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QUIZ RESULTS NOW POSTED
Topic Started: Sep 30 2008, 10:29 AM (900 Views)
mouser
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Answers to the Quiz Questions at the beginning of each venue post will provided, with additional information, in about one month.

Tune back in to get the scoop !!!!
Edited by mouser, Oct 27 2008, 03:31 PM.
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mouser
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Here are the answers to the "Grease" venue 50"s music quiz. To get the questions, please go to each venue where a question is posed .


1. The Coasters are a Rhythm and Blues/rock and roll vocal group tAlthough 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.hat had a string of hits in the late 1950s.
Throughout the years, new members have been added as the older ones have left the group. Carl Gardner has been a staple and he is musical director for the group , even today.

Posted Image Billy Guy, Will Jones, Carl Gardner , Cornell Gunter, Jacobs in 1958

1957 "Young Blood" and" Searchin" 1958 "Yakety Yak" 1959 " Poison Ivy"

2. "See You Later Alligator" was written by Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry and first recorded by him under his professional name "Bobby Charles" in 1955., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9tW5eCZ3SE Bobby Charles

but not until Bill Haley and the Comets recorded it did the phrase become part of our colloquial language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB9egSP0Bpo By Bill Haley and the Comets.

Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. Hits recorded by the band included "See You Later, Alligator" in which Haley's frantic delivery contrasted with the Louisiana languor of the original by Bobby Charles. Bill Haley started as a country singer with a bluesy feel.


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Bill Haley and His Comets in 1956. Left to right: Rudy Pompilli, Billy Williamson, Al Rex, Johnny Grande, Ralph Jones, Franny Beecher. Top: Bill Haley.


3. The Emotions are an all female soul, disco, and R&B singing group of the late-1970s and into the 1980s. Their association with Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire brought them their greatest success.
There is a musical group called the Emotions that were an acclaimed doo-wop group from Brooklyn, New York renowned for their classic hits "Echo" and "Story Untold" but in the 50's they were called The Moments. and The Runarounds . It wasn't until the 60's that they became The Emotions. LADIES FIRST !!!!
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4." Maybelline" is a song by Chuck Berry that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois.[1] It was Berry's first single release, and his first hit. "Maybellene" is considered one of the pioneering rock and roll singles. He was certainly not a hick from the sticks; he had a degree in hairdressing and cosmetology.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RAfxiyMKAk
Piano player Johnnie Johnson says that he and Berry rewrote the song at the suggestion of Leonard Chess: "It was an old fiddle tune called 'Ida Red.' I changed the music and re-arranged it, Chuck re-wrote the words, and the rest, as they say, was history. Leonard Chess asked me to come up to record it live. At that time, someone else already had a song out by the same name, so we had to change our version. We noticed a mascara box in the corner, so we changed the name to 'Maybellene.'"[8]he followed with a string of hit records that appealed to both black and white audiences. He is arguably the greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers.



5. Nat King Cole :



Posted ImageBorn: Mar 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama
Died: Feb 15, 1965
For a mild-mannered man whose music was always easy on the ear, Nat King Cole managed to be a figure of considerable controversy during his 30 years as a professional musician. From the late '40s to the mid-'60s, he was a massively successful pop singer who ranked with such contemporaries as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin. He shared with those peers a career that encompassed hit records, international touring, radio and television shows, and appearances in films. But unlike them, he had not emerged from a background as a band singer in the swing era. Instead, he had spent a decade as a celebrated jazz pianist, leading his own small group. Oddly, that was one source of controversy. For some reason, there seem to be more jazz critics than fans of traditional pop among music journalists, and Cole's transition from jazz to pop during a period when jazz itself was becoming less popular was seen by them as a betrayal. At the same time, as a prominent African-American entertainer during an era of tumultuous change in social relations among the races in the U.S., he sometimes found himself out of favor with different warring sides. His efforts at integration, which included suing hotels that refused to admit him and moving into a previously all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles, earned the enmity of racists; once, he was even physically attacked on-stage in Alabama. But civil rights activists sometimes criticized him for not doing enough for the cause. bio from Answers.com

His recording of "Unforgettable" released in 1951, peaked at only number 12 on February 2, 1952, but it went on to become one of his better remembered recordings



6. Charles Gates Dawes

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Dawes was a self-taught pianist and composer. His 1912 composition "Melody in A Major," became a well-known piano and violin piece, and was played at many official functions as his signature tune. It was transformed into a pop song ("It's All In The Game") in 1951, when Carl Sigman added lyrics. The song was a number one hit in 1958, for Tommy Edwards (Hatfield 1997: 360), and has since become a pop standard recorded hundreds of times by artists including The Four Tops, Van Morrison, Cliff Richard, Nat "King" Cole, Brook Benton, Elton John, Barry Manilow, and Keith Jarrett. He was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music.



7. South Pacific

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Nellie, a nurse on a Pacific Island during WWII, falls in love with de Becque, a local planter. However, when she learns he is a widower with 2 half caste kids, she cannot accept the sitution. Meanwhile, Cable falls in love with a Polynesion girl named Liat. Cable and de Bacque go off together on a spy mission and the two women wait in hope of their return.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1qpQb11YWc Mary Martin and Enzo Pinza


8. Fabian : A very popular singer in the '50, but not designated as Rock and Roll. He was one of the first totally manufactured singers as the end of his career signifies.

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Fabiano Anthony Forte (born February 6, 1943), better known as Fabian, is a former American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. In total, he charted 11 hit singles in the Billboard Hot 100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxGIxtXZpfI Tiger by Fabian

Fabian's father could not work any longer and since Fabian was the oldest of three brothers, he took a chance at making some money in the music business to help his family out. He never thought of singing and recording as a career, only as a way of stepping in for his father at the time. And yet, before he knew it, Fabian's popularity soared, and soon thousands rushed to his concerts. At fifteen, Fabian won the Silver Award as "The Promising Male Vocalist of 1958".

With songwriters Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Fabian released a series of hit singles for Chancellor Records including "I'm a Man", "Hound Dog Man", "Turn Me Loose", and his biggest hit, "Tiger". His career in music basically ended with the payola scandal of the 1960s, when it was alleged that his records were doctored significantly to improve his voice. [1]



9. A . Because he's so softspoken

He's a soft [Spoken] guy
(Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang)
Also seems kinda shy


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The Chiffons were formed in 1960 at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, New York. The lead singer was 14 year old Judy Craig, supported by Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee, both 13. It was at the after school center that they met writer/manager Ronnie Mack. Mack's claim to fame at that time was as the promoter of a local Philadelphia hit by Little Jimmy and the Tops called "Puppy Love." He was impressed with the girl's voices and soon had them under contract with 'Big Deal Records'

10. The Dixie Cups : The End of Time

Dixie Cups:

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"Chapel of Love" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, and made famous by The Dixie Cups in 1964, spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. There have also been many other versions of this song. This was also the debut release of the new Red Bird Records run by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller along with George Goldner. Phil Spector is infamous for complicity in the Lana Clarkson Murder Case.

The song tells of the happiness and excitement the narrator feels on her wedding day, for she and her love are going to the "chapel of love," and "we'll never be lonely anymore."
Previously recorded by the Crystals and the Ronettes, the definitive version of the song was recorded by the Dixie Cups in 1964.

Although "many have been quite annoyed by the sing-songy, cloying, childish quality"[1], the song was ranked #279 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, being the group's only song on the list.

This Version was on the soundtrack of Father of the Bride with Steve Martin

This version was also used in the iconic war film, Full Metal Jacket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neqT_qbQycE By The Dixie Cups
Chorus:
Because we're going to the chapel and we're, gonna get married.
Goin' to the chapel and we're, gonna get married.
Gee, I really love you and we're, gonna get married.
Goin' to the chapel of love.

Bells will ring,
theee sun will shine.
Whooooa, I'll be his and he'll be mine.
We'll love until, the end of time
and we'll never be lonely anymore.


11. Sugar Shack was about a coffeehouse sung by Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs

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The Fireballs, 1963. From left: Jimmy Gilmer, Stan Lark, George Tomsco, seated - Doug Roberts.

Theres a crazy little shack beyond the tracks
And evrybody calls it the sugar shack
Well, its just a coffeehouse and its made out of wood
Expresso coffee tastes mighty good
That's not the reason why Ive got to get back
To that sugar shack, whoa baby
To that sugar shack.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DW8ecqu0Iw Sugar shack


Interview with The Fireballs by Gary James.



Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs had a huge hit back in 1963 with a little song called "Sugar Shack". It went all the way to number one and became the largest selling song of the year. Then, in the late 60s, The Fireballs did it again with a song called "Bottle Of Wine" which made it into the Top Ten.

Fireballs guitarist George Tomsco talked about what it was like to be in a band in the 1960s.

Q - I've read that The Fireballs recorded at Norman Petty's studio in New Mexico. What year would that have been?

A - OK. Our first session was either the last day of September or the first day or two of October of '58.

Q - Does that mean you would have crossed paths with Buddy Holly?

A - Yes, we did. One time.

Q - You met Buddy Holly?

A - Yes we did and shook hands with him.

Q - What kind of guy was Buddy Holly?

A - Very nice. Actually, it was during the time that I think Norman and him were having some differences. It was just prior to him going to New York. Holly was a quiet guy. Really what happened was, we went down on a Sunday to Audition for Norman and he liked our little group, and said 'do you have some original material?' We said 'what's original material?' He said 'some songs that you wrote.' (laughs) We said 'yeah, we got a couple of 'em.' So, we played 'em for him and he liked those. He thought those were OK. He didn't rave about 'em, but, he said yeah, that's probably recordable material. So, we said let's record! And this was on a Sunday. He said 'I can't today.' He had been to church. He said 'Monday and Tuesday I gotta record Holly and The Crickets'. So he said, 'Why don't you boys go on back home and I'll call you in a day or two and we'll try to line up a session for the future.' I didn't want to leave town once I knew he liked us. We said 'when's your first available time?' He said 'Wednesday.' I said, 'can we stay 'till Wednesday?' He said, 'well, if you want to, I guess you could.' Some of the guys had jobs 8 to 5 here in Raton (New Mexico). Here I was trying to convince them we needed to stay there until Wednesday., I finally convinced them that we should do this. A couple of the guys called home and said 'we're not gonna be into work Monday and Tuesday. We're gonna record Wednesday.' (laughs) When Wednesday rolled around, we did stay. We went to the studio to set up in the late afternoon and came back. We left to get hamburgers because Norman said 'your first recording session is gonna take a little time.' You didn't do any track recording in those days. It was all monaural and you had to mix everything. Once the song was over, the engineer had to have the mix right. The performers had to perform it right. It was a one-take deal. If somebody messed up, the band did it all over again. And, you just kept doing that...take after take until you got one good take that everybody did right or as close to right as possible...the feeling was there and the engineer got the mix right. So, we left and had burgers before we came back to get really started. When we came back, there was a big Cadillac in front of the studio with Texas license plates. We didn't know who it was and walked in. Through the double pane glass window, there I could see this guy playing my brand new guitar with his foot up on my brand new amplifier. I was a little bit ticked off about that. I thought 'who's this guy playing my guitar? I didn't give nobody permission and besides that, he's playing it better than I could! (laughs) So, I stormed into the control room to Norman Petty and said 'Who's the guy playin' my guitar?' He kind of looked at me and then looked over through the window of the control room and said 'Oh, that's Buddy Holly.' Buddy Holly! Wow! I had an immediate attitude adjustment.

Q - No, do you still have that guitar and amp today?

