Sammy Johns — Chevy Van

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-6xdrNjJXs

Sammy Reginald Johns was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on February 7, 1946. When he was nine years old, Johns’ father presented him with a guitar, and by the time he was a teenager he had established his own band, the Devilles. The group performed in local clubs and recorded a few records on the Dixie record label. After a move to Atlanta, Georgia, he was given a recording contract in 1973. General Recording Corporation put out Johns’ first solo record, “Early Morning Love”, that year.
Although he wrote a number of hit songs for other artists, Johns is best remembered for the one he recorded himself, “Chevy Van”. The single drove up to No. 5 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It remained in the chart for 17 weeks and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 4 May 1975.
After his eponymous debut album on the GRC record label, which included “Chevy Van”, the singer signed a deal in 1976 with Warner-Curb, which resulted in Johns working on the soundtrack to The Van. The 1982 New World Records single “Falling for You” came to the attention of Elektra, and the company took Johns on board and issued “Love Me off the Road” and “Common Man”. When country artist John Conlee covered “Common Man”, the single went gold and topped the charts. Conlee made the song his theme, and Johns continued writing songs for others.
Those who have recorded Johns’ songs are Waylon Jennings, Sammy Kershaw, and Conway Twitty. In 1985, Jennings serenaded the Statue of Liberty with Johns’ song “America”, on a nationally broadcast event to mark the statue’s restoration. The performance helped turn the single gold, and “America” was nominated for song of the year in country music circles. Johns’ “Desperado Love” also brought Twitty his final gold record. Kershaw covered “Chevy Van” on his 1996 album Politics, Religion and Her.

 

Stories — Brother Louie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-5Y5PX2qHQ

Stories was an early 1970s rock and pop music band based in New York. The band consisted of keyboardist Michael Brown, bassist/vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey, and had a Number 1 hit with a cover of Hot Chocolate’s “Brother Louie.”

Ian Lloyd (b. Lloyd Buonconsiglio, 1947, Seattle) is an American rock singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Stories, whose single “Brother Louie” was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973.[1]

In 1971 Michael Brown and Ian Lloyd formed Stories. They released two albums (“Stories” and “About Us”) with a handful of Billboard Top 100 charting singles. Brown left before the band recorded their third (and final) album, (Traveling Underground) which was released under the artist’s name, “Ian Lloyd and Stories”, and included the Billboard top 40 hit, “Mammy Blue”. After Stories he pursued a solo career, with six albums to his credit. Lloyd has performed with numerous recording artists, assuming the role of a session musician. His long discography of work includes background work with artists such as Foreigner, Billy Joel, Peter Frampton, and Yes.

Lloyd continues to record, perform, and was a backup singer, Lloyd worked with numerous major recording artists, most notably Foreigner, who used Lloyd’s vocals on hits like “Feels Like the First Time,” “Cold as Ice,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Juke Box Hero”, and “Double Vision.” Lloyd can also be heard on Billy Joel’s “I Go to Extremes”, as well as tracks by Yes, Peter Frampton, Survivor, and Ian McDonald.rite, his most recent release being “Everyone’s Happy Cause It’s Christmas Time”.

The Jaggerz — The Rapper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptZJuU0sFL8

The Jaggerz are a pop/rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are a one-hit wonder, their only major success being the single “The Rapper”. Released on the Kama Sutra label, “The Rapper” was #2 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in March 1970, and sold over one million copies with the gold record awarded by the R.I.A.A..[1]
The band’s name derives from the Pittsburgh English slang term, “jagger bush,” meaning a thorny bush.[2] They were managed by The Skyliners manager, Joe Rock.

Donnie Iris (born Dominic Ierace on February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with The Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo albums since the 1980s with his backing band, the Cruisers. He wrote the #2 Billboard hit, “The Rapper”, with the Jaggerz in 1970 and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with “Play That Funky Music.” He became known as a solo artist in the early 1980s with the #29 hit “Ah! Leah! and the #37 hit “Love Is Like a Rock”.

In addition to performing on the first three Jaggerz albums and the fourth and final Wild Cherry album, Iris with his solo band has released eleven studio albums, one EP, two live albums, and two compilation albums. He continues to release new material and tours throughout the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Youngstown and Cleveland, Ohio areas.

 

information from wikipedia