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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZJAY and the AMERICANSHarmony vocal group formed 1961 in New York City. Lead singer John 'Jay' Traynor, ex-Mystics, formed the group with Kenny Vance (b 9 December 1943), Sandy Deane (b Sandy Yaguda, 31 January 1940), Marty Sanders (b 28 February 1941), added ex-mortician Howie Kane (b Kirshenbaum, 6 June 1942). First of 18 Hot 100 entries on UA was 'She Cried', no. 5 '62, produced by Leiber and Stoller; Traynor left, replaced by David 'Jay' Black (b Blatt, 2 November 1938), who sang lead on subsequent hits: Leiber and Stoller's 'Only In America' made top 40 '63; 'Come A Little Bit Closer' was the biggest hit at no. 3 '64: written by Boyce and Hart, extremely well recorded, produced by Artie Ripp for Leiber and Stoller with a driving Latin/rock version of the 'baion' beat which was a thread in pop music of the period (Bobby Freeman's 'Do You Wanna Dance' '58, Ritchie Valens's 'La Bamba' '59, the McCoys' 'Hang On Sloopy' '64, others by Marty Robbins, the Drifters, etc), it was one of the year's delightful records. They never did as well again, but carried on through the '60s psychedelic tidal wave with a sort of superior cabaret style: 'Let's Lock The Door', 'Cara, Mia', 'Some Enchanted Evening', 'Sunday And Me', 'Crying' were all top 30 hits '65-6. They organized their own company JATA and scored top 20 hits with revivals of 'This Magic Moment' (a Drifters' hit '60) and 'Walkin' In The Rain' (Phil Spector hit by the Ronettes '64). LPs Come A Little Bit Closer, Blockbusters ('Cara, Mia'), Greatest Hits, Sunday And Me all charted '64-6; then JATA produced Sands Of Time and Wax Museum '69-70. |