The Drifters are an American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and led by Ben E. King, were originally an up-and-coming group named The Five Crowns. After 1965 members drifted in and out of both groups and many of these formed other groups of Drifters as well. Over the succeeding decades, several different bands, all called the Drifters, can trace roots back to these original groups, but contain few—if any—original members.
"Music Box Dancer" is an instrumental piece by Canadian musician Frank Mills that was an international hit in the late 1970s. It features an arpeggiated piano theme in C-sharp major designed to resemble a music box, accompanied by other instruments playing a counterpoint melody as well as a wordless chorus. Most modern piano music sheets have the song in the key of C major.
"Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in December 1964, it was Berry's fourth single issued following his prison term for a Mann Act conviction. The record peaked at #41 in the Billboard charts on January 16, 1965.
"Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" (also titled "Long Cool Woman" or "Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)") is a song written by Allan Clarke, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and performed by the British rock group the Hollies. In an interview with Johnnie Walker on BBC Radio 2 on Sounds of the 70s in April 2023, Clarke said it had been written by himself and Cook. Cook had a long-standing agreement with Greenaway that any songs written by one of them should be credited to both.
"Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 pop song that was first a UK hit for Paper Lace and then, some months later, a US hit for Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The song was written and composed by two British songwriters, Mitch Murray and Peter Callander.
"Disco Lady" is a 1976 single by American singer Johnnie Taylor that went on to become his biggest hit. It spent all four weeks of April 1976 at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks atop the Billboard R&B chart in the U.S. It was also the first single to be certified platinum by the RIAA; ultimately it sold over 2.5 million copies. Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1976; Cash Box had it the year's No. 1 song
"Old Time Rock and Roll" is a song written by George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III, with uncredited lyrics by Bob Seger. It was recorded by Seger for his tenth studio album Stranger in Town. It was also released as a single in 1979. It is a sentimentalized look back at the music of the original rock 'n' roll era and has often been referenced as Seger's favorite song. The song gained renewed popularity after being featured in the 1983 film Risky Business. It has since become a standard in popular music and was ranked number two on the Amusement & Music Operators Association's survey of the Top 40 Jukebox Singles of All Time in 1996. It was also listed as one of the Songs of the Century in 2001 and ranked No. 100 in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Songs poll in 2004 of the top songs in American cinema.
"You've Got Your Troubles" became the inaugural composition by the prolific songwriting team of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway in 1964. "You've Got Your Troubles" became a number 2 UK hit for the Fortunes in the United Kingdom in August 1965, affording the group international success including a Top Ten ranking in the US. The track was included on the Fortunes' self-titled 1965 debut album release, the group's only album release of the 1960s.
"Under the Boardwalk" is a pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by the Drifters in 1964. It charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 22, 1964. The song has since been covered by many other artists, with versions by Bette Midler, Sam & Dave, the Tom Tom Club, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joe Royal, The Beach Boys, Bruce Willis, Bad Boys Blue, John Mellencamp and Lynn Anderson all charting in the United States or overseas. The song ranked number 487 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 489 in 2010.
"United We Stand" is a song written by Tony Hiller and Peter Simons. It was first released in 1970 by the Brotherhood of Man in their original, pre-Eurovision line-up, consisting of Goodison, Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. It became the band's first hit, peaking at #13 in the U.S., #9 in Canada, and #10 in the U.K. The song spent 15 weeks on the charts, and is ranked as the 64th biggest U.S. hit of 1970. It also reached #8 in Australia.
"Da Doo Ron Ron" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. It first became a popular top five hit single for the American girl group the Crystals in 1963. American teen idol Shaun Cassidy recorded the song in 1977 and his version hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. There have also been many other cover versions of this song, including one by the songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich themselves, performing as the Raindrops.
"Such a Night" is a popular song from 1953, written by Lincoln Chase and originally recorded by the Drifters. The Drifters featuring Clyde McPhatter recorded the song in November 1953, and Atlantic Records released it in January 1954 as the intended B-side of the McPhatter-penned "Lucille", which was recorded by an earlier version of the group. Despite being banned by some radio stations as too "racy", it reached number 2 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart in 1954.
"My Baby Loves Lovin'" was the top selling single for the British pop group White Plains. The song was written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, recorded on 26 October 1969, and released on 2 January 1970 on the Decca Records imprint, Deram Records.
"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular UK song, of the novelty type, sung by "one-hit wonder" The Pipkins, and written and composed by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Released as a single, it is the title selection of an album which The Pipkins recorded and released on the EMI Columbia Records label. It also appeared on a compilation album of the same name, which The Pipkins shared with another up-and-coming UK group, The Sweet. It has also been included on many other compilation albums. "Gimme Dat Ding" was arranged by Big Jim Sullivan.
"Doctor's Orders" is a song written by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway and Geoff Stephens which, in 1974, was a hit in the UK for Sunny of Sue and Sunny; in the US the song was a hit for Carol Douglas.
"French Kissin" is a song by American singer Debbie Harry from her second solo studio album, Rockbird (1986). It is a cover version of the 1985 song originally recorded by Carol Chapman, written by Chuck Lorre before he started creating sitcoms. Harry's version was released on November 3, 1986, as the lead single from Rockbird and became a top-10 hit in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
"Kissin' Time" is a song by the American rock and roll singer Bobby Rydell. It was released in 1959 on Cameo-Parkway Records. Written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann, the track was Rydell's first single and it would also go on to be his first Top 20 hit.
"Walking in the Rain" is a song written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil. It was originally recorded by the girl group the Ronettes in 1964 who had a charting hit with their version. Jay and the Americans released a charting hit cover of the song in 1969. The song has since been recorded by many other artists over the years, including the Walker Brothers.
"My Girl Bill" is a 1974 hit song written and recorded by Jim Stafford. It was the third of four U.S. Top 40 singles from his eponymous debut album. The lyrics in the verses are spoken, rather than sung.
"Kissin' Cousins" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as the title track for the soundtrack of the 1964 motion picture Kissin' Cousins. The movie also featured a completely different song, titled "Kissin' Cousins ", written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye.
