Robert Raymond Hendricks (February 22, 1938 – March 25, 2022) "Robert "Bobby" Hendricks", ''Dignity Memorial''
Retrieved April 27, 2022 was an American R&B singer who charted two hits in the late 1950s.

Life and career

Hendricks was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, where he joined his first group, the Crowns, at the age of 16. He was then a member of The Swallows, and The Flyers, before joining

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1 ...

in 1957. He sang lead on songs including " Drip Drop", and then became a successful solo act. His single "Itchy Twitchy Feeling", which was covered by his former band soon after it began attracting radio airplay, hit the U.S. charts, reaching No. 5 on the R&B Singles chart and No. 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1958. Hendricks's only other charting single, "Psycho", was a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wi ...

depicting a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

talking with a patient. "Psycho" peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. New York City disc jockey Dr. Jive (

Tommy Smalls Tommy Smalls (August 5, 1926 – March 8, 1972), known as Dr. Jive, was an influential African-American radio disc jockey in New York City during the early days of rock and roll. He owned the Smalls Paradise club in Harlem in the 1950s. Life a ...

) was the voice of the psychiatrist on "Psycho". From 1961, on and off, through 2008, Bobby Hendricks worked as lead singer with Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters and appeared with them on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

in the ''Doo Wop 51'' television broadcast and ''Doo Wop Love Songs'', singing "Stand By Me" with Bill Pinkney, Charlie Thomas, and Ben E. King. Bobby Hendricks died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at his home in

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 173,516, making Lancaster the 153rd largest city in the Un ...

on March 25, 2022. He was 84 years old. He had been diagnosed with the disease in 2016.

Discography

Singles

*"Itchy Twitchy Feeling" / "A Thousand Dreams" -

Sue Records ''Sue Records was also the name of a Louisiana-based record company which owned Jewel Records (Shreveport record label).'' Sue Records ("The Sound of Soul") was an American record label founded by Henry 'Juggy' Murray and Bobby Robinson in 1957. ...

, 1958 *"Dreamy Eyes" / "Molly Be Good" - Sue Records, 1958 *"Cast Your Vote" / "It's Misery" - Sue Records, 1959 *"I'm A Big Boy Now" / "Good Things Will Come" - Sue Records, 1959 *"Little John Green" / "Sincerely, Your Lover" - Sue Records, 1959 *"City Of Angels" / "If I Just Had Your Love" - Sue Records, 1960 *"Busy Flirtin'" / "I Want That" - Sue Records, 1960 *"Psycho" / "Too Good To Be True" - Sue Records, 1960 *"I'm Coming Home" / "Every Other Night" -

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, (1961) *"That's All I Got From You" / "I Got A Feeling" - Alta Records, 1962 (with Jimmy Velvit) *"My Picture" / "You Drive Buddy" - Patience Records. 1962 (recorded as The Sprites) *"Let's Get It Over" / "Love In My Heart" - Cub Records, 1963 *"I Watched You Slowly Slip Away" (Howard Guyton) / "Let's Get It On" (Bobby Hendricks) - Stardust Records (year unknown) *"Let's Get It Over" / "Love In My Heart" -

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

, 1963

Albums

*''Itchy Twitchy Feeling'' -

Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Jerry Greene formed Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. Soul Survivors gained the hit "Expressway to Your Heart" (1967) while on Crimson Records. History It maintains a ca ...

, 1996

Compilation albums (various artists)

''(Albums that include at least one track by Bobby Hendricks)'' *''Les Années 60 - Le Musée De S.L.C.'' (Volume 2) (2xLP)-

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

("Itchy Twitchy Feeling") *''The Rock 'N' Roll Era - The '50s: Rave On'' (2xLP, RM) -

Time-Life Music Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, a ...

, 1989 ("Itchy Twitchy Feeling") *''The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll: Special Novelty Edition'' - Ace Records UK, 2003 ("Psycho") *''Very Best of The Drifters'' -

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, 1993 ("Drip Drop") *''Best of Sue Records'' -

, 1994 ("Itchy Twitchy Feeling") and ("A Thousand Dreams") *''The Sue Records Story'' -CD box set-

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, ...

UK, 1994 ("Itchy Twitchy Feeling") + *''Blowing The Fuse - 31 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1958'' -

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History The label has been in existence since ...

, 2006 ("Itchy Twitchy Feeling") *''Golden Age Of American Rock 'N Roll'' - Ace Records UK, 2003 ("Psycho") *''The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 6'' - Ace Records UK, 1997 ("Psycho")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendricks, Bobby 1938 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians American rhythm and blues singers American rock singers Atlantic Records artists Cub Records artists The Drifters members Alta Records artists MGM Records artists Mercury Records artists Musicians from Baltimore Sue Records artists United Artists Records artists Warner Music Group artists American male pop singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers