• The Highlighters aka The Toledos 

    The Highlighters (Toledo, Ohio)
    aka The Toledos



    Personnel :

    Frank Williams (Lead)

    James Sutton

    Howard Bell

    Jay Hooker


    Discography :

    The Highlighters
    1958 - Flang Dang Do / The Bull (New Song 115/116)
    1962 - Las Vegas Drive / Well  (New Song 133/134)

    Chuck Dockery bb The Highlighters
    1958 - Baby Let's Dance / I Just Love You  (New Song 117/118)

    The Toledos
    1961 - This Is Our Night / John Smith's Body (Down 2003/End 1094)


    Biography :

    Frank Williams, James Sutton, Howard Bell and Jay Hooker were so proud to be from Toledo in the Nord of Ohio that they called themselves The Toledos. The group signed for the blues label New Song, label founded by Porter Roberts in the late 1940s. New Song was based in Toledo, Ohio, about ninety miles south of Detroit. Renamed the Highlighters By Porter, the group recorded a couple of single that passed without pain or glory : "Flang Dang Do" b/w "The Bull" in 1958 and "Well" b/w "Las Vegas Drive" in 1962. By the way, they were instrumentally accompanied by Fred Harris' Red Top Trio composed by Fred Harris (Organ), Big Joe Burrell (sax) and Louis "Swing " Lee (drums). Both disks came out under two different names, The Highlighters with Fred Harris' Red Tops Organ Trio and Fred Harris' Red Tops Organ Trio vocal by Highlighters.

    The Highlighters aka The Toledos

     After their first single on New Song,  The Highlighters backed Chuck Dockery on "Baby Let's Dance" and "I Just Love You" (New Song 117/118). Chuck Dockery is native of northern Ohio his real name was Charle. Dockery was employed as an insurance salesman and as a bassist for some country artists. Dockery began a solo career when he was presented with the opportunity to record on the New Song blues label of his countryman Porter Roberts. He turned New Song into a rocker label thanks to songs like "Baby let's dance" (1958) or "Rock while we ride" (1960), but with no success he left the music almost totally. 

    The Highlighters aka The Toledos    The Highlighters aka The Toledos
    Chuck Dockery                                                                                                          

    New Song would not last much longer in the business, and after some good album, among which we can highlight the high school "Darling" (1961) by Beverly Bea, would close its doors. The Highlighters's story does not stop there, the group records two tracks, "This Is Our Night" and "John Smith's Body". The single will be released by the Down label, a subsidiary of Gone records, a label founded by George Goldner. It will be published in 1961 under their original name, The Toledos.




    Songs :
    (updated by Hans-Joachim) 


    The Highlighters

      
    Flang Dang Do                                           The Bull

      
        Well                                             Las Vegas Drive

     

    The Toledos

      
    This Is Our Night                             John Smith's Body


    Chuck Dockery bb The Highlighters


    Baby Let's Dance




    1 comment


    Follow this section's article RSS flux
    Follow this section's comments RSS flux