A - No.

Q - George...

A - That was a Fender Tremalux amp on the first session and a Fender Stratocaster guitar. I had traded those back in the next year for the new model of Fender Twin and a Jazzmaster.

Q - Did you trade them in before or after Buddy died?

A - After Holly died. No, let me think...no actually before. Yeah, as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I did. It was in the Fall.

Q - Is it true that The Fireballs already had two hit records. "Torquay" and "Bulldog" when you met Jimmy Gilmer?

A - Yeah.

Q - Were they regional hits or national hits?

A - They were national hits 'cause they were in the Billboard top 100.

Q - How high up the charts?

A - I'm gonna say "Torquay" was 39 and "Bulldog" was 29. That's kind of a guess, from stuff I've read or what I can remember. A lot of those things as an artist, you don't remember the exact stuff. You know what I mean? Record collectors know more about us than I know about us.

Q - You're right. They know the color of the record label, the serial number...

A - Yeah. I don't know any of that stuff. I know the label. I can remember that "Bulldog" and "Torquay" were both on Top Rank. Our very first release was on Kapp.

Q - So now we come to "Sugar Shack". Who wrote that song?

A - Keith McCormick wrote that song.

Q - And who was he?

A - He was a member of The String A Longs from Plainview, Texas. You remember the song "Wheels"? It was covered by Chet Atkins...by Billy Vaughn. It was another instrumental group from Plainview, Texas. He was a writer.

Q - And how did Keith get that song to you?

A - The String A Longs came over to Norman to record from Plainview. He was over there just like some of the other artists Everybody was kind of sharing information, sharing songs and listening to everybody else's stuff. And so, they brought these songs over to demo them at Norman's studio so they could be played for the artists coming in looking for material. "Sugar Shack" was one of the songs. I think probably Jimmy and Norman picked it up and thought 'that's be a good little song to do.' We just worked up that arrangement of it. Without the solo Vox, that sweet little potato thing in it. We had recorded just the gutsy tracks. Then we came back. We were gone for a few weeks doing a little playing tour. We came back and let Norman know we were in town and he said 'let's go to the studio. I want you to hear something.' He was always trying to put the Leslie organ or piano in our stuff. When we heard "Sugar Shack" come on and that funny little merry-go-round come on, I really thought he messed up. But, after it became number one, well, I had changed my mind by then and thought that was a pretty neat little line.

Q - I guess that would do it.

A - Yeah, right (laughs)

Q - The String A Longs never thought of "Sugar Shack" as a vehicle for their group?

A - Not necessarily. Keith and his brother Terrell would write song together. Keith wrote "Sugar Shack" by himself, but, he actually gave half of it to his aunt. So, her name is on there too. (Faye Voss)

Q - How many records did "Sugar Shack" sell? Any idea?

A - Yeah. I think the final accounting at the time, it was over with during that period, was about 1,490,000. Right at a million and a half for that time. It was number one I think for five solid weeks in a row.

Q - Did you guys ever put out an album?

A - Yeah. When the single was still big, we recorded some other items and put out a "Sugar Shack" album. I think there was an album version of "Sugar Shack" that was different from the single version, but, I could wrong about that too. When you're working and doing recordings, a lot of times your days and nights run together. You're doing recording for yourself and you're a studio band for other artists coming in. The whole thing kind of gets blurry and you don't exactly remember what's what...you know? (laughs) You jump from one project to another. You're helping some people do demo stuff and then somebody comes in and cuts a master. Then, you start working on your stuff. Then, you start playing your stuff for other people. We cut "Sugar Shack" with several other songs and had no idea that it was gonna turn out so strong, once we recorded it.

Q - "Sugar Shack" was the biggest record in 1963. Who was your competition?

A - Paul and Paula and their song "Hey Paula".

Q - You were probably the last American band to enjoy such success before The British Invasion.

A - Probably so. During the next release, "Daisy Petal Pickin", I think The Beatles happened. We probably would've sold more records if we had ours released a little bit sooner than we did.

