The Drifters—Please Stay (1961) This song was written by Burt Bacharach 58 years ago. He is still around. The late great Rudy Lewis sings lead.
The Checkers —- White Cliffs of Dover (1953) This was an old WWII song into which the Checkers injected a lot of jump.
...this song showcased Fleetwoods smooth harmony in their #1 cover version... ...couldn't turn on pop radio then without hearing it... ...Vera Lynn's '42 version was among most played songs of WW2...
Bill Brown singing lead and bass for the Checkers really made that song. Speaking of better arrangements of an older song reminds me of this one: The Coasters —Zing Went the Strings of My Heart (1958)
...they had a good R&B sound, but somehow became more famous in late '50s for prolific Leiber/Stoller "comic" songs...
...remember shift from 45 singles to 33 albums, bought my first, "Here's Little Richard" in '58. Made my parents regret getting me a record player that could play 33s...
Leiber and Stoller did write some songs go r The Coasters that I would say were in their own special one off classification and not comic. For example: The Coasters —Idol WithThe Golden Head (1957) [“...He said, your bigfoot May, she's down at Catfish Creek...”]
