Johnny Mann passes......

[Doug-Morgan]

This isn't really soul related, but I read today that Johnny Mann, leader of the Johnny Mann Singers, and a TV and movie arranger, passed away the other day at his home in South Carolina at the age of 86.

Mann was the musical director of a number of TV shows, and his singers recorded extensively. As an aside, until I read his obit, I didn't know that Vicki Lawrence came out of the group.

Even if you haven't heard of the Johnny Mann Singers, you've probably heard them on ditties like the ones below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUI8OYxkSDs

[marv2]

Doug, I grew up hearing that CKLW jingle just about daily! Rest in peace Johnny.

[stephanie]

They were one of those groups I saw on TV or heard about like the King Family but I didnt really know their background. RIP

[midnight johnny]

Thanks for posting this, Doug. I loved the work that Johnny Mann and his singers did for Bill Drake in the late '60s. Because I was situated in Massachusetts, I got to hear these snazzy promos on WRKO in Boston, and on occasion when I would take a trip to NYC on WABC. They became my favorite radio promos, and when I hear them now [[from a collection I made), they generate the same excitement in me that they did when I heard them originally. Here are a few links to some of these Drake/Chenault/Mann spots. http://airchexx.com/2010/01/18/j-j-jeffreychuck-knapp-and-the-top-300-best-of-all-time-68-wrko-boston-october-20-1967/ http://airchexx.com/2010/01/18/j-j-jeffreychuck-knapp-and-the-top-300-best-of-all-time-68-wrko-boston-october-20-1967/