(image via mobilitysite.com)
So, how in the world did a song recorded in a basement and put out on a rinky-dink label become the #1 hit song of 1961? It was all just another happy benefit of the Payola scandal.
The term Payola refers to the practice by Record Labels to pay off the biggest, most influential DJ's to play their biggest, most important singles. It insured that the label's investment gained a return, and generally succeeded in keeping the smaller labels who couldn't afford to throw their money around out of the limelight.
But then the roof fell in on the industry. The government came sniffing around the questionable practices of the labels, and they had their sights on the DJ's. They specifically targeted Alan Freed and Dick Clark. Alan got fired and eventually drank himself to death in '66, and Dick unloaded his investments and focused on his TV career.
And every DJ in America was terrified of being the next big target.
So they started looking around for singles to play that wouldn't get them accused of participating in Payola. And they found a song they could believe in with Tossin' and Turnin'. It started in Philly, moved on to Boston and the other big markets, except New York, the hardest market to crack.
And then Dick Clark, hoping to clear his own name, featured Tossin' and Turnin' on American Bandstand, and the rest, as they say, is history. The song shot to number one for seven weeks, and Bobby Lewis was able to join the ranks of Elvis and the Beatles as having a #1 hit single.
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