February 17

GENE PITNEY (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) performs his first hit and the last he sang before his death.  The song charted in 1961, and Gene sang it as the encore at a concert in 2006 before later being found dead in his hotel room in Wales.

One of the few survivors of the British Invasion, Gene Pitney charted 16 Top 40 hits in the U.S. and was also very popular in Europe.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also wrote "He's A Rebel" for The CRYSTALS, Bobby Vee's "Rubber Ball" and "Hello Merry Lou"- she belonged to Gene before Ricky Nelson.

Another East-Coaster (Gene was from Connecticut), Richmond Virginia's TOMMY EDWARDS (February 17, 1922 — October 22, 1969) is most famous for "It's All in the Game".









BOBBY LEWIS (b 2/171933) had a monster #1 hit- the theme song for insomniacs everywhere!