The Spaniels

The Spaniels were an American R&B doo-wop group, best known for the hit "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite".

They have been called the first successful Midwestern R&B group. Some historians of vocal groups consider Pookie Hudson to be the first true leader of a vocal group, because the Spaniels pioneered the technique of having the main singer solo at his own microphone, while the rest of the group shared a second microphone.

Original members

The original members included:

Career

The group debuted in late 1952 at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana as Pookie Hudson & The Hudsonaires. They changed their name to The Spaniels that spring and, upon graduation, became one of the first two artists to sign with Vee-Jay Records, the first large, independent Afro-American owned record label. The group recorded their initial release, "Baby It's You" on May 5, 1953. Released in July, the song reached #10 on Billboard's R&B chart on September 5, 1953.

Gary, Indiana

Gary (/ɡɛəri/) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States, 25 miles (40 kilometres) from downtown Chicago, Illinois.

The population of Gary was 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in the state of Indiana. Gary's population has fallen by 55 percent from a peak of 178,320 in 1960.

Gary is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and borders Lake Michigan. The city is known for its large steel mills, and for being the birthplace of The Jackson 5 music group.

History

Founding and early years

Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as the home for its new plant, Gary Works. The city was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation.

Gary was the site of civil unrest in the Steel Strike of 1919. On October 4, 1919, a riot broke out on Broadway, the main north-south street through downtown Gary, between striking steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside. Three days later, Indiana governor James P. Goodrich declared martial law. Shortly thereafter, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood arrived to restore order.

Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite

"Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite" is a popular song that was a hit during the mid-1950s. It was written by Calvin Carter and James "Pookie" Hudson in 1953.

It was originally recorded by the R&B doo-wop group The Spaniels in 1954. The original version peaked at number five on the R&B Best Sellers chart. The best-selling version of the song was recorded by the McGuire Sisters in 1954. It was also recorded in 1954 by country music duo Johnnie & Jack.

The song should not be confused with a completely different, of the same name, from the 1930s, sung by Rudy Vallée, among others. The Spaniels' song has the sub-title "it's time to go" and the now famous doo-wop bass line intro. The bass line was not, however, included in the McGuire Sisters' cover version, made to sell to white audiences.

Later use

The song became well known again in the late 1970s as the closing song performed by Sha Na Na on their weekly variety show, as well as because of its appearance in the 1973 movie American Graffiti. In the late 1980s it was used again in the major hit film Three Men and a Baby.

Goodnight Sweetheart

Goodnight Sweetheart may refer to:

Doo-wop

Doo-wop is a genre of music that was developed in African-American communities in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles in the 1940s, achieving mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. Built upon vocal harmony, doo-wop was one of the most mainstream, pop-oriented R&B styles of the time. Singer Bill Kenny (1914–1978) is often called the "Godfather of Doo-wop" for his introducing the "top and bottom" format which featured a high tenor singing the lead and a bass singer reciting the lyrics in the middle of the song. Doo-wop features vocal group harmony, nonsense syllables, a simple beat, sometimes little or no instrumentation, and simple music and lyrics.

The first record to use the syllables "doo-wop" was the 1955 hit "When You Dance" by the Turbans. The term "doo-wop" first appeared in print in 1961. During the late 1950s many Italian-American groups contributed a significant part in the doo-wop scene. The peak of doo-wop was in 1961. Doo-wop's influence continued in soul, pop, and rock groups of the 1960s. At various times in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the genre has seen revivals. Doo-wop was a precursor to many of the African-American musical styles seen today. An evolution of jazz and blues, doo-wop also influenced many of the major Rock and Roll groups that defined the later decades of the 20th century. Doo-wop is iconic for its swing-like beats and using the off-beat to keep time. Doo-wop laid the foundation for many musical innovations, for example, R&B.