Joey Powers
Joey Powers , born Joe Ruggiero ( December 7, 1934 in Washington or Canonsburg , Pennsylvania , † January 20, 2017 in Washington , Pennsylvania) was an American pop music singer who released records in the 1960s.
biography
Joe Ruggiero grew up in Canonsburg, southeast of Pittsburgh . As a high school graduate, he started out doing sports as a wrestler. When Bobby Vinton , who also lived in Canonsburg, invited him to play in his band, Joe's interest in music was aroused. Also at home in Canonsburg was Perry Como , who was acquainted with Joe's parents. Through Como's mediation, Joe Ruggiero got a job in 1959 in a fitness program for the New York broadcaster NBC . There he got to know the record producer Paul Vance, who, among other things , looked after Johnny Mathis . Vance brokered a record deal for Ruggiero with the New York record company RCA in 1962 and invented the stage name "Joey Powers".
With Joey Powers, RCA released the first single in May 1962 ( Jenny, Won't You Walk Up / Two Tickets And A Candy Heart ). After a second RCA single, which was just as unsuccessful as the first, Powers switched to the small New York label Amy . There the single with the A-side Midnight Mary was released in October 1963 . This title reached number 10 in the Hot 100 of the US music magazine Billbord . Amy took this success as an opportunity to produce a long-playing record with Powers under the same title. In 1964 four more singles were produced and one more latecomer in 1967, and in 1966 MGM Records also released a single with Powers. However, Powers did not succeed in placing more songs in the hit lists. As "Joey Power's Flower" he released his last record in 1969 with the title Hard to Be Without You / You're in a Bad Way , again on RCA. It was not a success either.
After the end of his short record career, Powers initially worked as a salesman and ran a record studio in New Jersey . There he produced a number of music albums with predominantly Christian music. After 1989 Powers worked in an orphanage agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, and also had a record production facility there.
US discography
Vinlyl singles
| From page | Catalog no. | published |
|---|---|---|
| RCA | ||
| Jenny, Won't You Walk Up / Two Tickets And A Candy Heart | 8039 | 5/1962 |
| Don't Envy Me / Me, Myself and I. | 8119 | 12/1962 |
| Amy | ||
| Midnight Mary / Where Do You Want the World Delivered | 892 | 10/1963 |
| Billy Old Buddy / In the Morning Gloria | 898 | 2/1964 |
| You Comb Her Hair / Love Is a Season | 903 | 5/1964 |
| Where Did the Summer Go / Tears Keep Falling | 914 | 10/1964 |
| Gimmie Gimmie / Baila Maria | 986 | 4/1967 |
| MGM | ||
| Leave Me Alone / I Love You | 13421 | 1/1966 |
| RCA | ||
| as Joey Power's Flower | ||
| Hard to Be Without You / You're in a Bad Way | 9790 | 12/1969 |
LP
| Midnight Mary, Amy 8001, 1964 |
| Tracks: A: My Heart is an Open Book / In the Morning Gloria / Walk Right in / The Love I'll Never Know / Cindy Oh Cindy / Midnight Mary - B: Walk Softly and Carry / Just a Ribbon / Mission Bell / High High Wall / Don't Think Twice / Open Dors and Smilin 'Faces |
literature
- Frank Laufenberg : Rock & Pop Lexicon . Econ Taschenbuch Verlag 2000, ISBN 3-612-26207-6 , Volume 2, p. 1186.
- Martin Popoff : Standard Catalog of American Records 1948–1991 . Krause Publications, Iola 2010, ISBN 978-1-4402-1131-7 , p. 821.
Web links
- Joey Powers at Allmusic (English)
- Discography at www.45cat.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ legacy.com , accessed March 19, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Powers, Joey |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ruggiero, Joe (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pop music singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 7, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington or Canonsburg , Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF DEATH | 20th January 2017 |
| Place of death | Washington , Pennsylvania |