA in 1965. The song was also played regularly on AM rock stations in northern California (and probably elsewhere), where it was well received by listeners, and eventually went on to become, and is considered today, a 60s cult classic song. The band had a national Top 40 hit, “Pushin to Hard” (https://youtu.be/pNZwCNSSWlI) (RQ 9) in 1966 and performed the song on national television. Three subsequent singles, in 1966 “Mr. Farmer” (https://youtu.be/avAWk2wRnxo) (RQ 4) a re-release of “Can’t Seem To Make You Mine” (1967), and in 1967 “A Thousand Shadows” (https://youtu.be/Z9ADnPQGhno) (RQ 8) achieved more modest success, although all were most popular in southern California. The song’s melody sounds like Pushin’ Too Hard’s. Musically uncomplicated with a flair for simple melodic hooks and dominated by Saxon’s unorthodox vocal delivery, their first two albums, “The Seeds” and “A Web of Sound” are today considered classics of 1960s garage music.
A major turning point for the Seeds came in 1967. The band’s self-produced third album “Future” presented a grander psychedelic artistic statement and thrust the group forward as torchbearers during perhaps the most creative and experimental time in American pop culture and music history. The more expansive musical style with accompanying orchestration – presented with a gatefold sleeve featuring ornate flower-themed artwork by painter Sassin – was a departure from the rawer tone of the band’s previous hits, but nevertheless received acclaim from fans and critics as a notable work of flower power psychedelia. It remains a genre curiosity piece today and is regarded as a pioneering effort in full-blown psychedelic rock. Iggy Pop, Smashing Pumpkins, Animal Collective and members of the Beach Boys have all sourced the band, mentioning this album and previous ones as genre classics.
The release of Future in mid-1967 generally marked the commercial peak of the Seeds’ career, coinciding with a major national hit, raucous concerts, numerous live TV performances, as well as prominent guest appearances on the NBC sitcom The Mothers-in-Law and in the hipper/counterculture-themed cult film Psych-Out. The Seeds also recorded another album devoted specifically to the blues (with liner notes by Muddy Waters). A Full Spoon of Seedy, bearing the artist moniker Sky Saxon Blues Band, was released in November 1967.
THE SURFARIS guitaralliance.com Riff Rundown – May 1963
The Surfaris were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019 for their hit instrumental song, “Wipe Out.” (https://youtu.be/p13yZAjhU0M) (RQ 10).
The original band members were Ron Wilson, Jim Fuller, Bob Berryhill, and Pat Connelly. In the fall of 1962, Southern California high school students Jim Fuller and Pat Connolly were a guitar duo before founding The Surfaris in high school after meeting drummer Ron Wilson at a high school dance. After practicing at fellow student Bob Berryhill’s house, they added him as the fourth member. “Wipe Out” was written and recorded by the quartet later that winter, with the song reaching #2 nationally in 1963 before becoming an international hit.
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with “Do You Love Me” (https://youtu.be/ONAGbbASIp0) (RQ 10). After Poole’s departure in 1966, the band achieved further success as a four-piece with 13 Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart between 1967 and 1971 including “Here Comes My Baby“ (https://youtu.be/LrwVwKimw70) (RQ 8), “Even the Bad Times Are Good”, “(Call Me) Number One”, “Me and My Life” and their most successful single, “Silence is Golden” (https://youtu.be/G1NM8iYbRUY) (RQ 8).
The Vogues are an American vocal group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original lineup consisted of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor), and Chuck Blasko (second tenor). They are best known for their chart-topping singles “You’re the One” (https://youtu.be/mOJ071ExDbk) (RQ 10), “Five O’Clock World” (https://youtu.be/ngqqfHPTrHo) (RQ 10+), “Magic Town” (https://youtu.be/S4onTq5Brpk) (RQ 5) and “Turn Around, Look at Me” (https://youtu.be/VrdQwKlbu4Q) (RQ 10+). In addition to touring the world, the group appeared on American Bandstand, The Tonight Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
Amazingly, some really great singing groups and artists produced only one hit. In this “One Hit Wonder” post, we have initially identified 44 groups or artists (just added 741 more):
Bruce Channel, Buffalo Springfield, Caroline Crawford, Debbie Dean, Mark Dinning, Gale Garnett, Astrude Gilberto, Rosie Hamlin (& The Originals), Eddie Holman, Iron Butterfly, Mercy, Curtis Lee, Julie London, Laurie London, Motherload, The Brooklyn Bridge (& Johnny Maestro), The Cascades, The Champs, The Contours, The Crystals, The Exciters, The Gentrys, The Hollywood Argyles, The Human Beinz, The Impalas, The Jamies, The Monotones, The Penguins, The Poni-Tails, The Reflections, The Rip Chords, Ronald & Ruby, Joanie Sommers, The Silhouettes, The String-A-Longs, The Teddy Bears, Doris Troy, Robin Ward, Singing Sammy Ward, Maurice Williams, Kathy Young, Zager and Evans and ? & The Mysterians.
Our recent research has uncovered 336 One Hit Wonders from the 1950s as well as 405 from the 1960s. Our source is: playback.fm (the only free radio web app to listen to recordings dating back to 1900).
The Chartbusters Pic link: PopBopRocktilUDrop. One Hit Wonder: “She’s the One” (1964) Peaked at No33. Group from Washington, DC. An American rock band. (https://youtu.be/VY7j2wIwziU)
The Human Beinz Photo Credit: psychedelic-rockandroll-blogspot.com
The Human Beinz is an American rock band from Youngstown, Ohio. Originally known as The Human Beingz, the band initially featured John “Dick” Belley (vocals, guitar), Joe “Ting” Markulin (vocals, guitar), Mel Pachuta (vocals, bass), and Gary Coates (drums), later replaced by Mike Tatman. The Beinz started in 1964 as The Premiers, launching their professional career to build a local fan base. In 1966, they changed their name to The Human Beingz because they felt their old name did not fit with the feel of the late 1960s. They recorded covers of songs by Them, The Yardbirds, The Who and Bob Dylan. The group was also the first to record a cover of “Gloria” by Them, which became a hit for The Shadows of Knight, and covered “The Pied Piper”, which later became a hit for Crispian St. Peters. The group signed to Capitol Records in 1967 and at that time Capitol misspelled their name, leaving out the “g”. Capitol’s purported idea was to affiliate the band’s name with the Human Be-In movement of 1967. The Beingz were told it would be changed on the next release if the debut single did not have any success. On 24 August 1967 “Nobody But Me” (https://youtu.be/f3HpZNE1Z9k) (RQ 9) was released and became their only Billboard Top 40 hit, which meant that Capitol would not correct the spelling. “Nobody But Me” (written and first recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1962) peaked at No. 8 in February 1968. The recording’s two 31-fold repetitions of the word “no” fulfill Casey Kasem’s “Book of Records” category of most repetitive word or phrase in a Hot 100 top 10 hit, besting the 26-fold repetition of “I know” in Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”. An album, Nobody But Me, followed.
