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Sandy Nelson
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Joannie
Sommer
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Sue
Thompson
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| Sandy is the
most successful drummer in Rock & Roll History. He is the only
drummer to have two top 10 hits on the POP charts. His first Major
hit was on the Original Sound Label owned by Art Laboe. That 1959
song was "Teen Beat". Sandy's next major hit was "Let
There Be Drums" in 1961. Sandy recorded 32 albums in his career.
Sandy also played drums on many other hits, including "To Know
Him Is To Love Him". That group's leader and background vocalist
was Phil Spector. He was paid $10 for that session. Today Sandy lives
in Boulder City, Nevada. |
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| Joannie was
the Pepsi Cola girl for many years. Joannie's style of music is considered
to be a Jazz style, even though her biggest hits, "One Boy",
and "Johnny Get Angry", were huge pop hits. The Buffalo
New York native, resides in the Los Angeles area. |
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| Sue's first
major hit was the ballad, "Sad Movies Always Make Me Cry".
This was followed by "James, (Hold The Ladder Steady", "Norman",
and "Paper Tiger" her last major hit on the pop charts.
All 4 of these hits went gold. Sue also had some success in the Country
field with a Gold record, "Big Mable Murphy". Sue also recorded
four LP's with the great Don Gibson in the early 70's. Sue and her
husband Ted live in Las Vegas, Nevada. |
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| Tommy
Roe |
Troy
Shondell
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Tommy
Sands |
| This Atlanta
native is considered by many as the first of the Bubble Gum singers.
Tommy's first recording was a #1 hit nationwide, that song was "Sheila".
"Sheila" was followed by a remake of Robin Luke's Giant
1958 hit, "Susie Darlin". Tommy had a total of 15 songs
enter the Top 40. Tommy still tours the world and is currently residing
in Southern California & Atlanta. |
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| Troy recorded
for many years in the Rock-A-Billy field under his real name, Gary
Schelton. Troy is the only Rock & Roll performer to come from
his home town of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. In 1961 Troy had his biggest
hit with "This Time", on his own label, Goldcrest. The song
was picked up nationally by Liberty Records. Troy & his wife reside
in Antioch, Tennessee. |
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| Tommy was
one of the first of many teen idols. Tommy graduated from Calumet
High School in Chicago, Illinois. Tommy started his singing career
as a Rock-A-Billy singer. His biggest hit was "Teenage Crush",
on Capital Records in 1957. He currently lives in Los Angeles. |
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LeRoy
Van Dyke
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Wanda
Jackson
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Jewel
Akens
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| This real
live Auctioneer recorded a song in 1956 titled "The Auctioneer"
on the Dot Record label. It reached # 1 on both POP & Country
charts. In 1961 LeRoy recorded a song that became another # 1 hit
on both the POP & Country charts. That song was "Walk On
By". "Walk On By" is C&W's all time # 1 song according
to Billboard Magazine. LeRoy & his wife own a cattle farm in Missouri. |
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| This Oklahoma
native became the Queen of Rock-A-Billy with the top 10 hit "Let's
Have A Party" in 1960. She also had POP hits in 1961 with "Right
or Wrong", and In The Middle Of A Heartache". Wanda also
did very well on the Country Charts and the Gospel charts. Wanda and
her manager husband, Wendall Goodman reside in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. |
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| This Houston,
Texas native had a smash hit in 1965 with "The Birds & the
Bees" on the ERA label. Jewel was a member of the Four Tunes
and had his own group The Four Dots in the early sixties. Jewel is
still recording today and presently resides in Los Angeles, California. |
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