Yesterday's I'd Like to Dedicate This Song to All the Ladies Out There... took a pretty strong cue from my other show, No More Rock&Roll for You!, on which I try to play early pop, heavily influenced by the genius of Phil Spector (the self-proclaimed Da Vinci of our time), Motown, Rockabilly and pretty much anything you'd hear in an old-fashioned diner. There's just something about the bubbly days of drinking milkshakes, getting your boyfriend's class ring and telling all your girlfriends about it that just sort of tickles me.One of my favorite artists in this late-fifties/early sixties era is Frankie Lymon (and the Teenagers). You may know him from such songs as "ABCs of Love," "Rockin' Robin," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" and "I Put the Bomp (in the Bomp Bomp Bomp)." Frankie Lymon was what we call a child star. And if you thought Britney getting married, anulled, married, showing her lady-parts while getting out of a limo, having children, divorcing, shaving her head, getting really fat and joining the circus has been wonderfully fun to follow, you should probably consider a history lesson in Frankie Lymon's childhood...
This adorable teenager started his career at age 13- but just because Britney got to the Mouseketeers before that, and the Olson twins were on Full House in diapers, doesn't mean you shouldn't give Lymon credit where credit was deserved. I think Beyonce would refer to him as the male version of a diva... Lymon grew up in Harlem, was known for hanging out with women twice his age and hustlin' (when he was ten). Despite this tough childhood, his first hit made it to #6 on the pop single Billboards when he was 14. The boy knew how to do it right. He inspired many of the girl groups of the 1960s (listen to him sing, you'll understand why) and as one of the first black teen idols, the Jackson 5 as well.
The kid married about fifty different women when he was in his twenties. He was also heroin addict. Sources disagree as to whether Lymon joined the US Army to escape drug charges or whether he was drafted, though I'm not sure there's much of a difference... regardless he wasn't the army's most outstanding recruit.
Unfortunately, like many people who peak in their early twenties, Lymon overdosed at the age of 25. Twenty years later, Lymon's three wives (he apparently didn't bother with divorce before moving from one to the next...) were all fighting over his estate. In my mind this qualifies Frankie Lymon as the original O.G.
Recommended listening: ABC's of Love, Melinda, Goody Goody, Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, Little Bitty Pretty One, Short Fat Fanny, Waitin' In School, Rockin' Robin
kisses,
Ali
