Frankie Lymon

Franklin Joseph "Frankie" Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll group, The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant and Sherman Garnes, and two Puerto Rican members, Herman Santiago and Joe Negroni.

The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," was also its biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. He was found dead at the age of 25 in his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall In Love.

Early years: joining the Teenagers

Frankie Lymon was born in Harlem to a truck driver father and a mother who worked as a maid. Lymon's mother and father, Howard and Jeanette Lymon, also sang in a gospel group known as the Harlemaires; Frankie Lymon and his brothers Lewis and Howie sang with the Harlemaire Juniors (a fourth Lymon brother, Timmy, was a singer, though not with the Harlemaire Juniors). The Lymon family struggled to make ends meet, and Lymon began working as a grocery boy at the age of 10.

Why Do Birds Sing?

Why Do Birds Sing? is Violent Femmes' fifth studio album, released on April 30, 1991. It was their last album with original drummer Victor DeLorenzo, who left two years later to devote his time to acting, and was produced by Michael Beinhorn, best-known then for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Mother's Milk and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.

It featured the single "American Music," which received modest airplay on modern rock radio, and became a staple of the band's live shows.

Track listing

All songs written by Gordon Gano, except where noted.

Personnel

Violent Femmes

Fall in Love

"Fall in Love" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in March 1995 as the lead single from his album All I Need to Know. It peaked at number 6 in both the United States and Canada. Chesney wrote the song with Buddy Brock and Kim Williams

Critical reception

Larry Flick, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song unfavorably saying that Chesney "seems somewhat straightjacketed by this sunny pop song." He tells the label to let Chesney "sink his teeth into some hardcore country."

Music video

The music video was directed by Steven T. Miller and R. Brad Murano.

Chart positions

"Fall in Love" debuted at number 66 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 1, 1995.

Year-end charts

References

External links

The Moment

The Moment may refer to:

Music

Albums and songs

Other uses

See also

The Teenagers

The Teenagers are an American integrated doo wop group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead singer, is also noted for being rock's first all-teenaged act.

History

The Teenagers had their origins in the Earth Angels, a group founded at Edward W. Stitt Junior High School in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan by second tenor Jimmy Merchant and bass Sherman Garnes. Eventually, Garnes and Merchant had added lead singer Herman Santiago and baritone Joe Negroni to their lineup and evolved into The Coupe De Villes. In 1954, 12-year-old Frankie Lymon joined the Coupe De Villes, who changed their name to first the Ermines and later The Premiers.

The same year Lymon joined the group, he helped Santiago and Merchant rewrite a song they had composed to create "Why Do Fools Fall In Love". The song got the Teenagers an audition with George Goldner's Gee Records, but Santiago was too sick to sing lead on the day of the audition. Lymon sang the lead on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" instead, and the group was signed to Gee as The Teenagers, with Lymon as lead singer.