Dale Wright (born Harlan Dale Riffe; February 4, 1938 – April 15, 2007) was an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

singer. Wright was born in

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metropo ...

. He started his career as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

who signed to

Fraternity Records Fraternity Records is a small record label based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was started by Harry Carlson and silent partner Dr. Ashton Welsh in 1954. The first recording to be released on Fraternity was Jerri Winters' "Winter's Here". The first hit ...

after playing a song he'd written on the air. He recorded a sizable body of work for Fraternity in the late 1950s, some of it with backing band The Rock-Its, and hit the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 twice in 1958 with the singles "She's Neat" (#38) and "Don't Do it" (#77). By the early 1960s he had been dropped from Fraternity but continued recording for smaller labels well into the decade. After his success as a singer waned, Wright returned to radio, hosting a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

on WNVL in

Nicholasville, Kentucky Nicholasville is a home rule city in and the county seat of Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 31,490 during the 2020 U.S. Census, making Nicholasville the 10th-largest settlement in the state. Since the late 20th ce ...

for 20 years before becoming program director at sister station WCKU. He died in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

on April 15, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Dale American rock musicians Singers from Ohio 1938 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American singers People from Middletown, Ohio 20th-century American male singers