Artist:Dee Clark
Song:Raindrops
Album Golden Classics
The 1961 single Raindrops was the biggest hit for Dee Clark. He had some other hits mostly on the R&B charts. He was born Delecta Clark Jr. Nov. 7, 1938 in Blytheville, AR. His mom was a gospel singer so she encouraged him to sing. Then he was in The Hambone Kids who recorded Hambone for Okeh in 1952. Then he joined the vocal group The Goldentones who became The Kool Gents. After winning a talent contest, Chicago DJ Herb Kent got them a deal with Vee Jay's Abner label. Vee Jay suggested to Clark that he go solo. When Little Richard gave up Rock 'n' Roll for gospel, Clark filled his dates. Four of Clark's singles were top ten R&B hits including Nobody but You, Just Keep It Up, Hey Little Girl and How About That. He was also making inroads on the pop charts. So Vee Jay moved Clark up to the main label so he would get better promotion. And it paid off when the 1961 single Raindrops reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B Singles chart. Clark wrote the song and it was produced by Vee Jay house producer Calvin Carter and arranged by Riley Hampton. Raindrops is still an oldie radio staple. Things didn't go well for Clark after that. When Ewart Abner left Vee Jay in 1963, he took Clark with him to start his new Constellation label. Things didn't go well there either. The label closed in 1966. You can get all of Clark's hits on this Collectables comp. Clark recorded for Columbia, Wand, Liberty and United Artists. And he even recorded an updated version of Raindrops in 1973. Clark performed on the oldies circuit until he suffered a 1987 stroke and died on Dec. 7, 1990 at age 52. Here's a video for Raindrops by Dee Clark.
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