Articles by John Twang

"Sometimes When We Touch" was written by Dan Hill (lyrics) and Barry Mann (music). Barry Mann wrote an incredible amount of hit material but had only one hit on which he sang: "Who Put the Bomp". Yet it was he who co-wrote this super ballad. It was on the Dan Hill 1977 album Longer Fuse recorded at Manta Sound in Toronto , but was also released as a single in 1978. It was Mr. Hill's biggest hit, peaking at #3. Check the web for details on Dan's father, a big deal in Ontario, Canada.

The Coasters (Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Bobby Nunn, Leon Hughes) were the original artists to record "Girls, Girls, Girls" in 1961. The single barely cracked the top one hundred in Billboard. The Elvis Presley movie came out in 1962 with "Return To Sender" as the hit from the motion picture featuring the sax work of Boots Randolph. Stella Stevens co-starred and producer/arranger Jack Nitzsche shows up but receives no credit as the piano player in the lounge band. This Leiber & Stoller song was…

"I Go Pieces" was produced, arranged and written by Del Shannon in 1964. This R&B demo was sung by Lloyd Brown. Later that year Del Shannon cut the tune himself but it was rushed near the end of a three hour recording session so he recorded "I Go To Pieces" again the next year after hearing the Peter & Gordon hit. In 1965 Peter (Asher) and Gordon (Waller) had their first hit not composed by Lennon - McCartney. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios as the title track of their third album it hit t…

"Seasons in the Sun" is an English-language adaptation of the song "Le Moribond" by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. In 1959, McKuen released a novelty single with Bob McFadden, under the pseudonym Dor on the Brunswick label, called "The Mummy". The McKuen-written song reached No. 39. In 1961, he had a single titled "Oliver Twist". His hoarse and throaty singing voice on these and other recordings was a result of McKuen straining his vocal chords in 1961, due to too many promotional ap…

"Mr. Tambourine Man" was composed in 1964, and performed by Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman), who released his original version on the 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home". The Brothers Four (Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland, and Dick Foley) were first to cut the song but it was not released immediately because of licensing rights. The Byrds (Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman) debut single was released the same year reaching number 1 on the Billboard…

"Our Winter Love" is a piano instrumental remake by Bill Pursell of a song written by Canadian songwriter Johnny Cowell. The song ultimately became one of the biggest selling recordings of 1963 and has carved out a small but meaningful niche for itself in the annals of pop history. Initially, a trumpet solo demo of the song that was titled "Long Island Sound" by Johnny Cowell, was sent to Nashville to be recorded by well-known trumpet player Al Hirt who never recorded it. Bill Pursell came ac…

Carmen Lombardo was the younger brother of bandleader Guy Lombardo. He was a vocalist and composer whose compositions included the 1928 classic "Sweethearts on Parade", which was number one for three weeks in 1929, "Ridin' Around in the Rain", written with Gene Austin in 1934, the jazz and pop standards "Coquette", "Boo Hoo", "Some Rainy Day", "Powder Your Face With Sunshine (Smile, Smile, Smile)" and "Return to Me". Of course it was recorded by brother Guy featuring Kenny Gardener on vocals.…

This version of Garry Bonner's "Happy Together" (Bonner - Gordon) was released in 1974. Produced by Canadian Bob Ezrin and arranged by Canada's Rick Wilkins. They were called The Crossfires, then the Tyrtles, next came The Turtles (originally Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, Al Nichol, Chuck Portz, and Jim Tucker) hit with the single and album in 1967 and the song topped the charts. Wikipedia notes: When performing the song on television, Mark Volman commonly "played" a different instrument not pr…

Neil Young's "Lotta Love" is from his "Comes a Time" album. Nicolette Larson provided background vocals for the album but did not sing on its "Lotta Love" track. "Lotta Love" served as lead single for Nicolette Larson's "Nicolette" album. Due to a delay in release, "Comes a Time" was released on the same day in September 1978 as was "Nicolette". The release of a single off the Nicolette album was held off until November when it was clear Young's version would not have a single release as an A…

Nick Lucas (Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese) first sang "Painting the Clouds With Sunshine", "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" and he was the first to record "Together" (Buddy De Sylva - Lew Brown - Ray Henderson) in 1928, although not the first to have a hit with the song. Nick is known as the father of the jazz guitar. The Connie Francis album "Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love" issued in 1961 hit the top ten and became the first number one hit on the new Billboard Easy Listening Chart. FYI…

"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was written by Paul Anka. The hit was recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958. The song was a posthumous success in early 1959 shortly after Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. The single was a two-sided hit, backed with "Raining in My Heart". "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was Mr. Holly's last US Top 20 hit and featured the orchestral backing of Dick Jacobs. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was covered by Linda Ronstadt on her multi-Platinum classic #1…

The tearjerker, "Daddy What If" was written by the musical side of Shel Silverstein. This renaissance man has given us many wonderful songs, cartoons and articles. Here he performs it live on "The Johnny Cash Show". The first recorded release is from the 1971 album "Love is a Sometimes Thing", the Bill Anderson version features a background sounding very much like "The Unicorn", another Shel Silverstein song. Bobby Bare and eight year old Bobby Bare Jr. had the country hit in 1974. The son…

"Last Kiss" is a song released by Wayne Cochran in 1961 but it didn't achieve any kind of success. Wayne Cochran went into the ministry, in later years; he doesn't talk about his rock and roll years anymore. J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers had their first commercial success with "Last Kiss". Their cover version reached the Top 10 in October of 1964, staying for 8 weeks. "Last Kiss" was also covered by the American rock band Pearl Jam for the 1999 charity album No Boundaries: A Benefit f…

Cole Porters wrote the music and lyrics for the 1934 Broadway musical "Anything Goes". In the show it was sung by Ethel Merman. "You're the Top" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" were also in the show. Initially the show was called "Crazy Week" as a working title, then "Hard to Get" before settling on " Anything Goes". Two years after it's New York debut Paramount turned Anything Goes into a movie again starring Ethel Merman. This time Bing Crosby, Ida Lupino, Charles Ruggles, Arthur Treacher, an…

With lyrics by Gene Lockhart and music by the concert pianist Ernest Seitz, who had conceived the refrain when he was 12 we get "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise". Embarrassed about writing popular music, Seitz used the pseudonym "Raymond Roberts" when the song was first published by Chappell in 1919. It was written for the film "Sweet and Lowdown". Gene Lockhart is the former Toronto Argonaut and Canadian actor and father of actress June Lockhart. This John Steel version is from the actor'…

"Ain't She Sweet" was written by veteran tunesmiths Milton Ager and Jack Yellen. Milton Ager wrote the melody for his daughter Shana Ager, who became well known as the political commentator Shana Alexander. Lou Gold (Lewis Milton Goldwasser) and his Orchestra with vocalist Scrappy Lambert recorded the song after it was first published in 1927. "Ain't She Sweet" was performed by the Beatles with…

Brooklyn's Neil Diamond composed "I'm a Believer" first although it wasn't released as a single. It can be found on the albums: "Just for You", "September Morn" and "Classics". Neil has sung the song as a slower number in concert. Don Kirshner put the group together and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees sings the lead on "I'm a Believer". This version, from the group's second album "More of the Monkees", stayed on the top of the chart for seven weeks in December, 1966 and became the top hit of 196…

The late Percy Sledge was lead singer for a group called The Esquires. Members of the group composed "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright). The song seems to have been recorded in different studios (FAME and Norala Studios) and which version is the hit is up for discussion and there is also much debate as to the authorship. This deservedly topped the pop and R&B charts in 1966. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was covered by the often "over the top" singer Michael Bolton (Bolo…