50's and 60's

A Teenager In Love (Dion and the Belmonts Cover)

The Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari

Sh-Boom

Bobby Darin - Dream Lover

Beyond The Sea - Bobby Darin

That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly

The Kingsmen - Louie Louie (1963)

Earth Angel - The Penguins

Righteous Brothers-Unchained Melody

Santo & Johnny - Sleep Walk '68

19 - Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle & Roll

Freddy Fender- Before The Next Teardrops Falls

Bobby Lewis-Tossin and Turnin

The Chordettes- Lollipop

Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly

Be bop a lula - Gene Vincent

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Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs were an American doo-wop/R&B 
vocal group, active during the late 1950s and early 1960s. 
Originally "The (Royal) Charms", the band changed its name 
to "The Gladiolas" in 1957 and then "The Excellos" in 1958, 
before finally settling on "The Zodiacs" in 1959. 

Williams was born April 26th, 1938 in Lancaster, South Carolina. 
He had his first experience with music in the church, where his 
mother and sister both performed. By the time he was six, 
Williams was performing regularly there. With his childhood 
friend Earl Gainey, Williams formed the gospel group...
 'The Junior Harmonizers', but as rock 'n' roll and doo-wop 
became their primary interest, the Junior Harmonizers 
changed their name to 'The Royal Charms'. 

The Royal Charms and The Gladiolas... In addition to Williams 
and Gainey, The Royal Charms were made up of Willie Jones 
(baritone), William Massey (tenor, baritone, trumpet), and 
Norman Wade (bass). In the winter of 1956, while still in high 
school, Williams and his band traveled to Nashville, Tennessee 
to record for the Excello record label. At the time they were 
still going by the name 'The Royal Charms,' but the founder 
of Excello Records, Ernie Young, convinced them to change 
their name to 'The Gladiolas.' At the time, there were at least 
two other bands using the same name. 
The song "Little Darlin'" was a #11 hit on the R&B chart in 
1957, but did not break the Billboard Hot 100's Top 40. 
However, when the song was covered by the Canadian 
group 'The Diamonds', it moved up to #2. 

Maurice Williams finished high school and while on the road 
with the band (after their station wagon broke down in 
Bluefield, West Virginia), the band came across a small car 
known as "The Zodiac" and the band changed their name 
-one last time, to, "Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs". 
Shortly thereafter, Henry Gatson replaced Earl Gainey. In the 
spring of 1959, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs performed 
at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. 
Around that time, the group split and reformed. The members 
were then Williams, Gatson, Wiley Bennett, and Charles Thomas. 
Later, Little Willie Morrow along with Albert Hill were added. 
One month later, in the early summer of 1959, the band 
recorded in a Quonset Hut on Shakespeare Road in Columbia... 
The recording engineer, Homer Fesperman, recorded several 
tracks that the band had hoped would fetch them a hit... 

One of the last tracks that they recorded that day was "Stay," 
a song that Williams had written a couple of weeks before. 
After taking the demo of "Stay" to Al Silver at Herald Records 
in New York City, the song was pressed and released in early 1960. 

"Stay" is the shortest recording ever to reach Number One on 
the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States - at 1:39, although 
the label read 1:50. 

Later versions of "Stay" recorded by The Four Seasons (1964), 
and Jackson Browne (1978) also reached the Top 20, each selling 
over one million copies in the United States alone.
At the end of 1963, British band "The Hollies" covered "Stay", which 
gave the group their debut Top Ten hit single in the UK, peaking at #8. 

The inclusion of "Stay" on the soundtrack to the film "Dirty Dancing" 
in 1987 led to the song selling even more records than it had during 
its original release in 1960.  

A 1961 recording by "Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs", "May I", 
also released by Herald Records, eventually became another 
million selling record.  

Maurice Williams continued recording, touring, and releasing 
music through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. 
Maurice still tours, performing at over 150 show-dates per year
and is still very active in the music industry.

.
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IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT

MAURICE WILLIAMS &
THE ZODIACS

CHERIO MUSIC / BMI

FRED PARIS / BMI

Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - In The Still of the Night (MASTER/1992)

Today we're going back in time and enjoy a musical journey through the 20th century US Black History. Let's have a break in your Felfelosopher daily routine and take a trip from South to North, East to West, from early New Orleans jazz and Harlem trumpets to 70's deep funky bass lines and kitchy pants. Get your hips ready. Put on your dancing shoes and your flashy star-shaped sunglasses. Because this trip is all about grooving. It's all about powerful rhythms that moves you body and soul, inside out.
Do not forget we're all groove keepers :)


4- fats domino - blueberry hill

1962-Big Girls Don't Cry-The Four Seasons

WRITTEN BY
Raoul Cita/ BMI

LYRICS
Will you take part in
My life, my love
That is my dream

Life is but a dream
It's what you make it
Always try to give
Don't ever take it
Life has it's music
Life has it's songs of love

Life is but a dream
And I dream of you
Strange as it seems
All night I see you
I'm trying to tell you
Just what you mean to me

I love you
With all my heart
Adore you
And all your charms
I want you
To do your part
Come here to my open arms

Life is but a dream
And we can live in
We can make our love
None to compare with

Will you take part in
My life, my love
That is my dream
Life is but a dream

The Harptones- Life Is But A Dream (100% MASTER ONLY/1959)

50's and 60's

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