Dave Appell
Encyclopedia
Dave Appell (born March 24, 1922, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, worked as an arranger
, producer
, and musician
in Philadelphia, in the 1950s.
record label
, in whose history he played a substantial part. He started working as an arranger for several United States Navy
big band
s in the mid-1940s during his service in World War II
, including Jimmie Lunceford
's black orchestra
. He later arranged for dance orchestras, including Benny Carter
and Earl "Fatha" Hines. He recorded
for a while on Decca Records
as the Dave Appell Four, until Paul Cohen
of Decca suggested he change the group name to the Applejacks. Appell also became a publisher, joining ASCAP in 1955, collaborating with Max Freedman.
He appeared prominently in the 1956 Alan Freed
film
Don't Knock the Rock
, and worked for a while as the studio band and music director
on the Ernie Kovacs
TV
and radio
shows in Philadelphia. Next Appell and the Applejacks were playing in Las Vegas
, but they soon began to pine for their hometown and returned to Philadelphia, where they started working for Cameo Records
, a label founded by Kal Mann
and Bernie Lowe
.
Appell became a jack-of-all-trades at Cameo, doing background vocals, session
work as a guitarist
, engineering, arranging, and producing. The first hit
artist
on the Cameo label was Charlie Gracie
, the singing guitarist who hit Number One nationally with "Butterfly
." Appell and his band backed Gracie on that million-seller in 1957, and on the singer's subsequent hits, "Fabulous" and "Ninety-Nine Ways" and "Wanderin' Eyes." In 1958 Appell and his group backed John Zacherle
on his Top 10 novelty
hit "Dinner With Drac."
In the summer of 1958, Appell got an idea for a song from the Philadelphia String Band of a marching-type song with a dance beat. He wrote an instrumental
song called "The Mexican Hat Rock," a jumped-up version of the old "Mexican Hat Dance
," that he had his studio band record. The song was released under their own name on Cameo that fall and became a big dance hit on American Bandstand
, reaching # 16 on the charts
. The Applejacks also charted with "Rocka-Conga" (# 38) later in the year.
Appell went on to become the leader of Cameo-Parkway's house band, backing such artists as Chubby Checker
, Bobby Rydell
, The Dovells
, Dee Dee Sharp
, and The Orlons
. Their records
Appell also arranged and, in many cases, produced, and even co-wrote with Kal Mann, like "The Twist
," "Let's Twist Again
," "Bristol Stomp
," "Mashed Potato Time," and "South Street." These were the years of the twist
and other dance crazes, in the launching of which Appell played a vital role. Appell left Cameo in 1964.
In the 1970s he had success with his productions for Tony Orlando and Dawn
, including the # 1 hits "Knock Three Times
" (1970) and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree
" (1973), on Bell Records in New York
. Appell's co-producer was Hank Medress
, who had been a founding member of The Tokens
in 1956, and also sang in the reformed Tokens of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
" fame.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, worked as an arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
in Philadelphia, in the 1950s.
Career
Appell is associated mainly with the Cameo-ParkwayCameo-Parkway Records
Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 and 1958 to 1967...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, in whose history he played a substantial part. He started working as an arranger for several United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s in the mid-1940s during his service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, including Jimmie Lunceford
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
's black orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. He later arranged for dance orchestras, including Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
and Earl "Fatha" Hines. He recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
for a while on Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as the Dave Appell Four, until Paul Cohen
Paul Cohen
Paul Cohen is the name of:*Paul Cohen , Australian industrial designer*Paul Cohen , renowned historian of China*Paul Cohen , Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender...
of Decca suggested he change the group name to the Applejacks. Appell also became a publisher, joining ASCAP in 1955, collaborating with Max Freedman.
He appeared prominently in the 1956 Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock
Don't Knock the Rock is a 1957 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults...
, and worked for a while as the studio band and music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
on the Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
shows in Philadelphia. Next Appell and the Applejacks were playing in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, but they soon began to pine for their hometown and returned to Philadelphia, where they started working for Cameo Records
Cameo Records
Cameo was a USA based budget record label, first flourishing in the 1920s, not connected with a later record label of the same name which was active in the 1950s and 1960s.The Cameo Record Company was based in Manhattan, New York...
, a label founded by Kal Mann
Kal Mann
Kal Mann was an American lyricist. He is best known for penning the words to Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear", plus "Butterfly", a hit for both Charlie Gracie and Andy Williams.-Biography:...
and Bernie Lowe
Bernie Lowe
Bernie Lowe was an American songwriter / record producer / arranger / pianist and bandleader.Born Bernard Lowenthal in Philadelphia, Lowe started Teen Records and in 1955 was working with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He asked Freddie Bell to rewrite the lyrics of "Hound Dog" to appeal to a...
