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Johnny Rivers

Acting

Biography

Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential artist. Rivers is best known for his 1960s output, having popularized the mid-60s discotheque scene through his live rock and roll recordings at the Los Angeles nightclub Whisky a Go Go, and later shifting to a more orchestral, soul-oriented sound during the latter half of the decade. These developments were reflected by his most notable string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, many of them covers. They include "Memphis", "Mountain of Love", "The Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town", "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", and "Summer Rain". Rivers had a total of nine top-ten hits and 17 top-forty hits on the US charts from 1964 to 1977.

Known For

American Bandstand
8.2

American Bandstand was an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer. The show featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act—over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run DMC—would usually appear in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles. Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon holds the record for most appearances at 110. The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.

American Bandstand

1957Series
The Midnight Special
8.1

The Midnight Special is an American late-night musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981. The ninety-minute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The show typically featured guest hosts, except for a period from July 1975 through March 1976 when singer Helen Reddy served as the regular host. Wolfman Jack served as the announcer and frequent guest host. The series also occasionally aired vintage footage of older acts. As the program neared the end of its run in the early 1980s, it began to frequently use lip-synched performances rather than live. The program also featured occasional comedic performances such as Richard Pryor and Andy Kaufman.

The Midnight Special

1972Series
Johnny Rivers: The History

Johnny Rivers is an odd figure in the history of rock music. At the most obvious level, he was a 1960s rock star and a real rarity as a singer/guitarist who made a name for himself as a straight-ahead & roller rock during the middle of the white American decade. Just as important, behind the scenes, their recordings and their success led to the direct and indirect release of at least three record labels and a dozen other careers, whose influence extended into the 1970s, 1980s and beyond. Rivers was very much a soul mate to figures like Buddy Holly and Ronnie Hawkins, with all the verve and spirit of the members of this first wave of rock & roll. He had the misfortune of being born a little too late to catch that wave, however, and it took until the middle of the next decade to find his target audience.

Johnny Rivers: The History

2009Movie