The Elegants Photo credit: deezer
The Elegants was an American doo-wop vocal group, that started in 1958 by Vito Picone, Arthur Venosa, Frank Tardogno, Carman Romano and James Moschello in South Beach, Staten Island, New York. Before their nursery rhyme inspired song, “Little Star” (https://youtu.be/HCPqcJmK8y8) (RQ 10), became a number one hit, the band usually performed informally under the boardwalk by their homes. “Little Star” was the only million seller for the group, and was written by Venosa and Picone. It spent 19 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100, earning gold disc status.
The Reflections Photo credit: Jerry Reuss
The Reflections was the name of a number of musical groups. Perhaps the best known were a blue-eyed soul/doo-wop group from Detroit, Michigan. They had one hit single in 1964 called “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet” (https://youtu.be/sfWwUWkyUAw) (RQ 10) written by Bob Hamilton and Freddie Gorman. The song was produced by Rob Reeco on Golden World Records. The disc reached #6 on the BillboardHot 100 chart and #9 on the Cash Box magazine chart. The record was even more popular in rhythm and blues locations, reaching #3 on that Cashbox chart, and was featured on “American Bandstand” as a “spotlight dance”. A cover version by new wave band Mental As Anything hit #27 on the Australian charts in 1980.
The Penguins Photo credit: The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, “Earth Angel” (https://youtu.be/-j6OAEOcNCE) (RQ 10), which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts. The song peaked at #8 on the BillboardHot 100 chart, but had a three-week run at #1 on the R&B chart, later used in the Back to the Future movies. The group’s lead singer (a tenor) was Cleveland Duncan.
The Poni-Tails Photo credit: tunefind.com
The Poni-Tails were formed in a suburb of Cleveland (Lyndhurst), Ohio, United States, the Poni-Tails – Toni Cistone, Karen Topinka and Patti McCabe (Patricia Ann McCabe, July 6, 1939 – January 17, 1989) – started singing at Brush High School, which they all attended. Tom Ilius, a music publisher, had them signed to a local record label, Point Records, which released their first single, “Your Wild Heart” b/w “Que la Bozena” (the latter of which was written by the group). “Your Wild Heart” (https://youtu.be/DO_rTDx7eao) (RQ 9) was covered by the then-15-year-old Joy Layne and became a nationwide hit. The next release was “Can I Be Sure” on Marc Records, which was not a success; following this release Topinka left the group and was replaced by LaVerne Novak. Soon after this, the group signed to ABC-Paramountand released “Just My Luck to Be Fifteen”, a flop. Following this was “Come on Joey, Dance With Me” b/w “Born Too Late” (https://youtu.be/p64nDdoniIA) (RQ 10). The B-side was the one that caught the attention of radio DJs and became the group’s biggest hit, reaching #11 on the U.S. R&B singles chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958. Follow-ups “Seven Minutes In Heaven” (#85 Pop) and “I’ll Be Seeing You” (#87 Pop) fared less well, and the group’s last single, 1960’s “Who, When And Why”, did not chart. ABC-Paramount attempted to sign the group to a further five-year contract, but they turned it down. The members left the music industry and pursued careers in other fields in Ohio. They reunited to play a Cleveland festival, Moon Dog Coronation ball, in 1997. A CD released by Poni Records with 12 tracks credited to the Poni-Tails contains only one Poni-Tails song (“Born Too Late”) and 11 tracks recorded by other groups.
The Rip Chords Photo credit: discogs.com
The Rip Chords were an early-1960s American vocal group, originally known as the Opposites, composed of Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas. The group eventually expanded into four primary voices, adding Columbia producer Terry Melcher and co-producer Bruce Johnston (best known as a member of the Beach Boys). This group came to be associated with the hot-rod and surf genres of that day, although their first single (“Here I Stand”) did not reflect those styles. They recorded for Columbia Records in Hollywood from 1962 to 1965. The group placed five singles on the Billboard Hot 100 , although they only charted: 28, 51, 88 and 96. So, really they fall into the one-hit wonder category for their number-four single: “Hey Little Cobra” (https://youtu.be/oc6FmZCT0Zc).
Kathy Young Photo credit: kathyyoung.com
Kathy Young, a native of Southern California, was born on October 31, 1945 in the Orange County seat, Santa Ana. She rose to stardom in 1960, when producer Jim Lee of Indigo Records chose a Sun Valley-based band, The Innocents, to sing back-up vocals for her on a cover version of The Rivileers’ 1954 recording of “A Thousand Stars” (https://youtu.be/2yesRVy3s98) (RQ 9). Two years earlier Lee had organized The Innocents for an appearance on Wink Martindale’s pop music TV show. In December 1960, two months after her 15th birthday, Kathy Young and The Innocents peaked at No. 6 on the R&B Singles chart, and at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Young’s follow-up, “Happy Birthday Blues”, peaked at No. 30 on the Hot 100 in 1961. Subsequent singles, such as “Magic Is the Night” and “The Great Pretender”, failed to chart in the Top 40. In July 1961 she appeared on DJ Alan Freed’s highly publicized American road show. In 1962 she followed Jim Lee to Monogram Records, recording solo and with Chicano rock singer Chris Montez. Still a teenager, she saw her promising career slowing to a standstill and, in 1964, traveled to London. There she married American singer-songwriter John Maus, aka John Walker, founder of The Walker Brothers. Her marriage to Maus lasted from 1965 to 1968. Kathy returned to the US in 1969, remarrying two years later. Over the next 20 years she raised children and helped manage the family citrus ranch in Central California. Following a move back to Los Angeles in 1994, she began working for a major international company, while also returning to her original passion, music. In the 2000s she performed at numerous rock shows at venues such as the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and New Jersey’s Izod Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Kathy Young was inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame, presided over by Harvey Robbins. on October 12, 2014. at the North Shore Music Theater, in Beverly, Massachusetts.
