Brian Hyland
Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRI : Brian Hyland
Brian Hyland (born November 12, 1943, in Woodhaven, Queens, New York) is an American pop artist who was successful during the early 1960s.
Biography
Although not known as a major force in the history of rock and roll, Hyland did record three notable songs before his pop music success declined after 1970. He was one of several young American teen idol recording artists whose clean-cut image and sound thrived in the early 1960's prior to the sylistic changes brought about through the "British Invasion" led by The Beatles, beginning in 1964.
In 1960, Hyland scored his first and biggest hit, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". It was a cute novelty song that was as much about the 60s beach and surf culture as it was about scantier female swimwear, and the males who appreciated it. The song was a smash hit, reaching #1 on the American charts. Hyland's other well-known hit during this period was 1962's "Sealed With a Kiss", an eventual oldies radio standard that reached #3 on both the American and British charts, and remained on the U.S. chart for 11 weeks. In 1975, "Sealed With a Kiss" was reissued as a single in England and became a surprise #7 hit on the British pop chart (the song was later revived by Jason Donovan who scored a #1 hit with it in 1989). Another 1962 hit was "Ginny Come Lately," which reached #21 on the U.S. charts and #5 in England.
During his prime Brian Hyland appeared on national television programs such as "American Bandstand" and "The Jackie Gleason Show" and toured both internationally and around America with Dick Clark in the legendary "Caravan of Stars." The caravan happened to be in Dallas, Texas, on the day of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. Hyland saw the President and First Lady pass by in the motorcade minutes before the bullets struck, and that evening his concert was cancelled as the nation mourned. As a result, Hyland wrote the song "Mail Order Gun," which he recorded and eventually released on his 1970 album.
From 1963 through 1969, Hyland scored several minor hits, but none reached higher than #20 ("The Joker Went Wild") on the U.S. pop chart. An album released in 1964 featured numbers that harkened back to the 1950s, such as "Pledging My Love" and "Moments to Remember" -- at a time when The Beatles were sweeping the music scene with a very different style. Hyland then went through a phase of recording albums in country/western and folk rock styles. Songs such as "I'm Afraid To Go Home" and "Two Brothers" had a Civil War theme. He enjoyed using the harmonica on a few numbers, to good effect. His singing voice was excellent with a fine range, and he could certainly hold a note without wavering.
1967 and the so-called "Summer of Love" radically altered the musical climate for short, cutesy pop songs, and Hyland would not have any songs chart again, with the notable exception of "Gypsy Woman". This was written by Curtis Mayfield, which Hyland recorded in 1970, and the track was produced by Del Shannon. "Gypsy Woman", somewhat surprisingly, reached #3 on the U.S. pop chart. From 1960 to 1977, Brian Hyland recorded a total of eleven albums for several different recording companies.
As of 2006, Brian Hyland continues to tour internationally, with his son, Bodi, assisting on drums from time to time.
Trivia
Brian Hyland is a cousin (by marriage) of the late Louis Feinberg, aka "Larry Fine" of the Three Stooges.
External link
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.