John Fred & His Playboy Band

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Fred & His Playboy Band
John Fred & His Playboy Band, 1967
John Fred & His Playboy Band, 1967
General information
Genre (s) Pop , rock
founding 1956
resolution 2002
Last occupation
John Fred Gourrier
Andrew Bernard
Harold Cowart
Tommy De Generes
Ronald Goodson
Joe Miceli
James O'Rourke
Trumpet
 Charles Spinosa

John Fred & His Playboy Band was an American pop band that had an international hit in 1967 with the song Judy in Disguise (with Glasses) , which was a number 1 hit in many countries, including Germany .

history

John Fred (born May 8, 1941 as John Fred Gourrier in Baton Rouge , Louisiana , USA ; † April 14, 2005 in New Orleans , LA ) founded his first band in 1956. He called this band John Fred & His Playboys .

The first single "Shirley" was released in 1958 and only came in at number 82 in the US charts.

Nonetheless, the eight-piece formation became so popular in their home country that they got a national record deal . John Fred & His Playboys was the name of the first album. Then the Playboys became the Playboy Band , and the second long-playing record Agnes English was released. The song Judy in Disguise (With Glasses) was extracted from this . This record was intended as a parody of the Beatles song " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds " . It ousted another Beatles song ( Hello, Goodbye ) from the top and became an absolute hit and million seller .

After the next album Permanently Stated the success declined . The band performed in the southern states until the 1990s . John Fred became a producer and talent scout for new bands, coached a high school basketball team and became an integral part of concerts and shows in his hometown. There he also hosted a popular local radio show: The Roots of Rock'n'Roll . In 2002 his last LP, Somebody's Knockin ', was released . He became seriously ill shortly afterwards, and complications with a resulting kidney transplant occurred. A long hospital stay followed until he died in April 2005.

Members

  • John Fred Gourrier, vocals
  • Andrew Bernard, saxophone
  • Harold Cowart , bass guitar
  • Tommy De Generes, keyboards
  • Ronald Goodson, trumpet
  • Joe Miceli, drums
  • James O'Rourke, guitar
  • Charles Spinosa, trumpet

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1968 Agnes English - - - - US154 (10 weeks)
US
First published: 1968

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

  • 1966: John Fred And His Playboys
  • 1967: 34:40
  • 1968: Judy In Disguise With Glasses
  • 1968: Permanently Stated
  • 1970: Love My Soul
  • 1977: Juke Box

Singles (chart successes)

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placementsTemplate: chart table / maintenance / monthly data
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US USTemplate: chart table / maintenance / charts non-existent
1959 Shirley
single track 		- - - - US82 (5 weeks)
US
First published: February 1959
1967 Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)
Agnes English / Judy In Disguise with Glasses 		DE1 (2 months)
DE 		AT1 (4 months)
AT 		CH1 (10 weeks)
CH 		UK3 (12 weeks)
UK 		US1 (16 weeks)
US
First published: November 1967
1968 Hey, Hey Bunny
Judy In Disguise with Glasses 		- - - - US57 (6 weeks)
US
First published: February 1968

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 229
  2. ↑ The title was written and produced by John Fred and Andrew Bernard; US catalog number: Paula 282
  3. ↑ For more information on the title, see: Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 235
  4. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

Web links