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"Those Hoodlum Friends" - "The
Clown Princes of Rock īNī Roll", The Coasters were the first vocal group
to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987.
They have appeared in 6 major movies and have amassed over 100 million
record sales in their career.
The foursome was created in October, 1955
from the nucleus of the Los Angeles, California based vocal sextet "the
Robins". It was the young producing-composing team of Jerry Leiber & Mike
Stoller, who with manager-salesman, Lester Sill, persuaded Bobby Nunn and
Carl Gardner, to leave that group and launch the Coasters.
Attracted by the success of "Smokey Joe's
Cafe" with Gardner on lead vocal, Atlantic Records signed an independent
producer-composer contract with Leiber & Stoller. Two hand-chosen
Californians, Billy Guy and Leon Hughes, completed the original Coasters
line-up. They were contracted to Atlanticīs new subsidiary, Atco Records.
Through the Coasters, Leiber-Stoller
launched some of the most entertaining songs of the ī50s. The first
Coastersī recording was "Down In Mexico" on January 11, 1956. The record
became a sleeper R&B hit - followed by the minor Pop hit, "One Kiss Led To
Another". The group now hit the road for national promotion and produced
R&Bīs most famous double-sided smash in 1957. "Young Blood" (the original
A-side) was an R&B Juke Box No. 1 hit, and a No. 2 hit on the R&B Disc
Jockey chart, while the flip side, "Searchinī", which occupied the No. 1
spot on the R&B Best Seller chart for thirteen weeks, and lasted No. 1 on
the R&B Disc Jockey chart for seven weeks. Both titles also became
national Pop Top Ten hits, staying on the charts for half a year.
In 1958 they recorded two more big hits, "Yakety
Yak" and "Charlie Brown". From then on, it was the sweet smell of success
for The Coasters.
The Coasters have performed over a dozen times at Disneyland, 6 Flags and
at the Kennedy Center, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall,
Carnegie Hall, The Apollo Theater and in hotels and night clubs throughout
the world. They have appeared with such artists as Chuck Berry, Little
Richard, The Platters, Bill Haley and the Comets, The Shirelles and many
more.
To this date, their act is one of the liveliest and funniest in show
business.
Leon Hughes is
the last Original Member of The Coasters still touring around
the world to audiences of all ages. He is currently
launching a series of concerts in the U.S. and abroad.
Coming soon -
Leon Hughes - Live Concert DVD & Behind The Scenes Documentary
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