J. Frank Wilson

J. Frank Wilson had only one hit, but it was a huge one. With his band the Cavaliers, he brought Wayne Cochran's teen-death melodrama "Last Kiss" to the upper reaches of the American pop charts in the fall of 1964. The song was the last in a long line of teen tragedies that were popular in the U.S. during the early '60s; as a matter of fact, it's a little surprising that a song this excessively melodramatic was a hit at the height of the British Invasion. Wilson might have found it surprising himself -- after all, he sort of lucked into the position of pop star in the first place. Born in Lufkin, TX, in 1941, Wilson began his professional recording career almost by accident. Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Wilson came in contact with the Cavaliers, a rock & roll band led by guitarist Sid Holmes and featuring bassist Lewis Elliott, saxophonist Rob Zeller, and drummer Ray Smith. The Cavaliers had been around since 1955, forming in San Angelo, TX, then moving to Memphis in the early '60s, then returning to San Angelo in 1962. They continued to gig as an instrumental group around their hometown for a while, before being encouraged to add a singer. They heard about Wilson through the grapevine, and after an audition, they had him join. Wilson helped increase the Cavaliers' audience dramatically. Soon, they were popular attractions at a number of local Texas clubs. At one of these gigs, they earned the attention of Sonley Roush. According to Wayne Janick's interview with Holmes in The Billboard Book of One Hit Wonders, Roush was a "strange man" that lived with his mother. Roush also happened to be obsessed with a song called "Last Kiss," written and recorded by a Georgia blue-eyed soul singer called Wayne Cochran. "Last Kiss" was the tragic tale of a girl who was...