.
Appell became a jack-of-all-trades at Cameo, doing background vocals, session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
work as a guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, engineering, arranging, and producing. The first hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
on the Cameo label was Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie is an American rock pioneer and singer. He was born the same day as another rock and roll singer, Bobby Darin.His father encouraged him to play the guitar...
, the singing guitarist who hit Number One nationally with "Butterfly
Butterfly (1957 song)
"Butterfly" is a popular song written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann and published in 1957. The song is credited to Anthony September as songwriter in some sources...
." Appell and his band backed Gracie on that million-seller in 1957, and on the singer's subsequent hits, "Fabulous" and "Ninety-Nine Ways" and "Wanderin' Eyes." In 1958 Appell and his group backed John Zacherle
John Zacherle
John Zacherle is an American television host, radio personality and voice actor known for his long career as a television horror host broadcasting horror movies in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Best known for his character "Roland/Zacherley," he also did voice work for...
on his Top 10 novelty
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
hit "Dinner With Drac."
In the summer of 1958, Appell got an idea for a song from the Philadelphia String Band of a marching-type song with a dance beat. He wrote an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
song called "The Mexican Hat Rock," a jumped-up version of the old "Mexican Hat Dance
Jarabe tapatío
The Jarabe Tapatío dance in its standardized form was first choreographed by the Mexican, in the early twentieth century to celebrate a government-sponsored fiesta that commemorated the successful end of the Mexican Revolution....
," that he had his studio band record. The song was released under their own name on Cameo that fall and became a big dance hit on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is 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...
, reaching # 16 on the charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. The Applejacks also charted with "Rocka-Conga" (# 38) later in the year.
Appell went on to become the leader of Cameo-Parkway's house band, backing such artists as Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
, The Dovells
The Dovells
The Dovells were an American music group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The members were Arnie Silver, Mark Gordesky, Len Borisoff , Jerry Gross, Mike Freda and Jim Mealey...
, Dee Dee Sharp
Dee Dee Sharp
Dee Dee Sharp is an American R&B singer, who began her career recording as a backing vocalist in 1961.-Career:...
, and The Orlons
The Orlons
The Orlons are an American R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that formed in 1960. They received gold discs for the million selling achievements of three of their singles...
. Their records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
Appell also arranged and, in many cases, produced, and even co-wrote with Kal Mann, like "The Twist
The Twist (song)
"The Twist" is a twelve bar blues song that gave birth to the Twistdance craze. The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100...
," "Let's Twist Again
Let's Twist Again
"Let's Twist Again" is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, and released as a single by Chubby Checker. One of the biggest hit singles of 1961, it reached number two in the UK and number eight on the U.S. Billboard pop chart. It refers to the Twist dance craze and his 1960 and 1961...
," "Bristol Stomp
Bristol Stomp
"Bristol Stomp" is a song written in 1961 by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, two executives with the Cameo-Parkway record label, for The Dovells, an a cappella singing group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who recorded the song for Cameo-Parkway late that year. It was originally recorded by a group from...
," "Mashed Potato Time," and "South Street." These were the years of the twist
Twist
Twist may refer to:* Twist , a decorative piece of citrus zest* Twist , a comic by John Cook* Twist in screw theory in applied mathematics and physics* Twist , an American teen magazine...
and other dance crazes, in the launching of which Appell played a vital role. Appell left Cameo in 1964.
In the 1970s he had success with his productions for Tony Orlando and Dawn
Tony Orlando and Dawn
Tony Orlando and Dawn was a pop music group that was popular in the 1970s. Their signature hits include "Candida", "Knock Three Times", "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", and "He Don't Love You ".-History:...
, including the # 1 hits "Knock Three Times
Knock Three Times
"Knock Three Times" is a popular song credited to Tony Orlando and Dawn. The actual singers were Tony Orlando, Toni Wine, and Linda November, prior to the creation of "Dawn" with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson. The song was released as a single in November 1970, paired with Orlando's other...
" (1970) and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" is a song by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and produced by Hank Medress and Dave Appell. It was a worldwide hit for the group in 1973....
" (1973), on Bell Records in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Appell's co-producer was Hank Medress
Hank Medress
-Biography:Medress was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School, where in 1955 he joined a doo-wop group called the Linc-Tones, which also included Neil Sedaka. After Sedaka's departure, the group reformed with additional singers as The Tokens...
, who had been a founding member of The Tokens
The Tokens
The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-scoring 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...
in 1956, and also sang in the reformed Tokens of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
" fame.