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Big Dee Irwin
DiFosco "Dee" T. Ervin Jr. (July 6, 1932 – August 27, 1995), usually known professionally as Big Dee Irwin, was an American singer and songwriter whose biggest hit was a version of "Swinging on a Star" in 1963, recorded as a duet with Little Eva. Life and career Dee Ervin was born in Harlem, New York.Joel Whitburn, ''Top Pop Singles 1955–2002'', Billboard, 2003, , p. 338 Some sources give his first name as Defosca and his family name as Erwin. He joined the United States Air Force, and in 1954 was based at Narsarssuak Air Base in Greenland. While there, he formed a singing group, The Pastels, with himself as lead singer, Richard Travis (first tenor), Tony Thomas (second tenor) and Jimmy Willingham (baritone). They performed in Air Force talent shows and, after being transferred to Washington D.C., took part in a national show, ''Tops In Blue'', in 1957. They then auditioned and won a contract with Hull Records in New York, and recorded a song written by Ervin, "Been So Long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlem, New York
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), Central Park North on the south. The greater Harlem area encompasses several other neighborhoods and extends west and north to 155th Street, east to the East River, and south to Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard (Manhattan), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Central Park, and 96th Street (Manhattan), East 96th Street. Originally a Netherlands, Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle. Harlem was predominantly occupied by Jewish American, Jewish and Italian American, Italian Americans in the 19th century, but African-American residents began to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
