Gene & Eunice

Gene & Eunice (Los Angeles, CA)
(By Hans-Joachim)
 

Personnel:

Forest Gene Wilson aka Gene Forrest

Eunice Hazel Russ aka Eunice Levy

 

Discography:

Singles:
1954 - Ko Ko Mo / You And Me (Combo 64)
1955 - Ko Ko Mo / You And Me (Aladdin 3276)
1955 - This Is My Story / Move It Over Baby (Aladdin 3282)
1955 - Flim Flam / Can We Forget It (Aladdin 3292)
1955 - Have You Changed Your Mind / I Gotta Go Home (Aladdin 3305)
1956 - Hootchy-Kootchy / I'll Never Believe In You (Aladdin 3315)
1956 - Let's Get Together / I'm So In Love With You (Aladdin 3321)
1956 - Hi Diddle Diddle / Bom Bom Lulu (Aladdin 3351)
1957 - Strange World / The Vow (Aladdin 3374)
1957 - Don't Treat Me This Way / Doodle Doodle Doo (Aladdin 3376)
1958 - The Angels Gave You To Me / I Mean Love (Aladdin 3414)
1959 - Poco-Loco / Go-On Kokomo (Case 1001)
1959 - Ah! Ah! / You Think I'm Not Thinking (Case 1002)
1959 - You Drive Me Buggy / Without Love (Case 1005)
1960 - Sugar Babe / Let's Play The Game (Case 1007)
1962 - Got A Right To Know / Everlovin' Baby (Lily 512)*
1967 - Soul Loving / Walking Away (Cenco 113)*
*By Eunice Levy and Gene Taylor

Ep:
1960 - Hully Gully / Poco Loco / You Think I'm Not Thinking / Beatnick (Case EP 100)

Unreleased demos:
1954 - Can We Forget It (Combo)
1954 -Flim Flam (Combo)
1954 - I Know A Girl (Combo)
1954 - Move It Over Baby
1954 - Tell Me That You Love Me (Combo)
1954 - This Is My Story (Combo)
1954 - I'll Never Forget You (Combo)*
*Eunice Levy (bb Gene Forrest & The Four Feathers)

Biography :

Gene & Eunice were Los Angeles' answer to New Orleans' Shirley & Lee (their label mates at Aladdin Records), except that Gene & Eunice's duets were much lighter and lyrical. And unlike Shirley, Eunice could actually sing on key. Also unlike Shirley & Lee, Gene & Eunice were actually sweethearts, and the two married and had several children together. Eunice Levy met Gene Forrest at local DJ Hunter Hancock's talent show in Los Angeles. Gene was looking for a girl to sing harmony with his group, the Four Feathers (named after a make of drink). This changed when they began dating, they then started rehearsing and writing in Gene's garage. Older and more experienced than Eunice, Gene dominated the relationship from the start, but Eunice was his co-writer from the beginning. Gene and Eunice wrote most of their own songs.

Hunter Hancock with Gene & Eunice

In the spring of 1954, they pitched a folio of songs to Jake Porter. The outstanding song penned by the duo was “Ko Ko Mo” b/w “You And Me” and Porter released it on the Combo label in the fall of 1954. Aladdin Records, which already had Gene Forrest under contract as a solo artist, claimed ownership of the team of Gene & Eunice in late January 1955 and rushed them into the studio with Johnny Otis's band (billed as Johnny's Combo -- perhaps as a slap at Combo Records) to record a second version of “Ko Ko Mo.” The Combo and Aladdin singles, counted as one unit by Billboard's compilers, climbed as high as #6 R&B in early 1955. They became extremely popular and made appearances in such diverse arenas as the Apollo Theatre and Dick Clark's TV show. The duo returned to the studio for Aladdin to cut “This Is My Story” b/w “Move It Over Baby.” “This Is My Story” reached # 8 R&B, their only purely Aladdin hit. Great songs like “Let's Get Together” and “Bom Bom Lulu” failed to click. A further session didn't improve sales and Aladdin let them go in 1958.

A Canadian company set up a new label, Case Records, and searching for an established act to kick start the label, they signed Gene & Eunice. They cut “Poco-Loco” b/w “Go-On Kokomo“ and it charted in the fall of 1958, reaching # 48 in the hot hundred. Further 45s flopped. By the end of 1960, the duo had parted, Gene back in a blue collar job, whilst Eunice married an English record distributor named Jack Frost. She recorded another duo 45, “Got A Right To Know” b/w “Ever Lovin’ Baby” with Gene Taylor. Mike Gradny’s Cenco Records from Los Angeles issued in 1967 the last record by the pair, “Soul Loving” b/w “Walking Away.” Eunice Levy passed away in 2002 and Gene Forrest died in 2003.

http://electricearl.com/dws/gene&eunice.html
http://www.geocities.ws/shakin_stacks/eunicelevy.txt
http://www.colorradio.com/Gene_And_Eunice.html
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gene-eunice-mn0000801739/biography
https://acerecords.co.uk/go-on-ko-ko-mo
http://www.45cat.com/artist/gene-and-eunice

Songs:

     
Ko Ko Mo / You And Me (Combo)       Ko Ko Mo / You And Me (Aladdin)

     
This Is My Story          Move It Over Baby                   I Gotta Go Home

     
Flim Flam / Can We Forget It               The Vow / Strange World

     
Have You Changed Your Mind     I'll Never Believe In You         Hootchy-Kootchy

     
Let's Get Together        I'm So In Love With You       Bom Bom Lulu

     
Hi Diddle Diddle            Doodle Doodle Doo      Don't Treat Me This Way

     
I Mean Love / The Angels Gave You To Me          Ah! Ah! / You Think I'm Not Thinking

      

 Without Love / You Drive Me Buggy                 Sugar Babe / Let's Play The Game

     
Poco-Loco                       Go-On Kokomo                      Soul Loving

      
Hully Gully / Beatnick                Got A Right To Know / Everlovin' Baby

     
Walking Away              Can We Forget It (demo)            Flim Flam (demo)

     
I Know A Girl (demo)     Move It Over Baby (demo)      Tell Me That You Love Me (demo)

  
This Is My Story (demo)         I’ll Never Forget You (demo)

....