It was 1962 when this Don and Juan oldies song lyrics titled "What's Your Name" was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with their top ten hit.
The song was written by Claude "Juan" