James J. "Jimmy" Wisner is an American pianist, arranger, songwriter, and producer. He is best known for his hit single "Asia Minor", released under the name Kokomo.

Wisner received classical training as a youngster, and attended Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

 as a psychology student in the late 1950s. He formed the Jimmy Wisner Trio in 1959 with Chick Kinney on drums and Ace Tesone on bass. This ensemble backed musicians who toured through Philadelphia, including Mel Torme

Mel Tormé

Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...

, Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...

, Dakota Staton

Dakota Staton

Dakota Staton , also known by the Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period, was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No...

, and The Hi-Lo's

The Hi-Lo's

The Hi-Lo's were an a cappella quartet formed in 1953. The group's name is reportedly a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges .-History:The group consisted of Gene Puerling , Bob Strasen , Bob Morse...

.

He released several full-length albums as a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 musician, but in 1961 recorded a rock & roll adaptation of Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...

's Piano Concerto in A Minor

Piano Concerto (Grieg)

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works and among the most popular of all piano concerti.-Structure :The concerto is in three movements:...

, using shellac

Shellac

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...

 on the hammers of a cheap piano so as to effect a honky tonk

Honky tonk

A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...

 sound. So as not to alienate his jazz fans, he released the tune, titled "Asia Minor" under the name Kokomo; he was turned down by 10 labels and had to release the track on his own label Future Records. The song became a hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and #35 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, despite having been banned by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. Wisner released further singles as Kokomo on his prior label, Felsted, but did not have another hit.

Following the success of "Asia Minor", Wisner launched a successful career as a songwriter, producer, and composer for film and television. He wrote "Don't Throw Your Love Away

Don't Throw Your Love Away

"Don't Throw Your Love Away" is a song that was originally released in 1963 by The Orlons. It was the B-side to "Bon-Doo-Wah", which peaked at No. 55 in the US charts.The song was covered by The Searchers and released in April 1964. It went to No...

", a #1 UK hit for The Searchers

The Searchers (band)

The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....

 in 1964, as well as The Tymes

The Tymes

The Tymes are an American soul vocal group, who enjoyed equal success in the United Kingdom as their homeland. They share the distinction of being one of the few acts to have one and only one chart-topper in both the U.S...

's "Somewhere", which went Top 20 in the UK. As a producer and arranger Wisner worked with Freddy Cannon

Freddy Cannon

Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. , known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".-Biography:...

, Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...

, Len Barry

Len Barry

Len Barry is a retired American vocalist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:...

 ("1 - 2 - 3"), Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....

, Judy Collins

Judy Collins

Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...

, Paul Evans

Paul Evans (musician)

Paul Evans is an American rock and roll singer and songwriter, who was most prominent in the 1950s and 1960s...

, Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....

, Carly Simon

Carly Simon

Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...

, Al Kooper

Al Kooper

Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...

, Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...

, Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

, Tommy James

Tommy James

Tommy James is an American pop-rock musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as leader of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells.-Early life and career:...

, Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...

, and Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos (singer)

Roberto Carlos Braga is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian singer and composer, who has achieved a great deal of success and recognition in his 50 year career, also known as King of Latin Music....

 as well as Randy & the Rainbows

Randy & the Rainbows

Randy & the Rainbows are an American doo wop group from Maspeth, New York.-Career:The group was formed in 1962 in a neighborhood of Queens, and featured two pairs of siblings, along with a fifth member. The Safuto brothers had previously sung in the group The Dialtones. They recorded with the...

. He also headed Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

's A&R

A&R

Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 department for a time.

Discography

As Jimmy Wisner

• Blues for Harvey (Felsted Records, 1959)
• Apperception (Chancellor Records
  Chancellor Records
  Chancellor Records was a record label associated with ABC-Paramount Records, which initially distributed the smaller label. Based in Philadelphia, PA, it was an integral part of the dominance of popular Philadelphia artists and music in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Its first hit was "With All My...
  
  , 1960)

As Kokomo

• Asia Minor (Future Records, 1961)

External links