The Fantastic Johnny C--Boogaloo Down Broadway (1967)

        Johnny Corley had not been out of the military for long. The Greenwood, South Carolina native was looking for a place to settle and decided on Norristown, PA which was less than 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. Johnny loved to sing which soon caught the notice of the members of Macedonia Bapitst Church where he had started attending. He was soon in the church choir and many were taking note of his vocal talents. One of those members was studio producer, Jessie James. James talked him in to recording some demos of songs the producer had written. After those turned out well, they decided, with James a manager and writer, to give secular music a try.
     Very early on, James was able to snag Corley (now given the moniker, 'The Fantastic Johnny C") a spot on American Bandstand singing one of the producer's compositions called, "Boogaloo Down Broadway". The performance on AB attracted the attention of record label Phil-LA Soul. The song was released in the fall of 1967 and stormed up the top 100 and the r&b charts. Although he had a couple more songs make chart appearances in 1968, and Corley continued to record into the early 70's, this was the song that brought him attention. You'll hear more than a passing resemblance to Wilson Pickett (at least to my ears).