Jimmy Radcliffe

Musically talented Jimmy Radcliffe was born November 18, 1936, in New York City and sang in his church's choir before venturing into secular music while serving a mid-'50s stint in the Air Force, where he formed the Fascinators and also performed solo. The highlight of his military warbling was an appearance on the armed forces network in Germany. When his duties ended in 1958, he returned to New York and sang in street corner groups that occasionally played neighborhood venues. Some demos he cut and persuaded a local DJ to play caught the ears of a Musicor Records' executive, who signed him to a songwriting contract with its publishing arm, January Music. He didn't record, however, until three years later; instead, he cut demos used to demonstrate songs to artists like the Drifters. Musicor issued "Twist Calypso" b/w "Don't Look My Way" in 1962, Radcliffe co-wrote both sides with Jim Sterns, a long-running collaborator. It was followed by "(There Goes) the Forgotten Man" (1962), which Gene McDaniels later cut, and "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" (1963). The first three singles showed promise but did little. Radcliffe's original rendition of Hal David and Burt Bacharach's "Long After Tonight Is All Over" (1964) sold better and got Radcliffe recognized, especially in the United Kingdom where it charted on Stateside Records. The Musicor deal soured, and Radcliffe's next single, the original "My Ship Is Comin' In," appeared on Aurora Records and again got more run in the U.K. than the U.S.A. Walter Jackson redid it, but the Walker Brothers enjoyed the most successful version, taking the Radcliffe/Joey Brooks' song to number three pop in 1965. Shout Records issued "Lucky Old Sun" b/w "So Deep," by Radcliffe in 1966; but nothing else surfaced until 1968 when "Breakaway...