Artist:The Ad Libs
Song:The Boy from New York City
Album:Rock & Roll: The First 50 Years: The Mid '60s
I am willing to bet that most listeners are familiar with The Manhattan Transfer's 1981 top ten hit The Boy from New York City. But you may not be familiar with the 1965 original version by The Ad Libs. It was also a top ten hit. It was their only big hit but one of their other songs charted so they are not technically a one hit wonder. The Ad Libs began in Bayonne, NJ with big band saxophonist John T. Taylor. He was in Benny Carter's band in the 40s. By the early 60s, Taylor retired from music and was teaching. He heard a local doo wop group The Creators. They released a couple of unsuccessful singles. Hugh Harris and Danny Austin decided to form a new group with new members Dave Watt, Norman Donegan and lead singer Mary Ann Thomas. They decided to call themselves The Ad Libs. Taylor wrote and produced a demo of The Boy from New York City. He took it to Red Bird Records owners Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller and they signed then to their Blue Cat label They produced the single with Artie Butler. And it reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent singles flopped and Blue Cat dropped them after four singles. The Ad Libs recorded for AGP, Philips and Share with no success. But they continued to tour the oldies circuit for decades. You can get The Boy from New York City on this various artists budget comp from Varese. Beware of re-recorded versions. It's like I always say. One hit single is better than none. Here's a video of The Boy from New York City by The Ad Libs.
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