(Larry Williams)
Australia
#13 Sydney
#1 Melbourne
#2 Brisbane
#2 Adelaide
#7 Perth
Single on Wizard by glam band from Sydney with a boogie beat, formed in 1971. Hush inspired teenybopper hysteria in the mid-70s, fuelled by their appearances on the national TV pop show Countdown.
Producer is Robie Porter, earlier on the charts as Rob E.G.
Further reading: John Elder’s Age interview with founding member Keith Lamb on the occasion of their 2004 reunion for a charity performance.
(Larry Williams)
USA
#62 USA #25 Melbourne
Single on ABC-Paramount by folk group with a couple of interesting family connections: Priscilla Hubbard was married to Jerry Reed and Stan Robinson was the father of Black Crowes members Chris and Rich Robinson.
Produced by Felton Jarvis, known for his work with Elvis Presley and many other major artists. He produced New Zealander Maria Dallas in Nashville, including on her Australian hit Ambush.
(Larry Williams) USA
Original version
#14 USA
#11 UK
New Orleans rock’n’roll singer-songwriter and pianist Larry Williams (1935-1980) had two hits on Specialty, Short Fat Fannie (1957, #5 USA, #21 UK) and Bony Moronie (1957, #14 USA, #11 UK), but several of his compositions were recorded by other artists, including fellow Specialty rocker Little Richard.
Williams’s danceable records were in a similar vein to Little Richard and other New Orleans contemporaries, with jumping sax, thumping piano and raw vocals. His songs were especially popular with musicians of the British beat era: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and John Lennon, for example, recorded versions of Larry Williams songs.
See also The Twilights – Bad Boy.
References: 1. Larry Williams biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music. 2. The Wikipedia entry has a partial but impressive list of who covered which Larry Williams songs.
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2026. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…