It was a comeback hit of sorts for Tommy, one of the nicest guys you could ever meet in rock and roll.
Tommy's career got off to a GREAT start with the #1 Single "Sheila" (1962) right out of the box. He had a bit of a Buddy Holly sound and was writing most of his own material ... and other Top Ten Hits followed ... "Everybody" (#3, 1963), written on John Lennon's acoustic guitar when traveling with The Beatles on tour before anybody here in The States even knew who they were ... "Sweet Pea" (#5, 1966) and "Hooray For Hazel" (#4, 1966) ... but then he ran into a bit of a dry spell in 1967 and 1968, scoring only one Top 40 Hit. ("It's Now Winter's Day," #21, 1967)
"Dizzy" changed all of that, topping the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart for four weeks in the Spring of 1969. (All of a sudden, Tommy was now The King of Bubblegum!!!)
Six straight Top 40 Hits followed ..."Heather Honey" (#12, 1969); "Jack And Jill" (#31, 1969); "Jam Up And Jelly Tight" (#4, 1969); "Stir It Up And Serve It" (#27, 1970); "Pearl" (#30, 1970) and "We Can Make Music" (#35, 1970). Tommy hit The Top 20 one more time in 1971 with his remake of the '50's classic "Stagger Lee" (#19)
He is still writing and recording GREAT music, much of which we've featured in Forgotten Hits over the past few years. Although he's been sidelined by some health issues the past couple of years which have kept him off the road, one of my most pleasant experiences was spending time with Tommy backstage at The Arcada Theatre a few years ago ... like I said, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_tommy_roe
Today, Tommy Roe remembers how "Dizzy" changed his life ... EXCLUSIVELY for our Forgotten Hits Readers ...
Hi
Kent ...
Thank
you for reminding me of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Dizzy. My oh my does
the time fly by ...
Dizzy,
of course, is one of my biggest hits from the sixties along with Sheila,
Everybody, Sweet Pea, Hooray For Hazel, and Jam Up And Jelly Tight. I know you
have heard this from songwriters before … that each song we write is like a
child with its own personality, charm, and identity, and it is hard to pick a
favorite ... however, Dizzy stands out as one of my favorites because of the
complexity of the chord changes while still having the quality and sound of a
simple pop song.
Dizzy
is the first song my cowriter, Freddy Weller and I wrote together. A good
marriage indeed, as together we went on to write many more successful songs.
I
have had a long and successful career in the music business and am very
fortunate to have friends and mentors along the way who encouraged and helped
me achieve my goals at a very young age.
But
without my fans, none of it would have been possible.
So
again, to all the Tommy Roe fans who, by the way, are also big fans of
Forgotten Hits, thank you, thank you, thank you.
And
Kent, thank you as well for helping to keep the music we all love alive and
relevant.
Keep on rock’n my friend, and have a healthy, happy, and peaceful
2019.
Your
pal,
Tommy