The String-A-Longs Photo credit: discogs
The String-A-Longs were an American instrumental group from Plainview, Texas, United States, known for their hit single, “Wheels” (https://youtu.be/G_IPPpVvhx8) (Which Which RQ 10+) produced by Norman Petty on Warwick Records. The band consisted of Richard Stephens and Jimmy Torres alternating lead guitars, Keith McCormack on rhythm guitar, Aubrey de Cordova, bass guitar and Don Allen, drums. They began recording in Amarillo, Texas, as the Rock’n Rollers, under their first manager Johnny Voss, Keith McCormack’s Uncle. Their first single was on the Ven label. In the later fifties they began recording in Clovis, New Mexico, under Norman Petty as “The Leen Teens” but Petty suggested the name “String-A-Longs”. They had several releases before recording their big hit “Wheels”. “Wheels” was released in December 1960 and hit in 1961. The tune peaked at number 3 on the BillboardHot 100 and was the number 8 single of 1961 according to Billboard. The track reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Warwick Records paid few royalties to the band and they declared bankruptcy as they were being sued to avoid paying more. The writers of the song did receive their royalties, including Norman Petty.
Motherload Photo credit: Spirit of Metal
Motherlode was a Canadian pop rock groupformed in 1969 in London, Ontario. The group scored some success in the US with their single, “When I Die”, which hit #1 in Canada and #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1969. “When I Die” (https://youtu.be/8MyPSFnyaTQ) (RQ 10+, one of the best technical recordings within my blog!) was produced by Doug Riley and Terry Brown did not make any headway on the radio. A reciprocal deal in the US with Buddah Records made the song a hit reaching Number 18 on the charts. The song sold more than 500,000 copies and it eventually climbed to Number 1 in the Canadian charts.
Mercy Photo credit: songbook
Mercy is an American pop group from Florida. The group’s 1969 single “Love (Can Make You Happy)”, written by Jack Sigler, Jr., soared to No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singleschart, and also peaked at No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. “Love (Can Make You Happy)” (https://youtu.be/0XBqYvzkPzU) (RQ 8) was released in April and had sold over one million copies by July 15, earning a gold record from the R.I.A.A., although the group did not receive the award until October 2009.
Robin Ward Photo credit: discogs.com
Jackie Ward (born Jacqueline McDonnell, 1941), better known as Robin Ward, is an American singer, regarded as a “one-hit wonder” of 1963 million-selling song “Wonderful Summer” (https://youtu.be/KCRdUB_ASTc) (RQ 8). However, using her real name she was highly accomplished and successful singing in groups. Ward’s voice is heard in U.S. television series, motion pictures, advertisements, and pop records. She is one of the real singers of the hits attributed to The Partridge Family.
14 Individual Photos with Career Information:Bruce Channel Photo credit: popexpresso.com
Bruce Channel performed originally for the radio program Louisiana Hayride and then joined with the harmonica player Delbert McClinton, singing country music. Channel wrote “Hey! Baby” (https://youtu.be/ik9dxkKriV0) (RQ 10) with Margaret Cobb in 1959 and performed the song for two years before recording it for Fort Worth record producer Bill Smith. It was issued originally on Smith’s LeCam label, but as it started to sell well, it was acquired for distribution by Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury. The song went to number one in the US in March 1962 and held that position for three weeks. Besides topping the U. S. popular music charts, it also became number two in the United Kingdom. It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Channel had four more singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Number One Man” (which peaked at number 52), “Come On Baby” (number 98), “Going Back to Louisiana” (number 89), and “Mr. Bus Driver” (number 90), but none of them was as successful as “Hey! Baby”, and he is considered a one-hit wonder.
Caroline Crawford Photo credit: soulwalking.co.uk
Caroline Crawford (born: 1949) is an American rhythm and blues and disco singer and actress, who recorded as Carolyn Crawford for Motown Records in the early 1960s, and for other labels later in her career.
In 1963, at the age of about 13, she won a talent contest held by Detroit radio station WCHB, the prize for which was a contract with Motown Records. She recorded three singles for the label, an unsuccessful first release of “Forget About Me” (Motown 1050) being followed by “My Smile Is Just a Frown” (https://youtu.be/vGOkUkBU7e4()) (RQ 8) (Motown 1064), written by Smokey Robinson. The record reached # 39 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart. She also sang backup vocals for some of the Motown artists. Her final record for Motown, “When Someone’s Good To You” (Motown 1070), released in December 1964, failed to chart and her contract was not renewed, although the record later became a favorite among British soul fans.
A few years later, she joined a girl group, Hodges, James, Smith and Crawford, put together in 1972 by William “Mickey” Stevenson. She released two singles with them, “Nobody” and “Let’s Pick Up The Pieces”, before leaving the group (which went on to achieve some success as Hodges, James and Smith. She then joined the group Chapter 8, but left them in 1976 to start a solo career; she was replaced in the group by Anita Baker.
In the late 1970s, and through the early 1980s, she was featured vocalist on several of Hamilton Bohannon’s singles and six of his albums, including his biggest US single hit “Let’s Start the Dance”. She also signed a solo contract with Mercury Records (using the spelling Caroline), and released a single “Coming On Strong” which reached # 66 on the R&B chart at the start of 1979. In addition she released two albums, My Name Is Caroline (1978) and Nice And Soulful (1979), both produced by Bohannon.
In 1989 (using the spelling Carolyn) she joined Ian Levine’s Motorcity project and recorded the album Heartaches, including the single “Timeless” which later became a favourite on the UK Northern soul circuit. She was reported to be still performing (as Caroline Crawford) in Detroit clubs in 2007.
Crawford has also worked as an actress in recent years. She voiced the character of Mrs. Lovat in the 2009 stop-motion film Caraline and appeared in the TV series Leverage.
Several of her earlier recordings, including recordings for Motown which went unreleased at the time, have been included on later compilation albums.
Her best known recording,”My Smile Is Just a Frown” (https://youtu.be/vGOkUkBU7e4) is featured in the UK-Irish drama-documentary Dreams of a Life, released in December 2011.
Debbie Dean Photo credit: debbdean.wordpress.com
Reba Jeanette Smith (February 1, 1928 – February 17, 2001), known professionally as Debbie Dean, was an American singer who was the first white solo artist to record for Motown. Debbie was from Corbin, Kentucky. She was the fourth child of Walter B. Smith, a railroad engineer by his wife, Alma, a housewife. Dean recorded as Penny Smith and Debbie Stevens at various labels before arriving at Motown in the early 1960s, and was Motown’s first white female solo recording artist, signed by Berry Gordy.
