(Barry Mann - Joe Shapiro)
Australia
#7 Melbourne
Merv Benton was a popular rock’n’roll singer in the heart-throb mould, backed by The Tamlas. He did especially well in his home town of Melbourne, where he had 15 charting records 1964-67 (see, for example, I Got Burned), but retired from music after suffering disabling voice problems.
YouTube mix-up
:
The only video at YouTube labelled as Merv Benton – Don’t Destroy Me [link]
is in fact Toni Capri – Why Do You Do Me [link].
Further reading: Comprehensive Merv Benton biography by Tony Wilkinson at This Is My Story.
Suggestion from Terry Stacey.
(Barry Mann - Joe Shapiro)
USA
Single on KP October 1960. The label was in Mineola in Nassau County on Long Island, New York.
Bob’s Dead Wax blog tells us that singer-guitarist Ralph Jerome was born in 1940 in Brooklyn NY and his band The Plaids were active 1958-62 around Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
(Barry Mann - Joe Shapiro) USA
Original version
#94 USA
Single on Columbia September 1959. The B-side, Boom Boom Baby, was a hit in Australia.
In the 1950s and 60s, Don’t Destroy Me was Crash Craddock’s only USA Top 100 single (Billboard), peaking at #94. He abandoned music for a few years in the 60s before re-emerging in the 70s as a successful country artist.
In Australia it was a different story. After his first hit here with Boom Boom Baby (1959, #1 Australia), he had five other Top 10 hits including One Last Kiss (1961, #1 Australia).
As Billy ‘Crash’ Craddock he had three #1 Billboard country hits in the 1970s, including two that crossed over to the Top 40.
The writers
• Joe Shapiro was a professional songwriter who co-wrote Perry Como’s hit Round And Round (1957, #1 USA).
• Barry Mann is best known for his songwriting partnership with his wife Cynthia Weil. Some examples of their work at this website: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Uptown, Come On Over To Our Place, Kicks and more. There is a comprehensive Mann-Weil discography at Mann-Weil.com.
Further reading: Billy ‘Crash’ Craddock biography at All Music.
(Don Covay) USA
Red herring
Same title but not the same song as ‘Don’t Destroy Me’ by Merv Benton.
♫ Listen at YouTube
Single on Columbia. Composer Don Covay wrote, for example, Aretha Franklin’s Chain Of Fools.
Songview lists 10 copyrighted compositions entitled Don’t Destroy Me.
Pop ArchivesAustralia's premier song history site since 2004
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…