Mickey Hawks born July 17, 1940

David Michael "Mickey" Hawks (July 17, 1940 – August 31, 1989) was an American rock and roll Rockabilly singer and pianist, and one of the few fifties rock 'n' rollers who always remained true to his original style which included screaming vocals and a thumping piano. Though he never had a national hit, he was able to making a living from this brand of music until his untimely death at the age of only 49.

He was born in Thomasville, North Carolina, moving with his family as a child to High Point. There he would spend his next 25 years before settling down in Readsville close to the Virginia state line. The fifth of six children, Hawks learned to play the piano from his mother when he was thirteen. Inspired by Little Richard and later by Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey formed his first band in 1956, which was called The Rhythm Rockers. In September 1957 he joined The Night Raiders, a group led by Moon Mullins, who had a local radio show and played the sax. After playing together for some time, Moon wanted the band to cut a record to sell at dances and asked Mickey if he could write a song. 

                                  

Influenced by Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula", Hawks wrote "Bip Bop Boom", which they recorded in a Greensboro studio owned by Eddie Robbins. It became the B-side of their first single, "Rock and Roll Rhythm", a song Hawks co-wrote with Matthews, and was released on two local labels, Robbins Red (owned by Robbins) and Mart, before being picked up by the Profile label in Chicago. The label remixed the record, and moved "Bip Bop Boom" to the A-side. The single was credited to Mickey Hawks with Moon Mullins and his Night Raiders. It reportedly sold 50,000 copies in the Chicago area, but failed to reach the national charts; however, it did become a hit in South Africa.

The Nightriders

However, the next two singles on Profile, "Cotton Pickin'"(1959) and "Screamin' Mimi Jeanie" (1960) never came close to the success of "Bip Bop Boom", exciting as they were. Mickey and the band toured about a month to promote each record. They had a wild stage act and were very well received by most audiences, though there were problems at some theatres where people were used to traditional country and western stuff. In some cases the shows were stopped and people got their money back, because the excited crowd couldn't be controlled. Onstage the kinetic Hawks could imitate almost anyone, from Fats Domino to Chuck Berry, and of course his idols Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.

Things slowed down a little in the sixties. Apart from a reissue of "Cotton Pickin'" on the Hunch label in 1961, the band had only one single release between 1960 and 1968, namely "Gonna Dance Tonight, Parts 1 & 2" on the Lance label (1961), with Mickey on piano and Moon on vocal and sax. In 1963 the band broke away from Moon Mullins (temporarily) and continued on their own as the Night Raiders, playing mostly in Virginia, where they also had a TV show called "Saturday Night Country Style". New recordings followed in 1968 and 1971, but they didn't sell or remained unreleased. Cees Klop reissued the six Profile recordings on one side of a Collector LP in 1971 and "Bip Bop Boom" was re-released as a single in the UK (1977) and Sweden (1982).

After "Bip Bop Boom" became popular among rock and roll audiences in Europe, Hawks did several tours there in the 1980s and cut a fine new album, "Sounds Of the 50's", released in the summer of 1989. This had several new songs that had not been released before. One of them "Me and MY Harley Davidson" was listed in the US Independent Country Singles Top 20 in August, giving Mickey real hope that his talents were finally starting to be appreciated. But fate can be cruel, for on August 31, 1989, at the age of 49, Mickey had a fatal heart attack at hs home whilst playing the piano.

(Edited from This Is My Story & Liner notes)

Here's some very super rare footage of Mickey Hawks playing Bip Bop Boom at The Lakers Hotel, Redhill 1987.