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Jimmy Jones (singer)
James Jones (June 2, 1930 – August 2, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter who moved to New York City while a teenager. According to Allmusic journalist Steve Huey, "best known for his 1960 Rhythm and blues, R&B smash 'Handy Man (song), Handy Man', Jones sang in a smooth yet soulful falsetto modeled on the likes of Clyde McPhatter and Sam Cooke." Career Jones was born in Birmingham, Alabama. His first job in the entertainment industry was as a tap dancing, tap dancer. He joined a doo-wop group named the Berliners in 1954. They later changed their name to Sparks of Rhythm. In 1955 Jones co-wrote "Handy Man (song), Handy Man", which was recorded by the Sparks of Rhythm in 1956 (after Jones left the group). After recording with other groups, Jones went solo and, in 1959, teamed up with Otis Blackwell who reworked "Handy Man" which Jones recorded on the MGM subsidiary Cub Records. When the flute player did not show up for the session, Blackwell famously whistling, whistled on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Alabama, second-most populous city in Alabama, and estimated at 196,357 in 2024. The Birmingham metropolitan area, Alabama, Birmingham metropolitan area had a population of 1.19 million in 2020 and is the largest metropolitan area in Alabama and List of metropolitan statistical areas, 47th-most populous in the US. Birmingham serves as a major regional economic, medical, and educational hub of the Deep South, Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion, Piedmont, and Appalachian regions. Founded in 1871 during the Reconstruction Era of the United States, Reconstruction era, Birmingham was formed through the merger of three smaller communities, most notably Elyton, Alabama, Elyton. It quickly grew into an industrial and transportation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doo-wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables (such as "doo-wop") is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was commercially viable until the early 1960s and continued to influence performers in other genres. Origins Doo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins. Musical precedents Doo-wop's style is a mixture of p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Christie
Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (February 19, 1943 – June 17, 2025), known professionally by his stage name Lou Christie, was an American pop music, pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 UK number two hit "I'm Gonna Make You Mine (Lou Christie song), I'm Gonna Make You Mine". Biography Early life and career Christie was born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco on February 19, 1943, in Crescent Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Glenwillard, Pennsylvania, and grew up in suburban Pittsburgh. While attending Moon Area High School, he studied music and voice, served as student conductor of the choir and sang solos at holiday concerts. His teacher, Frank Cummings, wanted him to pursue a career in classical music, but Sacco wanted to cut a record to get on ''American Bandstand''. At age 15 he met and befriended Twyla Herbert, a classically trained musician 20 years his senior, who beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Four Seasons (band)
The Four Seasons is an American band formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. They are one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, with Frankie Valli on lead and falsetto vocals, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito (musician), Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. The Four Seasons had two distinct eras of widespread success: the 1960s, during which Massi departed in 1965, and was replaced initially by Charles Calello and more permanently by Joe Long, and the mid- to late 1970s, with the lineup consisting of Valli, Don Ciccone (bass guitar and baritone/soft falsetto vocals), John Paiva (lead guitar and harmony vocals), Gerry Polci (drums and tenor vocals), and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Valli
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. Valli scored 29 top 40 hits with the Four Seasons, one top 40 hit under the Four Seasons alias the Wonder Who?, and nine top 40 hits as a solo artist. As a member of the Four Seasons, Valli's number-one hits include "Sherry (song), Sherry" (1962), "Big Girls Don't Cry (The Four Seasons song), Big Girls Don't Cry" (1962), "Walk Like a Man (The Four Seasons song), Walk Like a Man" (1963), "Rag Doll (The Four Seasons song), Rag Doll" (1964) and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (1975). Valli's recording of the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" reached number two in 1967. As a solo artist, Valli scored number-one hits with the songs "My Eyes Adored You" (1974) and "Grease (song), Grease" (1978). V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Kenny (singer)