Q - Would the same be true for "Ain't Gonna Tell Anybody"?

A - The British Invasion was really making headway then.

Q - And so, it wasn't the production or promotion of the records that was the problem, it was the British Invasion?

A - Yeah. That happened to every American artist that had releases at the time. But, you never know how high a song would've gone anyhow, had there not been any interruption. We don't know that we would have had another number one or Top Ten or Top Twenty. We do know The Beatles were stealing or record sales. (laughs) What The Beatles did is, they stole our sales but then they enhanced the whole music scene to be a whole lot bigger business than it was. So, they really did everybody a favour in the long-run too.

Q - But, what a hard act they were to follow.

A - Oh, well you couldn't...I mean you just couldn't follow them. (laughs) You'd be really stupid to try and follow The Beatles. They were number one. There's a million miles between number one and number two.

Q - According to The Rolling Stone Encyclopaedia Of Rock, after the success of "Sugar Shack", tours in the US an overseas followed. Who did you tour with and were you a headliner or support act?

A - We did tours in the US, but we didn't go overseas. Jimmy might've gone over with Norman and I don't know for sure. Jimmy might've gone over with Norman for a little promo thing. But, the band didn't go. We did'nt go to Europe. The Fireballs have not been over there yet.

Q - What happened to Jimmy Gilmer anyway? Did success go to his head?

A - Oh, no. Gilmer stayed with us for ten years, from '60 to '70. But, what happened to curtail our run was of course The British Invasion. The Beatles mainly. Then, we didn't have much. We had some chart action. But, finally in '68 we had "Bottle Of Wine" and that was by The Fireballs. But see, Gilmer is singing on that. He's our lead singer. See, what Norman did is; we started out as The Fireballs. Then with "Sugar Shack" it was Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs. Well, if you think back, "That'll Be The Day" was out by what name? The Crickets. Ok. Then what did you see? Buddy Holly and The Crickets. So, it was a Norman Petty marketing angle that he was trying to do the same with Jimmy Gilmer that he did with Buddy Holly. But, he was successful with Holly, just simply because of the timing, the way the map laid down there. But, by the time of Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs, there were some Jimmy Gilmer records. Then it went back to The Fireballs by "Bottle Of Wine". He was trying to market Jimmy Gilmer as a solo artist out of The Fireballs group. Just to sell some more records, like he was successful with Holly and The Crickets.

Q - Who wrote "Bottle Of Wine"?

A - That was written by Tom Paxton, the folksinger. I remember two ways the song kind of happened. It seems to me like a simultaneous thing. Jimmy and Stan Lark were up in New York, down in the Village. Tom Paxton was performing down there and they heard him do "Bottle Of Wine". Jimmy liked it and Stan liked it. They came back from New York talking about it. But, about that same time, Carolyn Hester had already said something to me about (it) in the studio. She said, "You know, there's a song The Fireballs ought to think about doing...Bottle Of Wine". Tom Paxton was a folksinger which was part of her deal. She was into folk music. She was talking about it in the studio and they (Jimmy and Norman) came back from New York talking about it. It was just one of those things we decided (on) I guess, to do. So, we just came up with our own version of it, it was totally different than the way Tom Paxton wrote it. He wrote it kind of like an English pub song. And of course we...

Q - Roughed it up a bit?

A - Right. Exactly. We gave it a little bit rougher treatment. (laughs)

Q - You can almost picture everybody singing that song at a bar after a few drinks.

A - You know what's funny? The song is really an anti-drinking song. 'Bottle of wine. Fruit of the vine. when are you gonna let me get sober? Leave me alone. Let me go home. Let me go home and start over.' In other words, I want to get away from this. Very few people really saw that in it. They saw the drinking part.

Q - How well did the record do?

A - I think it went up to number 9 in '68.

Q - How many copies did is sell, do you know?

