From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Jul 6, 2002  2:10 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Gene Chandler
 
GENE CHANDLER

Born Eugene Dixon, 6 July 1937, Chicago, Illinois

Chandler is remembered by the rock & roll audience almost solely for
the classic novelty and doo wop-tinged soul ballad "Duke of Earl". The
irresistible opening chant of the title leading the way (dook dook dook),
the song was a number one hit in early 1962. He is esteemed by soul fans
as one of the leading exponents of the '60s Chicago soul scene, along with
Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler.
In 1957 Chandler had joined the doo wop quintet the Dukays and "Duke of
Earl" was actually a Dukays recording, but his record company (Vee-Jay)
preferred to promote a solo artist. He never approached the massive pop
success of that chart-topper (although he occasionally entered the Top 20),
but he was a big star with the R&B audience with straightforward mid-tempo
and ballad soul numbers in the mid-'60s, many of which were written by
Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis. Chandler's success became
more fitful after Mayfield stopped penning material for him, although he
enjoyed some late-'60s hits and had a pop and soul smash in 1970 with
"Groovy Situation" on Mercury. Gene's career was revitalized during
the disco boom when "Get Down" (1979) was an international hit, followed
by several other R&B hits until 1986.

CD: 20 Greatest Hits (Colectables)
Official website: http://www.genechandler.com