John Twang's articles

The Nu Shooz (lead vocalist Valerie Day, Danny Schauffler, John Smith and Rick Waritz) 1984 LP "Tha's Right" contained the original "I Can't Wait" (J. Smith). Issued as a single it was a big hit in the group's Portland, Oregon hometown but nowhere else. Originally this was a twelve member group that gradually became the husband and wife team of Valerie Day and John Smith with additional musicians. The 1986 album by Nu Shooz was to be called "The Point Of No Return" but that was changed to th…

Margie Singleton (Ebey) wrote "Lie To Me" and brought in to Brook Benton. When she was thirteen Margie married future producer and label owner Shelby Singleton. In 1965 she married songwriter Leon Ashley. Brook Benton (Benjamin Peay) had success with "Lie To Me" (Margie Singleton - Brook Benton) in 1962. The single from his album "Singing The Blues" peaked at number thirteen on Billboard and top ten on other national charts.

The 1962 Motion picture "Walk On The Wild Side" featured the title tune sung by Brook Benton (Benjamin Peay). "Walk On The Wild Side" (Mack David - Elmer Bernstein) earned an Academy Award nomination. The single peaked at number forty-three and is on the album "Golden Hits Volume Two". Jazz organist Jimmy Smith released "Walk On The Wild Side" parts one and two with Oliver Nelson's Big Band including Doc Severinsen and drummer Ed Shaughnessy but he didn't appear playing the Hammond B3 organ…

Grammy winner Josh Kear sings "Need You Now" (Josh Kear - Hillary Scott - Charles Kelley - Dave Haywood) in an impressive performance at the 2011 ASCAP Pop Music Awards held in Los Angeles. Josh has written for a diverse line up of recording artists from Boyzone, Susan Boyle, Carrie Underwood, The Backstreet Boys to Jimmy Buffett and Lady Antebellum. Lady Antebellum (lead vocalist Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley) issued "Need You Now" as the lead single from their number one,…

The debut LP for Salt-n-Pepa "Hot, Cool And Vicious" did not contain "Push It" (Herby Azor) when first issued in 1986. Originally the tune was on the B side of "Tramp" in 1987. Salt was Cheryl James and Sandra Denton was Pepa and they were aided by Deidra Roper aka DJ Spinderella. San Francisco producer Cameron Paul remixed "Push It" and this became a single in late 1987. The next year it peaked at number nineteen on the Top One Hundred and in the U.K. it peaked at number two. That's when it…

One of the first recordings of the standard "That's My Weakness Now" (Bud Green - Sam Sept) came from Billy Jones and Ernest Hare in 1928. This was the first hit for the writing team that also gave us "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone". Billy Jones and Ernest Hare earned over one thousand dollars a week on radio making them the highest paid singers in that medium. The most successful version of "That's My Weakness Now" was recorded in the same year by Helen Kane (Schroeder). Wikipedi…

Bob Dylan (Zimmerman) wrote "My Back Pages" and included it on the 1964 issue of "Another Side Of Bob Dylan". The album opened with "All I Really Want To Do" and featured "It Ain't Me Babe" as the final track. The title doesn't show up in the song but may refer to Bob's archive of music. Again The Byrds (lead Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Michael Clark, Chris Hillman and uncredited Van Dyke Parks on organ) hit success with a Bob Dylan cover. "My Back Pages" appeared on the 1967 top thirty LP…

With the success of his song "I'm Your Puppet" for James and Bobby Purify in 1966, he and Spooner Oldham wrote, Dan Penn was convinced he could make a living out of songwriting. He was right. The next year they wrote "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" for Aretha Franklin and he produced The Box Tops hit "The Letter". The year after that he and Spooner wrote the Box Tops hit "Cry Like A Baby". This is a track from his LP "The Fame Recordings" where he sings "It Tears Me Up" (Dan Penn - Spooner Oldham…