A - Not quite a million. Nine hundred thousand. Something like that. It wasn't near as big as "Sugar Shack", but it certainly was a nice seller for us.

Q - Where do The Fireballs perform today?

A - Just anywhere. We do casinos. We do one-nighters. We do any kind of shows where our music is bookable. We're not restricted to any kind of thing. We do Fairs...just about any kind of configuration that we can book.

Q - How about new product...is there any?

A - Yeah. We've got a lot of re-issues. Ace Records out of London has re-issued a whole bunch of stuff on us.



11.


The Beach Boys

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Family gatherings brought the Wilsons in contact with cousin Mike Love. With Love's sister Maureen and a friend, Brian taught them harmonies. Later, Brian, Mike and two friends performed at Hawthorne High School (Hawthorne, California), drawing tremendous applause for their version of The Olympics' (doo-wop group) "Hully Gully".[10] Brian also knew Al Jardine, a high school classmate, who had already played guitar in a folk group called The Islanders. One day, on the spur of the moment, they asked a couple of football players in the school training room to learn harmony parts, but it wasn't a success — the bass singer was flat.[11]

Brian suggested to Jardine that they team up with his cousin and brother Carl. It was at these sessions, held in Brian's bedroom, that "the Beach Boys sound" began to form. Brian says: "Everyone contributed something. Carl kept us hip to the latest tunes, Al taught us his repertoire of folk songs, and Dennis, though he didn't [at the time] play anything, added a combustible spark just by his presence." It was Love who encouraged Brian to write songs and he also gave the fledgling band its first name: The Pendletones.[12]

The Pendletones recorded twelve takes of "Surfin'" in the Morgans' cramped offices (Dennis was deemed not yet good enough to play drums, much to his chagrin). A small quantity of singles was pressed. When the boys eagerly unpacked the first box of singles, on the X Records label, they were surprised and angered to see their band name had been changed to "Beach Boys".



13. Alan Freed

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ALAN FREED, the disc jockey credited with naming rock & roll, was born Albert James Freed on December 15, 1921, near Johnstown, PA. In 1933 the Freed family moved to Salem, Ohio.

In high school Freed formed a band known as the Sultans of Swing, in which he played trombone.

In 1942 Freed landed his first broadcasting job, at WKST (New Castle, PA). He took a sportscasting position at WKBN (Youngstown, OH) the following year. In 1945 he moved to WAKR (Akron, OH) and became a local favorite, playing hot jazz and pop recordings.

In 1949 Freed moved to WXEL-TV in Cleveland. Record store owner Leo Mintz convinced him to emcee a program of rhythm & blues records over WJW radio, and on July 11, 1951, calling himself "Moondog," Freed went on the air. At his "Moondog Coronation Ball" at the 10,000-capacity Cleveland Arena in March 1952, upwards of 20,000 fans (almost all black) crashed the gates, causing the dance to be cancelled. This is considered to be the first "rock" concert. It also marked the point at which Freed's audience began to include an increasing number of whites — who subsequently heard Freed refer to rhythm & blues as "rock & roll."

In September 1954 Freed was hired by WINS radio in New York. The following January he held a landmark dance there, promoting black performers as rock & roll artists. Within a month, the music industry was advertising "rock & roll" records in the trade papers.

Freed also emceed a string of legendary stage shows at the Brooklyn and New York Paramount Theatres; was heard nationally via CBS radio; and starred in several rock & roll movies.

In 1957 ABC-TV gave Freed his own nationally-televised rock & roll show, but an episode on which Frankie Lymon danced with a white girl enraged ABC's Southern affiliates and the show was cancelled.




In the spring of 1958, when violence occurred outside the Boston Arena after a Freed stage show, local authorities indicted him for inciting to riot. The charges were eventually dropped, but WINS failed to renew Freed's contract.




Freed moved to WABC radio, and also hosted a locally televised dance show.

When the broadcasting payola scandal erupted in November 1959, Freed claimed payments he'd received from record companies were for "consultation," not as an inducement to play their records. He was fired from his radio and television programs.