Unlike most of the early Motown recording artists, she was neither an R&B or blues singer. Her first single at Motown was “Don’t Let Him Shop Around” (https://youtu.be/D-tqAiyE0N8) (1961) (RQ 8) an answer record to the Miracles #1 R&B and #2 pop hit, “Shop Around.” Dean’s perky vocals with a noticeable southern twang barely reached Billboard’s Hot 100 charts with the song.
Subsequent singles were even less successful and at the age of 34 (significantly older than most Motown acts at the time), she was dropped from the label. Several years later, after a meeting with Motown producer/writer Deke Records, Dean rejoined the Motown roster as a writer/singer, and collaborated with Richards (born Dennis Lussier) on songs for the Supremes, Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Martha and the Vandellas, Edwin Starr, and other Motown artists. She later co-wrote and recorded “Why Am I Lovin’ You” (https://youtu.be/SVkqw30ukFM) (RQ 7) on Motown’s V.I.P. label. The song has since become a Northern soul favourite.
MARK DINNING 1933-1986 (52 years old) Photo credit: Getty Images
“Teen Angel” (https://youtu.be/IE-AcC53OYY) (RQ 8) is a teenage tragedy song that was written by Jean Dinning and performed by Jean’s brother, Mark Dinning. It went on to become a #1 hit on February 8, 1960. Mark Dinning never recorded another hit song and died of a heart attack in 1986 at the age of 52, in Jefferson City, Missouri. Strangely enough, the song was included in the soundtrack to the movie American Graffiti, begging the question, “Why didn’t this artist go any further?”
American pop singer Mark Dinning was named Max Edward Dinning at birth and was born on August 17, 1933 in Manchester, Oklahoma. He and his family moved to Kansas and then to a farm near Nashville, Tennessee. Mark was the youngest of nine children and came from a musically-inclined family. His own sisters Ella Lucille (“Lou”), Jean and Virginia (“Ginger”) eventually achieved recognition in their own right as the traditional pop trio The Dinning Sisters. In 1957, he pursued his own music career, signing a record contract from MGM Records which was to him offered by record producer Wesley Rose.
Gale Garnett Photo credit: Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
Gale Zoë Garnett (born 17 July 1942) is a New Zealand–born Canadian singer best known in the United States in 1964 for her self-penned, Grammy-winning folk hit: “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” (https://youtu.be/4ZeRVUUxV_k) (RQ10+) hit. She would qualify for my “One Hit Wonder”singer category. Garnett has since carved out a career as an author and actress.
Astrud Gilberto (& Stan Getz) “The Girl from Ipanema” Photo Credit: EMI Music Publishing
Astrud Gilberto born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova singer. She became popular in the 1960s after her performance of the song “The Girl from Ipamema” (https://youtu.be/c5QfXjsoNe4) (RQ 7). Astrud is the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She was raised in Rio de Janeiro. Her father was a language professor and she became fluent in several languages. She married Joao Gilberto in 1959 and had a son, Marcelo Gilberto. She has another son from a second marriage, Gregory Lasorsa. Later she began a relationship with her husband’s musical collaborator, American jazz saxophone player Stan Getz. She emigrated to the United States in 1963, residing in the U.S. from that time. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s. She sang on two tracks on the influential 1963 album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, despite having never sung professionally before this recording. The 1964 single version of ”The Girl from Ipanema” taken from the 1963 album, omitted the Portuguese lyrics sung by João Gilberto, and established Astrud Gilberto as a Bossa Nova singer. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Eddie Holman Photo credit: discogs.com
In 1962, Eddie Holman made his first record, “What You Don’t Know Won’t Hurt You” on Leopard Records. It was in the Philadelphia soul scene that he began to develop his trademark style. While still in college, he recorded his first minor hit, “This Can’t Be True” (1966-Jan 15), which reached #17 on the Billboard chart. Other songs began to follow: “Am I A Loser From The Start” (1966), “I Love You” (1969), “Don’t Stop Now” (1970), and “Cathy Called” (1970). Holman finally struck personal gold in 1970 with his ballad, “Hey There Lonely Girl” (https://youtu.be/0tSpZnVnSLQ) (RQ 10+) peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track peaked at number 4 in the UK singles chart in November 1974. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc from R.I.A.A. in March 1970. Originally, “Hey There Lonely Boy” a Top 30 hit, was recorded in 1963 by Ruby and the Romantics. // British journalist Tony Cummings once wrote, “Eddie Holman’s voice, an astonishing precision instrument which can leap octaves with the speed of mercury and bend notes into shapes unimagined by lesser singers, has assured its possessor a place in soul history.
Curtis Lee Photo credit: waybackattack.com Michael Jack Kirby
Curtis Lee (October 28, 1939 – January 8, 2015) was an American singer of the early 1960s, who twice was one of the beneficiaries of 1961 productions by Phil Spector. His best known hit was: “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” (RQ 9) (US#7) (https://youtu.be/fG_AWUkj8ks). Without Spector’s influence, Lee’s hits dried up. He went into the construction industry with his father in 1969. He died from cancer on January 8, 2015 in Yuma, Arizona, aged 75.
Julie London Photo credit: SoundCloud
Julie London (at birth: Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A “torch” singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums of pop and jazz standards between 1955 and 1969. Her recording of “Cry Me a River“, a track she introduced on her debut album, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. She sang this song in the movie “The Girl Can’t Help It” in 1956. She was an actress in 24 films. In addition to her musical notice, London was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1974 for her portrayal of nurse Dixie McCall in the television series Emergency!. Her debut single “Cry Me a River” reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1955. In June 1957, it would also peak at number twenty-two on the UK Singles Chart. “Cry Me a River” (https://youtu.be/gCGNYJOrebA) (RQ 10) became London’s most successful and highest-selling single of her musical career. The single would sell three million copies in total. She did record another 28 songs which only a couple others charted (the highest of which was 110).
LAURIE LONDON Photo credit: Vintage Jukebox Don’t Stop the Music June 10, 2019
Laurie London was born in Bethnal Green, East London. At the age of thirteen, whilst a pupil at The Davenant Foundation Grammar School in Whitechapel Road, he made an up-tempo version of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” (https://youtu.be/cqb3NSiSwoc) (RQ 9) with the Geoff Love Orchestra for Parlophone Records (45-R4359) which was picked up by its co-owned American sister label Capital Records (F3891). In April 1958, it reached number 1 on Billboard’s “Most Played by Jockeys” chart and remained there for four weeks, but it was to be his only hit record. It was the most successful record by a British male in the 1950s in the United States, topping the chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in 1958.
