Gary Wayne Schelton (May 14, 1939 – January 7, 2016), known
by his stage name Troy Shondell, was an American vocalist, who achieved a
modicum of fame and recognition in the early 1960s. He became a transatlantic
one-hit wonder, by releasing a single that made the record charts in both the
US and the UK. The song, "This Time" or sometimes billed as
"This Time (We're Really Breaking Up)" sold over one million records,
earning gold disc status. In a single year, sales were over three million copies.
Troy Shondell was born in 1939, raised in Fort Wayne,
Indiana, and educated at Valparaiso and Indiana universities. He wrote his
first song at age 14, which was recorded by Little Anthony & the Imperials.
He also learned to play five musical instruments. His professional music career
started as a teenager. Mercury Records released his first single, "My
Hero", from The Chocolate Soldier, which he recorded in 1958 under the
name Gary Shelton, which was close to his real name, Gary Schelton.
He followed the next year with "Kissin' at the
Drive-In", a rockabilly song that went on to become a drive-in theater
standard. Still performing as Gary Shelton, he seemed to be on his way, at
least in the Midwest. Chicago's Brass Rail, a major nightclub that usually
hosted jazz and blues acts, brought him in for its first foray into rock and
roll. The successful gig stretched to 16 weeks.
In 1959, Mark Records
released "The Trance" and "Goodbye Little Darlin'". These
sold well in the Midwest and a few other areas, but neither made it into the
Hot 100's Top 40. The singer cited his father as a major influence, among
others. A song he wrote about his father's death in 1960 from a heart attack,
"Still Loving You", became a country hit when it was recorded by Bob
Luman. His father's demise caused his career to falter, and he briefly returned
to help run the family business.
Around this time, he began using a new stage name, Troy
Shondell, partly because of the popularity of actor Troy Donahue. In April
1961, he recorded "This Time", a song written by Chips Moman and first
recorded by Thomas Wayne. The record was released during the last week in June
on the tiny Gaye label and picked up by the small Los Angeles Goldcrest label,
selling ten thousand copies during the first week. Six weeks after being
released and played in Chicago, Shondell flew to Los Angeles and signed with
Liberty Records. "This Time" finally hit the Billboard charts the
third week of September and landed in the Top 10 five weeks later at its number
six peak, and it stayed in the charts for a total of thirteen weeks. The track
reached no. 22 in the UK Singles Chart at the end of that year.
"Tears From An Angel" was his follow-up recording,
released in March 1962. No further chart action was forthcoming, and Shondell
quietly slipped away from the music industry the following year, despite his
third single "Na-Ne-No", being produced by Phil Spector. However, in
1963, Tommy Jackson changed the name of his high school band from "Tom and
the Tornados" to "The Shondells" in honour of Shondell (one of
his musical idols). Jackson became "Tommy James" and international
fame followed for the act.
Troy Shondell & The Shondells |
At the turn of the new millennium, Shondell was still
performing at nostalgia shows and other events. From his home in Nashville, he
also composed and produced. Along with Jimmy Clanton, Ronnie Dove, and Ray
Peterson, he was a member of the Masters of Rock 'n' Roll.
On October 2, 2007, he travelled to Collins, Mississippi, to
deliver a musical tribute to his fallen rock and roll colleague Dale Houston,
who, with musical partner Grace Broussard, had reached no. 1 in 1963 with
"I'm Leaving It Up to You" as the musical duo Dale & Grace.
Shondell died from complications of Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's disease in Picayune, Mississippi on January 7, 2016. (Info mainly Wikipedia)
7 comments:
For “Troy Shondell – The Trance” go here:
http://www40.zippyshare.com/v/zED34FGN/file.html
01 The Trance
02 This Time
03 Young Till I Die
04 Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye
05 Stop The World
06 Gone
07 Girl After Girl
08 The Great Lover
09 Honey Bee
10 Till The End Of The Line
11 Some People Never Learn
12 Just Because
13 Walking In A Memory
14 Thinkin'
15 Like A Movie
16 Stiill Loving You
17 Kissin' At The Drive-In
18 I've Got It
19 Rugged Ralph The Rapid Rabbit Runner
20 Rip It Up
21 I've Got A Woman
22 Hey There Little Miss Tease
23 Island In The Sky
24 I Don't Know
25 Tears From An Angel
26 The Glider
27 Here It Comes Again
28 A Rose And A Baby Ruth
29 Na-Ne-Do
A big thank you to Jake @ Jukebox City for active link.
Interesting to read how one hit record can start up a career in the music business. A talented guy that should have had a few more hits. Thank you Bob.
Hello Boppin Bop
Do you have the "Rip it up" nr yet for me please?
You may do it with email if you can.
The Zippyshare site is not working anymore, i think its closed.
Still looking. Will post when found.
Let it go Boppin Bob.
Merry Christmas to you my friend.
Hello. a3kp....
I couldn’t find the original file. So I was determined to get the playlist as since when I originally posted the album from “Rock It! “ blog, then there have been many Troy Shondell digital albums available.. I managed to finish this just before most of my family came round for a Christmas Eve drink. Only to find your last comment. Well as it took a considerable time to compose this I have no option but to post it.
Please be more patient in future. I try my best as I have many requests for re-ups and only a limited time per day
https://www.upload.ee/files/14773644/Troy_Shondell_-_The_Trance.rar.html
No problem Boppin,i have several albums from Troy in my collection
also found these once.
Have a nice Eve tonight.
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