William Francis Kenny Jr. (June 12, 1914 – March 23, 1978) was an American vocalist with a wide vocal range spanning four octaves. Often regarded as one of the most influential high-tenor singers of all time, Kenny was noted for his "bell-like" vocal clarity and impeccable diction. Although he is most famous for his role as lead tenor with the Ink Spots, Kenny also led a successful solo career after disbanding the Ink Spots in 1954.Goldberg, Marv (1998). ''More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots And Their Music'', Scarecrow Press. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Kenny recorded, toured the world and appeared on many popular variety television shows. In 1966 Kenny became the star and host of his own musical variety show '' The Bill Kenny Show'' which aired on CBC.''Jet Magazine'', October 21, 1965, p. 56. In 1989, 11 years after his death, Bill Kenny was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kenny is often noted as being the "godfather" of R&B tenor vocalists. Early life an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include record sales, the amount of radio airplay, the number of music download, downloads, and the amount of streaming media, streaming activity. Some charts are specific to a particular musical genre and most to a particular geographical location. The most common period covered by a chart is one week with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs. A common format of radio and television programs is to run down a music chart. History The first record chart was founded in 1952 by Percy Dick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " contemporary hit radio" is also a radio format. History According to producer Richard Fatherley, Todd Storz was the inventor of the format, at his radio station KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska. Storz invented the format in the early 1950s, using the number of times a record was played on jukeboxes to compose a weekly list for broadcast. The format was commercially successful, and Storz and his father Robert, under the name of the Storz Broadcasting Company, subsequently acquired other stations to use the new Top 40 format. In 1989, Todd Storz was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. The term "Top 40", describing a radio format, appeared in 1960. The Top 40, whether surveyed by a radio station or a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Recording Sales Certification
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see List of music recording certifications). Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories, which are named after precious materials (gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ..., platinum and diamond). The threshold required for these awards depends upon the population of the territory where the recording is released. Typically, they are awarded only to international releases and are awarded individually for each country where the album is sold. Different sales levels, some perhaps 10 times greater t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Good Timin' (Jimmy Jones Song)
"Good Timin" was a chart-topper, number-one single (music), single in the UK Singles Chart during 1960, written by Fred Tobias and Clint Ballard Jr., and performed by Jimmy Jones (singer), Jimmy Jones. In the U.S., the follow-up to "Handy Man (song), Handy Man" went to number three on Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number eight on the R&B chart. The song extrapolates the historical encounters between David and Goliath and between Christopher Columbus, Columbus and Isabella I of Castile, Isabella as reason enough for a boy to meet a girl. Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Cover versions "Good Timin" was later cover version, covered by Kyu Sakamoto in Japanese language, Japanese. Australian band Ol' 55 (band), Ol' 55 covered the song on their album ''The Vault (Ol' 55 album), The Vault'' (1980). UK band Showaddywaddy also covered the song and released it as a single in 1981, but it failed to reach the charts. It was also featured on their 1981 album '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fire and Rain (song), Fire and Rain" and had his first hit in 1971 with his recording of "You've Got a Friend", written by Carole King in the same year. His 1976 ''Greatest Hits (James Taylor album), Greatest Hits'' album was certified RIAA certification#RIAA Diamond certifications, Diamond and has sold 11 million copies in the US alone, making it one of the List of best-selling albums in the United States#10–14 million copies, best-selling albums in US history. Following his 1977 album ''JT (James Taylor album), JT'', he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over 1 million copies. He enjoyed a resurgence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Del Shannon
Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit " Runaway", which was covered later by various major artists including Elvis Presley and the Traveling Wilburys. In 1999, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to his music career, he had minor acting roles. Biography Shannon was born Charles Weedon Westover on December 30, 1934, in Coopersville, Michigan, to Bert and Leone Mosher Westover. He learned to play the ukulele and guitar and listened to country-and-western music by artists such as Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell. He was drafted into the Army in 1954 and, while in Germany, played guitar in a band called The Cool Flames. When his service ended, he returned to Battle Creek, Michigan, and worked as a carpet salesman and as a truck driver for a furniture fac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
