Song:Asia Minor
Album:Alley Oop: 30 One Hit Wonders: US Pop!
Not to be confused with the 70s blue eyed soul group Kokomo, this Kokomo scored a top ten hit in 1961 with the instrumental Asia Minor. The record is a pop version of Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor. The guy behind it was jazz pianist Jimmy Wisner. He was born Dec. 8, 1931 in Philadelphia. He was classically trained and he started playing local jazz clubs while studying psychology at Temple University. At one time he was in Charlie Ventura's band. He formed a trio in the late 50s with Chick Kinney on drums and Ace Tesone on bass. They backed up touring acts like Mel Torme and Dakota Staton. He signed with Decca's Felsted label and he released the 1959 album Blues For Harvey. Wisner got the idea of adapting classical music. He used shellac on the hammers of a piano to make it sound like a honky tonk song. He decided to release it as Kokomo so he wouldn't alienate jazz fans. After record companies turned it down, Wisner released it himself. Felsted picked it up and it reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. Wisner released an album as Kokomo. But you can get Asia Minor on this various artists comp. Wisner had success as a writer, producer and arranger. He co-wrote Don't Throw Your Love Away which topped the British charts in 1964 for The Searchers. He worked as an arranger and conductor for Bobby Rydell, Neil Sedaka, Len Barry and many others. And he was in Herbie Mann's late 60s band. Jimmy Wisner died on Mar. 13, 2018 at age 88. Here's a video for Asia Minor by Kokomo.
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