JOANIE SOMMERS Photo credit: discogs.com
Joanie Sommers (born Joan Drost, Buffalo, N.Y. February 24, 1941) is an American singer and actress with a career concentrating on jazz, standards and popular material and show-business credits. Once billed as “The Voice of the Sixties”, and associated with top-notch arrangers, songwriters and producers, Sommers’ popular reputation became closely tied to her biggest, yet most uncharacteristic, hit song, “Johnny Get Angry” (https://youtu.be/wcLXs3Np93s) (RQ 10).
DORIS TROY Photo credit: AM 880 KIXI – Hubbard Radio
Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as “Mama Soul”. Her biggest hit was “Just One Look” (https://youtu.be/GI3OYR_XM0w) (RQ 9) a top 10 hit in 1963. She was also one of the four female back up singers on The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.
Singing Sammy Ward Photo credit: discogs.com
James T. Woodley (December 21, 1929 – November 20, 1996), who performed as Singin’ Sammy Ward, was an American rhythm and blues singer who recorded for Motown Records and had a R&B hit with “Who’s The Fool” (https://youtu.be/Lf3kZjc4RpQ) (RQ 9) written by Smokey Robinson in 1961. He grew up in the Ensley area of Birmingham, Alabama, before moving to Detroit Michigan, where he was established as a club singer by the late 1950s. He was named “Singin’ Sammy Ward” by Berry Gordy’s wife Raynoma, “Miss Ray”, and first recorded for Motown in 1960, on a duet with Sherri Taylor, “Lover” / “That’s Why I Love You So Much”. He then moved to the Tamla label as a solo singer, and recorded “That Child Is Really Wild”, co-written by Gordy and Robinson. The original B-side, “What Makes You Love Him”, was changed to another song, Robinson’s “Who’s The Fool” (https://youtu.be/Lf3kZjc4RpQ), which became Ward’s only chart success, reaching no. 23 on the Billboard R&B chart in August 1961. The record was only the fourth successful chart hit for Motown. According to record producer Ian Levine, Robinson also wrote “You Really Got a Hold On Me” for Ward, but Gordy insisted that Robinson recorded it himself, with The Miracles.
A bluesy singer who drew comparisons with Bobby Bland, Ward released several more singles on Tamla, including “Big Joe Moe” written by William “ Mickey Stevenson and Brian Holland, and “Someday Pretty Baby” (https://youtu.be/IXJhR_umHGU) featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonics, both in 1962, and then one on the subsidiary Soul label. However, the records were commercial failures, and Ward left Motown, disillusioned by his lack of success compared with others on the label, by the mid-1960s.
Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs were an American doo wop vocal group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originally the Royal Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.
18 Groups or Bands:
18 Individual Photos with Career Information:? and the Mysterians Photo credit: americandreams.fandom.com
? and the Mysterians (also rendered Question Mark and the Mysterians) are an American garage rock band from Bay City and Saginaw in Michigan who were initially active between 1962 and 1969. Much of the band’s music consisted of electric-driven garage rock and an enigmatic image inspired by the 1957 Japanese science fiction film The Mysterians. In addition, the band’s sound was also marked by raw-resonating lead vocals of “?” (Question Mark, the stage name of Rudy Martín), making Question Mark and the Mysterians one of the earliest groups whose musical style is described as punk rock. Through their music, the group was recognized as a template for similar musical acts to follow.
The band was signed to Pa-Go-Go Records (based in San Antonio, Texas and run by Rudy “Tee” Gonzales) in 1966 and released its first and most acclaimed single, “96 Tears” (https://youtu.be/R7uC5m-IRns) (RQ 9) in the early part of the year. “96 Tears” became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and propelled the group to a 15-month period of national prominence. Their debut album, 96 Tears, followed. Though Question Mark and the Mysterians were unable to replicate their success with their later recordings, and are thus deemed a “one hit wonder”, they did manage to reach the singles charts on five occasions. In 1968, their label, Cameo-Parkway, was shut down for stock manipulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, taking the band’s money and contract with them. Though they disbanded in 1969, the band has regrouped and released additional material over the years. “96 Tears” was listed at number 210 on the 2004 Rolling Stone list the greatest 500 songs of all time.
Iron Butterfly Photo credit: furious.com Barry Stoller
Iron Butterfly is an American rock band best known for the 1968 hit “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida“, (https://youtu.be/UIVe-rZBcm4) (RQ 10+) providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal music. Formed in San Diego, California, among band members who used to be “arch enemies”, their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated with various members with varying levels of success, with no new recordings since 1975. The band’s seminal 1968 album “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was a best-seller. Iron Butterfly was the first group to receive an In-House platinum album award from Atlantic Records.
RONALD & RUBY Photo credit: Doo-Wop.blog.org July 16, 2014
Ronald & Ruby were an American interracial pop vocal duo, best known for their 1958 hit single, “Lollipop” (https://youtu.be/VtzWruzNWnU) (RQ 9).
The duo’s members were the black Ronald Gum and the white Beverly “Ruby” Ross; interracial pop groups were unusual at the time, and the group did not appear in public or in major press and television outlets. They had previously worked together as songwriters; among their credits are “Young and Hungry for Love”, “Frankenstein Rock”, “Fat Pat”, “Soul Mates”, “Don’t Come to My Party”, and “The Ghost of Love.” In 1958, they released a single together entitled “Lollipop”. It became a hit in the U.S., reaching No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was covered to greater chart success by both The Chordettes and the Mudlarks. // They released several further singles, including “Love Birds”, none of them hits. Ross continued as a songwriter, recording nearly 200 songs with BMI, including “Candy Man” (for Roy Orbison) and “Judy’s Turn to Cry” (for Lesley Gore).
The Brooklyn Bridge(& Johnny Maestro) Photo credit: New York Times Dennis Hevesi – March 26, 2010
The Brooklyn Bridge (& Johnny Maestro) is an American musical group, best known for their 1968 million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb’s “Worst That Could Happen” (https://youtu.be/kRDRX4Gyq6I) (RQ 10+). The song reached No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart. It sold over one and a quarter million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A.
