- Keith (singer)
Keith (born James Barry Keefer, 17 May 1949, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:w9fexqu5ldse~T1 Allmusic.com biography by Jadon Ankeny] ] ) was a U.S.vocalist , andone-hit wonder in both the UK and the U.S.Early days
According to legend, Keefer earned his first
recording contract withColumbia Records after camping out on the doorstep ofA&R executiveJerry Ross . The resulting single, 1966's "Caravan of Lonely Men," was credited to Keith and the Admirations. When Ross moved across toMercury Records he took Keefer with him, and the singer soon cracked into theBillboard Hot 200 album chart, with his solo single, "Ain't Gonna Lie".Big time
Best remembered for his hit "
98.6 ", the recording was issued on the Mercury Records, and reached number 24 in theUK Singles Chart in 1967.cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 297
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5] It was considerably better received in his homeland. The single reached #7, and remained for 14 weeks in the bestsellers in theBillboard Hot 100 chart. It sold over one million copies worldwide, earning a gold disc.The track was written by Tony Powers (
lyrics ) and George Fischoff (music), arranged by Joe Renzetti, and was produced by Jerry Ross.cite book
first= Joseph
last= Murrells
year= 1978
title= The Book of Golden Discs
edition= 2nd
publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
location= London
pages= p. 207
id= ISBN 0-214-20512-6]At the height of his career, Keefer was making $15,000 a week, and getting his back slapped by a Beatle, who told him what a great record his "98.6" was.Fact|date=June 2007 "
John Lennon was standing next to me in aurinal inLondon ," he said.Fact|date=June 2007Later days
His 1968 second LP, "Out of Crank", failed to create public interest. The nadir came when
U.S. Army officials nabbed him fordraft evasion in the middle of aconcert tour.Fact|date=June 2007 He was inducted and stationed for a year inNew Jersey . "I was making coffee for generals," said Keefer. When he got out, Keith did some independent recording and joined Frank Zappa's 1973 touring band, trying to inject somePhiladelphia soul into "toilet -joke" tunes like "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow".Fact|date=June 2007 "I think they brought me in to commercialize Frank," Keefer said.Fact|date=June 2007Keefer recorded one last album, for
RCA Records , with no luck, and then left themusic industry until 1986, when an attempted comeback under his real name proved unsuccessful.He set up
A.I.R. Records in 1986 in Redondo Beach,California , and produced albums for several localmusicians . These included thesinger-songwriter Chuck Hill, and Keith'sdrummer Shawn Smith, who were both from Denver,Colorado .In the 1990s, the singer moved into the
television industry, although he continues to play live dates.Factoids
* The title "
98.6 " relates to the normal human body temperature in degreesFahrenheit . [ [http://www.stanleycompany.org.uk/man/body_temperature.htm Body Temperature ] ]
* He legally changed his name to Bazza Keefer in 1988, in memory of his mother. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0444407/bio Bazza Keefer - Biography ] ] [ [http://www.keith986.com/keithbio.htm The Official Keith Site - About Keith! ] ]ingles discography
* "Ain't Gonna Lie" (1966) - U.S. #39 [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:w9fexqu5ldse~T51 Allmusic.com - charts & awards] ]
* "98.6 " (1967) - U.S. #7; UK Number 24
* "Tell Me To My Face" (1967) - U.S. #37; UK Number 50
* "Daylight Savin’ Time" (1967) - U.S. #79ee also
*
One-hit wonders in the UK
*List of performers on Top of the Pops
*List of one-word stage names References
External links
* [http://www.keith986.com/ Official Keith Website]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:ymd0yl7jxp9b Biography at AMG website]
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