Grammy winner Chris DeStefano is a typical Nashville Singer, songwriter, producer and multi instrumentalist playing mandolin, bass, banjo, drums, violin, percussion, guitar, pedal steel and piano. The man has written many Country chart toppers that crossed over to the pop charts. This includes "Good Girl" (Chris DeStefano - Ashley Gorley - Carrie Underwood). This was recorded in concert with co-writer and almost legendary Ashley Gorley at the Harbour's Edge in Hope Town Abaco, Bahamas as part of…

Scotland's James "Midge" Ure had musical success with Thin Lizzy and Ultravox but what may have been his most well known contribution to the ear happened when he was approached by Bob Geldoff to write the music for "Do They Know It's Christmas" to aid the fight against famine in Ethiopia. This is Midge's version recorded during an intimate concert at Epic Studios in Norwich, England. On the twenty-fifth of November, 1984 the collective of musicians including Phil Collins, George Michael, Bon…

"Mattinata" (Ruggero Leoncavallo) was written in 1904 and sung by Enrico Caruso with the composer accompanying him on piano. The English translation of the title is simply "Morning". The composer was already well known for his 1892 opera "Pagliacci". Winner of the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts, Vic Damone (Vito Farinola) hit with the gold record "You're Breaking My Heart" (Pat Genaro - Sunny Skylar) in 1949 when the song topped the chart. Vic's mother's maiden name was Damone.

The man who gave us "Sweet Georgia Brown" Maceo Pinkard, his wife Edna Alexander and Sidney D. Mitchell wrote "Sugar" aka "That Sugar Baby Of Mine" and had it recorded successfully by Ethel Waters in 1946. Ethel was the first African-American to have her own television show and the first to be nominated for a Prime Time Emmy. Vic Damone (Vito Rocco Farinola) revived "Sugar" in 1953 with David Carroll's Orchestra and the Jack Halloran Singers peaking at number thirteen on Billboard. IMDB: "Hi…

From the Lenny Kravitz 2012 double CD set "Mama Said: 21st Anniversary Deluxe Edition" this is the home demo recording of " It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" (Lenny Kravitz). At this time Lenny and then wife Lisa Bonet were struggling with their marriage. The title is a quote from Yogi Berra. In 1991 Lenny Kravitz released the album "Mama Said" and the single "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over". Lenny provides vocals, guitar, bass, piano, sitar and drums while the Phenix Horns provide the brass. The…

Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" while Albert Von Tilzer wrote the music in 1908. Neither of these gentlemen witnessed a game until decades later. Columbia records session singer Harvey Hindermeyer (Hindermyer) recorded the first version the year it was written. The Haydn Quartet (lead Harry MacDonough, John Bieling, S.H. Dudley and William Hooley) recorded their version of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" and topped the charts for sixteen weeks in late 1908. Sh…

"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (James Wirrick - Sylvester) was originally recorded by producer Patrick Cowley for Sylvester (James Jr.) as a tune with an obvious gospel feel. After the session Patrick watched a rehearsal of the song at a disco and remixed the song into what would become the hit. In 1978 Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" peaked at number eight in the U.K. and number thirty-six pop, number twenty R&B on Billboard. This is a track from the LP "Step II". Wikipedia "…

German session musician, producer, arranger and composer Harold Faltermeyer (Faltermeier) and percussionist, record producer and Academy Award winner Keith Forsey were in charge of the music for the 1984 Eddie Murphy movie "Beverly Hills Cop". Glenn Frey was invited to an advance screening of the film and was sent a demo to find out if he had interest in participating. When it was released from the soundtrack album "The Heat Is On" took the former Eagles member and co-founder to number two o…

"You Want To Play The American" is the translation of "To Vuo Fa L'Americano" (Nicola Salerno - Renato Carsone) as played and sung by Renato Carosone (Carusone) in 1956. The composers also hit the world market with "Mambo Italiano" and "Torero". Both Renato and Julius Larose had a Billboard hit with "Torero" in 1958. Australia's Yolanda Be Cool (Andrew Stanley and Matthew Handley) and their producer DCUP (Duncan MacLellan) issued "We No Speak Americano" (Renato Carosone - Johnson Peterson - D…