The Cheers were an American vocal group, that had a string of novelty hits for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in the mid-1950s starting with "(Bazoom) I Need Your Lovin'" which hit number fifteen on the U.S.

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in 1954. This was the first hit written by

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

and

Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

to chart on the pop chart in the United States, and was one of the first rock and roll hits by a white group (after

The Crew Cuts The Crew Cuts were a Canadian vocal quartet, that made a number of popular records that charted in the United States and worldwide. They named themselves after the then popular crew cut haircut, one of the first connections made between pop musi ...

and

Bill Haley and the Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

). The following year, they followed it with "

Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" is a song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded by The Cheers, it went to #6 on the ''Billboard'' Best Selling singles chart in the fall of 1955, becoming Leiber and Stoller's first top ten pop ...

" (also written by Leiber and Stoller), a song about a wild-living leather-jacketed motorcyclist, which went to number six on the charts, and became a million-selling record. The Cheers' members included

Bert Convy Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for hosting ''Tattletales'', ''Super Password'' and ''Win, Lose or Draw''. Early life Convy was born in St. Louis ...

(1933-1991) who would later serve as host of several daytime television game shows such as ''

Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several a ...

'', ''

Super Password ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...

'', ''

Win, Lose or Draw ''Win, Lose or Draw'' is an American television game show that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City (one of the few non-CBS game shows to tape there), often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at various ...

'' and '' 3rd Degree'', Susan (Sue) Allen and Gil Garfield (1933-2011). All three were living in Los Angeles at the time they began making records: Garfield was attending the University of Southern California and Convy had just graduated from UCLA when they teamed up with vocalist Allen. Leiber and Stoller wrote and produced "Chicken" (1955) for The Cheers, parodying the central sequence from James Dean's film ''

Rebel Without a Cause ''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format and directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social co ...

''. Garfield remained with the Cheers for about three years before leaving the music industry and going into the real estate business. He died of cancer in 2011 at age 77. Convy died of a brain tumor in 1991 at age 57. Sue Allen continued to record into the 1960s, providing vocals for performers such as

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

and

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Op ...

References

External links

Les Baxter at Space Age Pop Music
American rock music groups Rock and roll music groups National Recording Corporation artists Capitol Records artists Okeh Records artists {{US-rock-band-stub