 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2011) |
The Dream Weavers was an American popular music, vocal group, famous in the 1950s, formed at the University of Florida by Gene Adkinson (baritone and ukulele) and Wade Buff (lead vocals).
The Dream Weavers consisted primarily of Gene Adkinson and Wade Buff. Other members included Lee Turner, Eddie Newson, Sally Sanborn, Mary Carr and Mary Rude at various times. The two met as sophomores in their respective high schools (Adkinson at Miami Edison Senior High School, Buff at Coral Gables Senior High School) when both were members of The Greater Miami Boys' Drum and Bugle Corps, a 100-piece band and drill team. They became friends and composed a number of songs while still in high school. They both went on to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where they performed in a freshman talent show before 5,000 students and won. As a result, they were given a twice-weekly half-hour program slot, radio station, WRUF in 1955. With the program ending at 10:30pm, they felt it appropriate to sign off with a song they had composed in high school in 1953, "It's Almost Tomorrow" (words by Buff, music by Adkinson). Buff served as the lead singer, and the third part was sung by various female singers (Sally Sanborn, Mary Carr, Mary Rude, and others).
The announcer of the show, Chuck Murdock, thought of running a contest on the show to name the group, and the contest winner stated that because the song they wrote was dreamy, they were weavers of dreams, thus "The Dream Weavers."
After making a recording of "It's Almost Tomorrow" in Jacksonville, the song got played on the radio in Miami, and this led to recognition by Milt Gabler at Decca Records. As a result, Decca cut a new recording of the song. It charted in 1956, reaching the Top Ten in the United States of America. It entered the Billboard 100 on November 12, 1955, having a chart life of 21 weeks and a top placing of #8. It sold over one million copies. [1] It was released by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom, where it hit the chart on February 10, 1956, and reached number one on March 16, holding the top spot for 2 weeks, before being displaced by "The Rock And Roll Waltz" by Kay Starr, only to return the following week for a further one week stay at the top. In total the song was in the UK charts for 18 weeks. However, it was the only chart appearance by the group in the UK, thus condemning The Dream Weavers to the one hit wonder tag. [2]
The group had one subsequent minor hit in America. "A Little Love Can Go A Long Way", taken from the TV play "Joey", made the Billboard 100 at #33 for just one week on May 19, 1956. The Dream Weavers recorded two further singles, but neither charted. Unless one counts the one week at #33 for "A Little Love Can Go A Long Way" they remain to this day, archetypal one-hit wonders.
In March 1956, Buff married Mary Rude, who was a fellow 1952 graduate of Edison High and had sung with the group. After their honeymoon, he rejoined the group to travel, but after a short while decided that travelling on the road was not compatible with a good marriage. He let Adkinson have full control of the group, and as a result of auditions in New York, Lee Raymond replaced Buff. When Adkinson got drafted into the United States Army however, the duo ended its short existence.
Wade Buff (born on July 7, 1934, in Miami, Florida) died on April 8, 2022, at age 87. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Mary Buff. [3]
"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1954 for American Decca. It was a number one single for two months and did well on the United Kingdom charts; the recording also reentered the UK Singles Chart in the 1960s and 1970s.
Brenda Mae Tarpley, known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first Billboard hit aged 12 in 1957 and was given the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite". Some of Lee's most successful songs include "Sweet Nothin's", "I'm Sorry", "I Want to Be Wanted", "Speak to Me Pretty", "All Alone Am I" and "Losing You". Her festive song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", recorded in 1958, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the chart and breaking several chart records.
"That'll Be the Day" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison. It was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was re-recorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, the Crickets. The 1957 recording achieved widespread success. Holly's producer, Norman Petty, was credited as a co-writer, although he did not contribute to the composition.
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads. The group sold millions of records at the height of their popularity, including the first folk song to reach No. 1 on popular music charts, their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene." Despite their popularity, the Weavers were blacklisted during much of the 1950s.
David William Sanborn was an American alto saxophonist. Sanborn worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11 and released his first solo album, Taking Off, in 1975. He was active as a session musician, and played on numerous albums by artists including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Sting, the Eagles, Rickie Lee Jones, James Brown, George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, Bryan Ferry and the Rolling Stones. He released more than 20 albums and won six Grammy awards.
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Harry Nilsson, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald.
Milton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sell records by mail order, and the first to credit all the musicians on the recordings.
"No Other Love" is a show tune from the 1953 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Me and Juliet.
Will to Power is an American dance-pop group that originated in South Florida in the mid-1980s founded by Miami producer Bob Rosenberg. The group recorded a number of hit singles on the Billboard dance and pop charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, most notably "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley", a medley of 1970s hits by Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd that reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1988. A second band hit was "I'm Not in Love", a cover of 10cc's 1975 hit, number 7 on Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.
"It's Almost Tomorrow" is a 1955 popular song with music by Gene Adkinson and lyrics by Wade Buff. The song was actually written in 1953, when Adkinson and Buff were in high school. Hit versions were released in 1955 by The Dream Weavers, Jo Stafford, David Carroll, and Snooky Lanson.
"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" is a popular song, with lyrics written and music adapted in 1950 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of The Weavers, and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers. The tune was adapted from Lead Belly's "If It Wasn't for Dicky" (1937), which in turn was adapted from the traditional Irish folk tune "Drimindown / Drumion Dubh". The Weavers first released the song in 1951 as a Decca single, which reached number 19 on the Billboard chart and number 20 on the Cashbox chart in 1951.
"I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)" is a popular song.
Wilma Charlene Burgess was an American country music singer. She rose to fame in the mid-1960s and charted fifteen singles on the Billboard C&W charts between 1965 and 1975.
"I Can Dream, Can't I?," is a popular song written by Sammy Fain with lyrics by Irving Kahal that was published in 1937. It was included in a flop musical, Right This Way. Tommy Dorsey released a hit recording of it the same year, but it was in the postwar years that the song gained its greatest success. Harry James recorded a version in December 1937 for Brunswick.
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is the debut single by Edison Lighthouse. The song reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks. It also became the first number one single of the 1970s (not counting Rolf Harris's "Two Little Boys" which was a holdover from 1969).
The Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The Banana Boat Song." The two singles became US Top Ten hits and peaked at No. 26 and No. 15 respectively in the UK Singles Chart.
"That's My Desire" is a 1931 popular song with music by Helmy Kresa and lyrics by Carroll Loveday.
"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is a popular song written by Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, and Milt Gabler.
"Rude Boy" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna, taken from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). It was released as the album's fourth overall and third international single on February 5, 2010, through Def Jam. Rihanna co-wrote the song with Ester Dean, Makeba Riddick, and producers Rob Swire and Stargate. "Rude Boy" is a clubby midtempo reggae, dancehall and R&B song which incorporates elements of raggamuffin. The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics; some have called it the highlight of the album, but others criticized Rihanna's "monotone" and "icy" vocal performance. However, opinion of the song has improved over time, and several critics have retrospectively ranked it as one of the strongest releases in her discography.
Brenda Lee is the second studio album by American singer Brenda Lee. The album was released August 1, 1960 on Decca Records and was produced by Owen Bradley. The album's second single "Sweet Nothin's" became Lee's first major hit single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking within the Top 10. This was followed by the third single "I'm Sorry" released the following year that became her first single to top the Billboard Hot 100.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