Freed was hired by Los Angeles' KDAY radio (owned by the same company that owned WINS) in 1960, but when management refused to let him promote live rock & roll shows Freed left the station and returned to Manhattan to emcee a live twist revue. When the twist craze cooled he hooked on as a disc jockey at WQAM (Miami, FL). Realizing that his dream of returning to New York radio was just that, Freed's drinking increased. The Miami job lasted only two months.

In December 1962, in New York, Freed pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial bribery and was fined three hundred dollars.

Living in Palm Springs, CA, and drinking heavily, the one-time "king of rock & roll" was a broken man. He died there on January 20, 1965, ostensibly of bleeding esophageal varices and cirrhosis of the liver. Those closest to him swear he died of a broken heart.

In 1986 Freed was among the original inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. In 1991 a comprehensive biography, Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll was published. That same year, Freed received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

— John Jackson







14. Edd Brynes

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Capitalizing on his 77 Sunset Strip popularity, Edd Byrnes with Connie Stevens had a hit called Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb. And in the process gave us all a new vocabulary.

Born Edward Byrne Breitenberger in New York City on July 30, 1933, Edd shared an impoverished and unhappy childhood with brother Vincent and sister Jo-Ann. Their mother worked hard at various jobs to keep the family together because her alcoholic husband was often absent from the scene. When Edd was 13, his father was found dead in a basement. Edd then dropped his last name in favor of "Byrnes" based on the name of his maternal grandfather, a New York City fireman. Edd found escape from family problems at the movies and at the gym, where he developed an athletic body. At age 17 he was approached by a man who offered to take free "physique" photos of him. According to Edd's 1996 autobiography, "Kookie No More", this led to a few years of "hustling" older, well-to-do men, despite the fact that Edd was heterosexual. One of these men acted as Edd's mentor, introducing him to fashion and culture and encouraging his hopes for an acting career.
After doing some summer-stock work and a few bit parts on TV, Edd drove to California in 1955, arriving in Los Angeles on the day James Dean died in a car crash. He managed to get a few minor parts in the movies and then won a role in a new TV series called "77 Sunset Strip" (1958) which premiered in September of 1958. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith starred as private eyes but Edd, playing a hip-talking parking-lot attendant named "Kookie", won the most attention. Viewers quoted his dialog, ("Baby, you're the ginchiest!"), and young males imitated the way he wielded his ever-present comb. His fan mail soon reached an astonishing 15,000 letters a week and his single with Connie Stevens, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb", became a top-5 hit. Edd chafed, however, at the restrictions in his Warner Brothers contract which forced him to turn down roles in Ocean's Eleven (1960), North to Alaska (1960) and Rio Bravo (1959)_. He walked off the "77 Sunset Strip" (1958) set and in the ensuing months began to drink heavily and to visit a psychiatrist who administered drugs to him. His contract dispute was eventually settled, though not much to his advantage, and when he returned to "77 Sunset Strip" (1977) , his role was upgraded from "side-kick" to "partner" and he wore a suit and tie. Audience reaction was not good, ratings dropped, and the show was canceled. The hip-talking, hair-combing image clung to him, however, and Edd felt he lost the lead in PT 109 (1963) because JFK didn't want to be played by "Kookie." A few more movies and TV appearances followed, but his career had passed its peak before he turned 30.

In 1962 he married long-time girlfriend, Asa Maynor. Their son, Logan, was born on September 13, 1965. Edd and Asa's marriage ended in divorce in 1971, partially because of his reliance on drugs and alcohol. In 1982, he succeeded in going "clean and sober." He never remarried, remains proud of his son, and has come to terms with his role as television's first teen idol.
Biography By: dinky-4 of Minneapolis



1978 , Edd Brynes played Vince Fontaine in the movie version of Grease !!!!!!






Edited by mouser, Nov 2 2008, 07:36 AM.
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