NOTHING CAN STOP ME
I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF
FOOLED YOU THIS TIME
Rainbow 63
Mr Big Shot
Groovy Situation
From The Preacher To The Teacher With Barbara Acklin)
THE DUKE OF EARL from Chicago
Gene Chandler was the lead singer with the Dukays and left for a solo career after a fall out when he was credited as the single artist on Duke Of Earl, which had been done by all the group: The Dukays.
At the soul clubs in Manchester it was Nothing Can Stop Me by Gene Chandler which was the most requested track, eclipsing his Duke Of Earl.
Following is © From Robert Pruter, Chicago Soul - Gene Chandler Biography
Everybody knows Gene Chandler for his 1962 doo-wop smash, "Duke of Earl." Some people also remember his 1970 hit, "Groovy Situation." But the eight years that separated his two biggest records produced a whole lot of great Gene Chandler soul!
Chandler was born Eugene Dixon in Chicago on July 6, 1937. He took his stage name from his record producer's favorite film actor, Jeff Chandler. Dixon/Chandler first sang with the Gaytones, a doo-wop group he formed in high school. By 1957, he was singing lead with a quartet from his Englewood neighbourhood called the Dukays, but soon left the join the Army. When he got out in 1960, Chandler reclaimed his spot as their lead singer.
By this time, the Dukays felt ready to graduate from street-corner singing to making records. They sought the help of a local songwriter named Bernice Williams, who worked with the group, polished their act, and developed some songs for them. Some months later, Williams felt the group was ready to record and had them work with the prominent local producers Carl Davis and Bunky Sheppard. Their session yielded six songs: "The Big Lie," "Festival of Love," "Kissin' in the Kitchen," "Girl Is A Devil," "Nite Owl," and "Duke of Earl."
"Girl Is A Devil" came out on Nat Records in the spring of 1961. It was a local smash that reached #64 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up, "Nite Owl," came out on Nat in the autumn of 1961 and charted nationally at #73 early in 1962. The Dukays' next single, "Duke of Earl," came out on Vee Jay in November of 1961, scant weeks after "Nite Owl." Due to a marketing strategy and record company politics, "Duke of Earl" was credited solely to Gene Chandler.
The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 on January 13, 1962. By February 17th, it was at #1 and stayed there for three weeks. With a hit single on his hands, Chandler left the Dukays to strike out on his own but had no further hits to speak of on Vee Jay. In a conventional history of early rock 'n' roll, that would be the end of his story. But not here.
In this universe, the ol' Duke of Earl went from doo-wopping it up on his biggest hit to becoming a masterful purveyor of Chicago soul. His best recordings were the ballads--"Rainbow," "Just Be True," "What Now," "Bless Our Love," "Man's Temptation," and "Here Comes The Tears," to name but a few. But Chandler's mid and uptempo stuff wasn't bad, either. "Think Nothing About It" and "Nothing Can Stop me Now," the latter a top twenty pop hit in 1965, are good examples.
On Vee Jay, Constellation, Checker and Brunswick, Gene Chandler placed twenty-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1961-69. In 1970, he signed with Mercury and immediately struck gold with the self-produced "Groovy Situation," which hit #8 R&B and #12 pop. It also was Chandler's first million-seller since "Duke of Earl."
By the time he signed with Mercury, Chandler also was involved with the business end of the record industry. From his offices at 1321 South Michigan, he managed and produced acts for the Bamboo label. In 1969, he had a big hit with Mel & Tim's "Backfield In Motion."
In August of 1970, Chandler signed a distribution deal with Mercury for his acts to be released on his own Mister Chand label. He also found himself working as an administrator, producer, writer and publicist for Mister Chand. After a few R&B hits on Simtec & Wylie and the Krystal Generation, an overworked Chandler folded his label in 1972.
Later that year, he left Mercury. Chandler subsequently turned up on Chi-Sound, 20th Century, Salsoul and FastFire, and was still on the R&B charts as recently as 1986.
SOURCE: Robert Pruter, Chicago Soul
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The Duke of Earl gave rise to a series of copy cat songs: 'Duchess of Earl'