THE CASCADES Photo credit: tidal.com
The Cascades got their start in the San Diego, CA area as the band members served in the nearby Navy on the ship USS Jason. Their first band name was called The Silver Strands. Their first and only recording was an instrumental called “Thunder Rhythm.” The group was influenced by the Beach Boys and their use of vocal harmony. After getting out of the Navy, they signed with Valiant Records and soon afterward changed their name to The Cascades (the origin of the name came from using a like-named dishwashing detergent). After another failed attempt on recording a second song “There’s A Reason,” they began thinking about a song they (John Gommoe) wrote while listening to a thunderstorm while aboard their ship. This is the origin of the their one and only million selling record called: “Rhythm of the Rain.” (https://youtu.be/bQstQST1GiM) (RQ 10+). The hit was released in November of 1962. While this song was extremely successful world-wide (reaching a Billboard rating in the U.S. of No3), the group was limited in the future by only singing in local clubs no longer writing new music.
The Champs Photo credit: secondhandsongs.com
The Champs were an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged instrumental “Tequila” (https://youtu.be/Uyl7GP_VMJY) (RQ 6). The group took their name from the name of Gene Autry’s horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at Autry’s Challenge Records to record a B-side for the Dave Burgess single, “Train to Nowhere”. The intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-side, as “Tequila” went to No. 1 in just three weeks, and the band became the first group to go to the top spot with an instrumental that was their first release. The song was recorded at Gikd Star Studios in fall 1957, and in 1959 won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by RIAA.
THE CONTOURS Photo credit: soulwalking.co.uk
Joe Billingsley (born November 14, 1937) and Billy Gordon founded a singing group called the Blenders in their native Detroit, Michigan in 1959. They completed the group with Billy Hoggs and Billy Rollins, who had responded to an ad placed in the local newspaper by Billingslea. The group soon added Leroy Fair (in place of Billy Rollins), and bass singer Hubert Johnson and changed the name to “The Contours“. In the fall of 1960, the group auditioned for Berry Gordon’s Motown Records. Gordy turned the act down, prompting the group to pay a visit to the home of Johnson’s cousin, R&B star and Gordy associate Jackie Wilson. Wilson in turn got the Contours a second audition with Gordy, at which they sang the same songs they had at the first audition, the same way, and were signed to a seven-year contract.
Each artist at Motown Records received its own guitarist. Huey Davis was the guitarist assigned to the Contours. The group’s first single, “Whole Lotta Woman,” was released in January 1961 and failed to chart. Within months of its release, Leroy Fair was replaced by Benny Reeves, brother of Martha Reeves. Shortly thereafter, Benny Reeves left to serve in the United States Navy and he was replaced by Sylvester Potts. In 1961 the group’s second single, “The Stretch”, was released and it also failed to chart. In early 1962, Gordy had the Contours record “Do You Love Me,” (https://youtu.be/LlKRp2KrJuQ) (RQ 9) a composition allegedly originally meant for The Temptations. But, in a 2008 interview for MOJO Magazine, original Contour Joe Billingslea stated that this was not the case. In the article, Billingslea stated to author Phil Alexander that the song’s author, Motown founder Berry Gordy, offered the song to the Contours first, only intending to give The Temptations the song after he saw that the Contours were having trouble with it. However, after practicing the tune again, Gordy gave the nod—and the song—to the Contours.
The resulting record, with its shouted lead vocals from Billy Gordon, hit No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and crossed over to No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1962. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
The Crystals Photo credit: tunefind.com Summer Crusin’ – 60’s Style September 10, 2010
The Crystals were based out of New York City. The original group members were: Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Delores Kenniebrew, Myma Giraud and Patricia Wright. The were active between 1960-1967. While they recorded at least 14 singles, they really had one great recording “Then He Kissed Me” in 1963 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG88R5SwQRw) (RQ 9). This hit reached a chart rating of 6 in the U.S. and 2 in the UK. While they produced two other hits (“He’s a Rebel” in 1962 and “Da Doo Ron Ron” in 1963), when “Then He Kissed Me” plays on the radio today it simply stands out.
THE EXCITERS Photo credit: medium.com Ken Shane – January 31, 2019
Brenda Reid, Carolyn Johnson, Lillian Walker, and Sylvia Wilbur formed The Exciters while at high school together in Queens, New York City in 1961. They were originally called the Masterettes, as a sister group to another group called the Masters, and released their first recording, “Follow the Leader”, in early 1962. Wilbur then left the group to be replaced by Penny Carter, and they auditioned for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Penny Carter left, and was replaced by Herb Rooney, a member of the Masters; Reid and Rooney later married.
The group’s name was changed to the Exciters, and their first hit record, arranged by George “Teacho” Wiltshire and produced by Leiber and Stoller for United Artists Records was “Tell Him” (https://youtu.be/G2sH6h0ViDg) (RQ 10+) which reached no. 4 on the U.S. pop chart in early 1963. The song had previously been released unsuccessfully, as “Tell Her”, by Gil Hamilton later known as Johnny Thunder. According to Jason Ankeny at AllMusic, the Exciters’ version of “Tell Him” “…boasted an intensity that signified a sea change in the presentation and perception of femininity in popular music.
THE GENTRYS Photo credit: passthepaisley.com
The seven-member group of Treadwell High School (Memphis, TN) alumni included Bruce Bowles, Bobby Fisher, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Johnson, Pat Neal, Larry Raspberry, and Larry Wall and also with another member, Karry Butler. The youths formed The Gentrys in May 1963 as a rock ‘n’ roll group for local dances, and were very successful playing for high school dates. In September 1964 they won third place in the Mid-South Fair Talent Competition and auditioned for the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. They soon became the most popular teenage band in the mid-South and in 1964 won the Memphis Battle of the Bands. In December 1964 the group was given a contract by local record label Youngstown Records, and made their first record of “Sometimes”, which was very popular locally in early 1965. After bubbling under the Billboard chart for a week, the Gentrys scored with the million-selling “Keep on Dancing” (https://youtu.be/VeEs6e0FdwU) (RQ 10+) which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965.
THE HOLLYWOOD ARGYLES Photo credit: secondhandsongs.com
The Hollywood Argyles song “Alley Opp” (https://youtu.be/mjvOGqIY0jc) (RQ 8) was first played on WLS radio in Chicago on May 2, 1960 (when they changed their focus from farm programming to rock and roll). It was a true example of a one hit wonder. The Argyles producer for the song was Kim Fowley. The lead singer was Norm Davis. The song sold over a million copies and was awarded a gold disc by RIAA.
The Impalas Photo credit: discogs.com
The Impalas were an American doo-wop group in the late 1950s, best known for their hit, “Sorry” (https://youtu.be/ufz4-fRCwwo) (RQ 8) The group formed in 1958 in Brooklyn, New York, and was composed of lead singer Joe “Speedo” Frazier, Richard Wagner, Lenny Renda and Tony Carlucci. They were a racially integrated group—Frazier was the only black member.
THE JAMIES Photo credit: Discogs.com
The Jamies were an American singing group, led by siblings Tom and Serena Jameson (lead vocals), based in Boston. Other members were: Jeanie Roy, Arthur Blair and Sherman Fuller. Tom Jameson died from cancer on July 19, 2009, at the age of 72.
The group’s 1958 single for Epic Records, “Summertime, Summertime,” reached #26 on the U. S, Billboard charts. Both “Summertime” (https://youtu.be/fJ7re_PkPss) (RQ 9) and its b-side, “Searching for You,” are often described as doo-wop, because of their time period and their a capella harmonies. However, both songs may also be described as pop versions of Sacred Harp styles. The group started as church singers or possibly an early example of baroque pop singers.
The Monotones Photo credit: doo-wop.blogg.org
The Monotones were a six-member American doo-wop vocal group in the 1950s. They are considered a one-hit wonder, as their only hit single was “The Book of Love” (https://youtu.be/qIfuNPbBaaA) (RQ 9) which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Top100 in 1958. // The Monotones formed in 1955 when the seven originalo singers, all residents of the Baxter Terrace housing project in Newark, New Jersey began performing covers of popular songs. They were:
Lead singer Charles Howard Patrick (born September 11, 1938 – September 11, 2020)
First tenor Warren Davis (born March 1, 1939)
Second tenor George Malone (January 5, 1940 – October 5, 2007)
Bass singer Frankie Smith (May 13, 1938 – November 26, 2000)
Second bass singer John Ryanes (November 16, 1940 – May 30, 1972)
Batrtone Warren Ryanes (December 14, 1937 – June 16, 1982)
Charles Patrick’s brother James was originally a member, but he left soon after the group’s formation. John Ryanes and Warren Ryanes were also brothers.
They all began singing with the New Hope Baptist Choir, directed by Cissy Houston, who was related to the Patrick brothers. The group launched their career with a 1956 appearance on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour television program, winning first prize for their rendition of The Cadillacs’ “Zoom”. Soon afterwards, Charles Patrick was listening to the radio and heard a Pepsident toothpaste commercial with the line “wonder where the yellow went.” From there he got the idea for the line, “I wonder, wonder, wonder who!, who wrote the book of love”, later working it up into a song with Davis and Malone. In September 1957, they recorded “The Book of Love”, which was released on the Mascot label in December that year. The small record company could not cope with its popularity, and it was reissued on Chess Records’ subsidiary Argo label in February 1958. It became a hit, eventually reaching No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 5 on the pop chart. The record sold over one million copies. It also reached No. 5 in Australia; in the UK, the hit version was a cover version by The Mudlarks.
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD Photo credit: Rhino Records January 21, 2014
Buffalo Springfield was a North American (Los Angeles) rock band active from 1966 to 1968 whose most prominent members were Stephen Stills (recorded over 35 million records after Buffalo Springfield broke up), Neil Young (recorded over 75 million records including 22 of which were certified gold or platinum by RIAA), and Richie Furay (he continued to perform with another band called Poco). The other original members were Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin). Distrust in their management was at the heart of why the group was short lived. The group released three albums and several singles during its brief existence, including “For What It’s Worth” (https://youtu.be/gp5JCrSXkJY) (RQ 10+). My personal opinion is that this record is one of the best recordings of all time. They were elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fane in 1997 by Tom Petty.
The Silhouettes Photo credit: Schooltime Compositions Marv Goldberg 2009
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/R&B group, whose single “Get a Job” (https://youtu.be/SzWkqfQ17Eo) (RQ 4) was a number 1 hit on the Billboard R&B singled chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song’s lyrics. “Get A Job”‘ is included in the soundtracks of the film American Graffiti, Trading Places and Stand By Me. The Silhouettes performed in the 1986 movie Joey.
Following graduation from Fairfax high school in Los Angles, CA, Phil Spector became obsessed with “To Know Him Is To Love Him“, (https://youtu.be/vrwf-sIcr0M) (RQ 9) a song he had written for his group, the The Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records, which offered to finance a studio session, the Teddy Bears – Phil Spector, Marshall Leib, Harvey Goldstein (who left the group early on), lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit, drummer Sandy Nelson – recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a cost of $75. Released on ERA’s Dore label in August 1958, it took two months before “To Know Him Is to Love Him” began to get airplay.
It went on to become a global hit. The record stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks, in the Top Ten for 11 of those weeks, and commanded the number 1 chart position for three weeks. It also reached number 2 in the UK Singles chart. It sold over two and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. At 19 years old, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were well-recorded soft pop, they did not sell, and within a year of the debut, Spector disbanded the group. Their demise was hastened by Kleinbard being seriously injured in 1960 in a car accident. //Following graduation from Fairfax high school in Los Angles, CA, Phil Spector became obsessed with “To Know Him Is To Love Him“, (https://youtu.be/vrwf-sIcr0M) (RQ 9) a song he had written for his group, the The Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records, which offered to finance a studio session, the Teddy Bears – Phil Spector, Marshall Leib, Harvey Goldstein (who left the group early on), lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit, drummer Sandy Nelson – recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a cost of $75. Released on ERA’s Dore label in August 1958, it took two months before “To Know Him Is to Love Him” began to get airplay.
It went on to become a global hit. The record stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks, in the Top Ten for 11 of those weeks, and commanded the number 1 chart position for three weeks. It also reached number 2 in the UK Singles chart. It sold over two and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. At 19 years old, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were well-recorded soft pop, they did not sell, and within a year of the debut, Spector disbanded the group. Their demise was hastened by Kleinbard being seriously injured in 1960 in a car accident.
Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to a career after the group broke up. Harvey Goldstein became a certified public accountant. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and changed her name to Carol Conners. Among her credits are the Rip Chords hit “Hey Little Cobra”, (https://youtu.be/-rXldHa212I) (RQ 10) and the Academy Awards nominated Rocky theme song, “Gonna Fly Now,” (https://youtu.be/MR6FXpaECY8) (RQ 10+) co-written with Ayn Ribbins. Leib joined the Hollywood Argyles, played guitar on some of Duane Eddy’s records and produced material recorded by the Everly Brothers amongst others.Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to a career after the group broke up. Harvey Goldstein became a certified public accountant. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and changed her name to Carol Conners. Among her credits are the Rip Chords hit “Hey Little Cobra”, (https://youtu.be/-rXldHa212I) (RQ 10) and the Academy Awards nominated Rocky theme song, “Gonna Fly Now,” (https://youtu.be/MR6FXpaECY8) (RQ 10+) co-written with Ayn Ribbins. Leib joined the Hollywood Argyles, played guitar on some of Duane Eddy’s records and produced material recorded by the Everly Brothers amongst others.
Photo credit: San Antonio Express News
Zager and Evans was an American rock-pop duo active during the late 1960s and early 1970s, named after its two members, Denny Zager (born 1944, Wymore, Nebraska) and Rick Evans (born 1943, Lincoln, Nebraska, died 2018, Santa Fe, New Mexico). They are best known for their 1969 No. 1 hit single “In the Year 2525” (https://youtu.be/zKQfxi8V5FA) (RQ 10) which earned them one-hit wonder status.
There are 222 artists and bands listed within My Best Music Blog. They are alphabetized by last name. To find specific information about any one of the artists, find them on one of the chart lists below and then focus upon the third column from the left hand side of each table. This will give you the post number in order to find the information you need. The whole idea behind this will be to support my contention that the music from the 1950s and 1960s is the best in history to date.
Louis Armstrong “Hello Dolly,” Tony Bennett “I Left My Heart in SanFrancisco,” Pat Boone“Moon River,” Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire,” Chubby Checker “The Twist,” Petula Clark “Downtown,” Bobby Darin “Beyond the Sea,” Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone,” Sammy Davis Jr. “What Kind of Fool Am I?,” Jan and Dean “Surf City,” Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow,” and Bobbie Gentry “Ode to Billie Joe.”
Bill Haley and His Comets “Rock Around the Clock,” Herbie Hancock “Just Around the Corner,” Herman’s Hermits “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” The Hollies “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” The Impressions (and Jerry Butler) “For Your Precious Love,” Iron Butterfly “In-A-Gotta-Da-Vida,” The Isley Brothers “Twist and Shout,” Chuck Jackson “Any Day Now,” Michael Jackson “Thriller,” Tom Jones “It’s Not Unusual,” Angelina Jordan “Bohemian Rhapsody,” B.B. King “The Trill is Gone,” Ben E. King “Save the Last Dance for Me,” Gladys Knight and the Pips “Midnight Train to Georgia,” Laine, Frankie “I Believe,” Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven,” Brenda Lee “I’m Sorry,” The Lettermen “When I Fall in Love,” Gary Lewis and the Playboys “She’s Just My Style,” Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin Going On,” and The Lovin Spoonful “Daydream.”
Manfred Mann “Doo Wah Diddy Ditty,” The Marvelettes “Mr. Postman,” The Mamas and the Papas “Monday Monday,” The Monkeys “Daydream Believer,” The Moody Blues “Nights in White Satin,” Van Morrison (Them) “Gloria,” Pink Floyd “See Emily Play,” Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel,” Paul Revere and the Raiders “Good Thing,” Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody,” Johnny Rivers “Mountain of Love,” Tommy Roe “Sheila,” The Miracles “Shop Around,” The Rolling Stones “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” and The Ronettes “Walking in the Rain.”
Sam and Dave “Soul Man,” Sam the Sham and the Pharos “Wolly Bully,” The Sangri-las “Leader of the Pack,” The Shirelles “Foolish Little Girl,” Percy Sledge “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Sly and the Family Stone “Dance to the Music,” Simon and Garfunkel “The Sounds of Silence,” Sonny and Cher “I Got You Babe,” The Spencer Davis Group “Gimmie Some Lovin,” Staple Singers “I’ll Take You There,” Steppenwolf “Born to Be Wild,” The Temptations “My Girl,” Tina Turner “Proud Mary,” The Turtles “Happy Together,” Martha and the Vandellas “Dancing in the Streets,” The Ventures “Walk Don’t Run,” The Who “Pinball Wizard,” Jackie Wilson “Lonely Teardrops,” Stevie Wonder “Superstition,” The Yardbirds “For Your Love,” The Rascals “Good Lovin,” and The Zombies “She’s Not There.”
The Four Aces “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” Frankie Avalon “Venus,” Bill Haley and his Comets “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” Nat King Cole “Mona Lisa,” Perry Como “Round and Round,” Connie Francis “Who’s Sorry Now?,” The Kingston Trio “Tom Dooley,” Frankie Laine “I Believe,” Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin Going On,” Frankie Lyman (and The Teenagers) “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?,” Dean Martin “That’s Amore.” Johnny Mathis “ Chances Are,” Roy Orbison “ Oh Pretty Woman,” Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz,” Gene Petney “Only Love Can Break a Heart,” Little Richard “Tutti Frutti,” Frank Sinatra “ Young at Heart,” and Dotie Stevens “Pink Shoelaces.”
Wilson Pickett “In the Midnight Hour”No19. Tammy Wynette “Stand By Your Man” No17 The Miracles. “The Tracks of My Tears” #16. Moody Blues. “Go Now” No10. Spanky & Our Gang “Sunday Will Never Be The Same” No9. Tom Jones “Its Not Unusual” No8. Englebert Humperdinck “Release Me” No7. Van Morrison “Brown-Eyed Girl” No7 Aretha Franklin “I Say a Little Prayer” No7
Drake “I’m Goin In,” Rihanna “Umbrella,” Taylor Swift “Speak Now,” Eminum “Lose Yourself,” Katy Perry “Roar,” Justin Bieber “What Do You Mean?,” Bruno Mars “Just The Way You Are,” Kanye West “Gold Digger,” Maroon 5 “Moves Like Jagger,” Ed Sheeran “Sing,” Lady Gaga “Poker Face,” The Weeknd “The Hills,” Post Malone “White Iverson,” Chris Brown “Kiss Kiss,” Flo Rida “Low” and Luke Bryan “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.”
Beyond the top five previously included artists (Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Eminem and Katy Perry), there are another 10 artists that have generated between 49-69.5M digital single sales. Any one of these young artists might also out sell the best of the 1950-60s. Here is a snapshot and a link to one of their most popular recordings:
All-Time Greatest Music 