Francis Avallone, 18 September 1940, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. This photogenic 50s teen idol started as a trumpet-playing child prodigy. His first recordings in 1954 were the instrumentals Trumpet Sorrento and Trumpet Tarantella on X-Vik Records (an RCA Records subsidiary). In the mid-50s, he appeared on many television and radio shows includin
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2 September 1940, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Pop vocalist Clanton celebrated his 18th birthday with his co-written debut hit, the R&B ballad Just A Dream, at number 4 in the US Hot 100. His smooth singing style appealed to the teen market and his subsequent releases were aimed in that direction. These included My Own True Love, which used the me
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Buddy Knox
- 46% match to Fabian
Buddy Wayne Knox, 20 July 1933, Happy, Texas, USA, d. 14 February 1999, Bremerton, Washington, USA. Knox was one of the first pop-abilly hit-makers in the 50s. In 1955, while at West Texas State University, he formed the Serenaders with bass player Jimmy Bowen and Don Lanier (guitar), later adding Don Mills (drums) and changing their name to the Rhythm Orchids. T
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The Avons
- 44% match to Fabian
Sisters-in-law Valerie (1936, Willesden, London, England) and Elaine Murtagh (b. 1940, County Cork, Eire) originally performed as the Avon Sisters. After being discovered singing at the 1958 BBC Radio Exhibition, they signed to UK Columbia Records where they recorded with producer Norrie Paramor. Their debut was Which Witch Doctor with the Mudlarks and their debu
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Robert Ridarelli, 26 April 1942, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Probably the most musically talented of the late 50s Philadelphia school of clean-cut teen-idols, Rydell first performed in public as a drummer at the age of seven. At nine he debuted on Paul Whitemans Teen Club amateur television show and was the shows regular drummer for three years. He attended
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Bobby Day
- 35% match to Fabian
Robert Byrd, 1 July 1932, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, d. 27 July 1990. Day moved to Los Angeles in 1947 and shortly afterwards formed the Flames, who recorded under a variety of names on numerous labels throughout the 50s. Oddly, it took until 1957 before they achieved their first and biggest hit as the Hollywood Flames with Days song Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. Simultan
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Freddy Picariello, 4 December 1940, Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. A frantic and enthusiastic vocalist, known as the last rock n roll star, Cannon was the link between wild rock n roll and the softer Philadelphia-based sounds that succeeded it. The son of a dance-band leader, he fronted Freddy Karmon And The Hurricanes and played guitar on sess
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The singing of Gene Alford was framed by the backing harmonies of Oscar Broadway, Clarence Dixon and John Wallace (who also strummed guitar). From regular performances in the late 40s on radio stations local to their native Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, the Knights graduated to television, providing musical interludes on nationally broadcast situation comedies starring Arthur
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29 March 1935, Belfast, Northern Ireland, d. 17 December 1996, Torquay, Devon, England One of the most popular singers in the UK during the 50s, Murray toured Ulster as a child singer in various variety shows, and, after being spotted by producer Richard Afton, made her television debut at the age of 12. Stringent Irish laws regarding child performers held her back for two y
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20 April 1939, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Tillotsons father was a country music disc jockey and Johnny himself was appearing on local radio from the age of nine. His parents encouraged his talent by giving him first a ukulele and then a guitar, and he was influenced by the singing cowboys (Gene Autry, Roy Rogers) and country singer Hank Williams. He appeared regularly
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John Preston Courville, 18 August 1939, Port Arthur, Texas, USA. This pop ballad and rock singer first performed in the Lamar University (Beaumont, Texas) group the Shades, in 1957, and was brought to the attention of Mercury Records by disc jockey and singer, the Big Bopper (Jape Richardson). Among the tracks Richardson wrote and produced for him was the novelty Runni
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Artist matches
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