- Troy Shondell
Gary "Troy" Shondell (born
May 14 1940 , Fort Wayne,Indiana ) is an American vocalist, who achieved a modicum of fame and recognition in the early 1960s. He became atransatlantic one-hit wonder by releasing a single that made therecord chart s in both the U.S. and the UK.His most famous recording was "This Time". The
song was a hit in 1961. Shondell recorded his first session forMercury Records ' subsidiary, Smash, in 1958. The song was a rock version of "My Hero" from "The Chocolate Soldier ". It was quickly banned in Boston,Massachusetts because of thelyrics , including the word "come".Fact|date=March 2007He followed the next year with "Kissin' At the Drive In," a
rockabilly song that sold mainly in the Midwest.Fact|date=April 2007 In 1959, Mark Records released "Goodbye Little Darlin'".Fact|date=April 2007 Again it sold well in the Midwest and a few other areas,Fact|date=April 2007 but it never made it into theTop 40 of the national Billboardrecord chart . In April 1961, he recorded "This Time". He and a good friend, Mike McMillen, decided to start their own record label, "Goldcrest Records".Fact|date=April 2007 The record was released during the last week in June, and sold ten thousand copies during the first week. The song went to number 1 almost everywhere it got played.Fact|date=April 2007Six weeks after being released and played in
Chicago ,Fact|date=April 2007 Shondell flew to Los Angeles and signed withLiberty Records .Fact|date=April 2007 It finally hit the Billboard charts the first week of September, and landed in the Top 10 four weeks later, peaking at number six, and staying in the charts for a total of sixteen weeks. "Tears From An Angel" was his follow-up recording, released in March 1962. No further chart action was forthcoming, and Shondell quietly slipped away from themusic industry the following year.On
October 2 2007 , Shondell traveled to Collins,Mississippi , to deliver the musical tribute to his fallenrock and roll colleague,Dale Houston , who reached #1 in 1963 with "I'm Leaving It Up To You".
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