The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968. Their most successful recording was "A Lover's Concerto" (1965), which sold more than two million copies and reached the number-two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Sanford Roy Linzer is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Denny Randell and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", "Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache", "Native New Yorker", and "Use It Up and Wear It Out". He was nominated with Randell for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) in 2012.
Dennis Joel Rafkin, known professionally as Denny Randell, is an American songwriter and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Sandy Linzer and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", and "Native New Yorker", and was nominated with Linzer for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) in 2012.
Christian Petzold was a German composer and organist. He was active primarily in Dresden, and achieved a high reputation during his lifetime, but his surviving works are few. It was established in the 1970s that the famous Minuet in G major, previously attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, was in fact the work of Petzold. The sprightly melody was used in the 1965 pop music hit "A Lover's Concerto" by the American group The Toys.
Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons.
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David that was written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises. Several recordings of the song were released in 1969; the most popular versions were by Dionne Warwick, who took it to number 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and spent three weeks topping the magazine's list of the most popular Easy Listening songs, and Bobbie Gentry, who topped the UK chart with her recording and also peaked at number 1 in Australia and Ireland, number 3 in South Africa and number 5 in Norway.
"Working My Way Back to You" is a song made popular by the Four Seasons in 1966 and the Spinners in 1980.
"Teach Your Children" is a song written by Graham Nash in 1968 when he was a member of the Hollies. Although it was never recorded by that group in a studio, the Hollies did record it live in 1983. After the song was initially recorded for the album Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, a much more enhanced version of the song was recorded for the album Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, released in 1970. As a single, the song peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts that year. On the Easy Listening chart, it peaked at No. 28. In Canada, "Teach Your Children" reached No. 8. Reviewing the song, Cash Box commented on the "incredible soft harmony luster" and "delicately composed material." Billboard called it "a smooth country-flavored ballad that should prove an even bigger hit on the charts [than 'Woodstock']." Stephen Stills gave the song its "country swing", replacing the "Henry VIII" style of Nash's original demo.
"Let's Hang On!" is a song composed by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer, and Denny Randell that was popularized by the Four Seasons in 1965.
"Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)" is a song composed by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966 for their album Working My Way Back to You.
"C'mon Marianne" is a song composed by L. Russell Brown and Raymond Bloodworth and popularized by The Four Seasons in 1967. Produced by Bob Crewe, the single was the last Four Seasons single to reach the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1960s, and their last Top Ten hit until "Who Loves You" in 1975.
The Minuets in G major and G minor, BWV Anh. 114 and 115, are a pair of movements from a suite for harpsichord by Christian Petzold, which, through their appearance in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, used to be attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. These minuets, which are suitable for beginners on the piano, are among the best known pieces of music literature. The 1965 pop song "A Lover's Concerto", of which millions of copies were sold, is based on the first of these Minuets.
"Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album Moods, and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilation albums. The song was a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States for one week, the week of July 1, and it spent twelve weeks in the Top 40. It also reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.
"A Song of Joy" is the title of a popular rock song by the Spanish singer and actor Miguel Ríos. It is set to the tune of the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, as arranged by Waldo de los Ríos, who specialized in arranging classical music to contemporary rhythms. The same melody is used in the well-known Christian hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee."
"My Melody of Love" is the title of a popular song from 1974 by the American singer Bobby Vinton. Vinton adapted his song from a German schlager song composed by Henry Mayer, and it appears on Vinton's album Melodies of Love. The song was also recorded by Spanish pop singer Karina as "Palabras de Cristal".
"Little Bit O' Soul" is a song written in 1964 by British songwriters John Carter and Ken Lewis. It was originally recorded by Coventry band The Little Darlings, and released in 1965 on Fontana Records in the UK.
"Can't Get Enough of You Baby" is a song written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer and first recorded by the Four Seasons in 1965 for their album Working My Way Back to You and More Great New Hits. The protopunk band? and the Mysterians recorded it in 1967 for their second album Action. Their version reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released as a single.
"Romeo's Tune" is a song recorded by Steve Forbert, released in 1979 as the lead single from his album Jackrabbit Slim.
Hooked on Classics is a classical crossover album recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark, released in 1981 by K-tel and distributed by RCA Records, part of the Hooked on Classics series. It was produced by Jeff Jarratt and Don Reedman.
The singles discography of American Jazz artist Sarah Vaughan contains 89 singles, two promotional singles and seven other charted songs. Vaughan recorded her first singles in 1946, with her first release being "If You Could See Me Now". Soon after, she saw her first major chart success on the Billboard pop list with "Tenderly" and "It's Magic." Moving to Columbia Records, she had further pop hits in the late 1940s with covers of "Black Coffee" and "Nature Boy." She had her second top ten hit in 1950 with "(I Love the Girl) I Love the Guy." Vaughan moved to Mercury Records during the 1950s and recorded more pop music. At Mercury, she had her biggest chart success, with the top ten hits "Make Yourself Comfortable" and "Whatever Lola Wants." In 1959, Vaughan's single "Broken Hearted Melody" reached number seven on the Billboard pop chart and became an international success, becoming the biggest single of her career.
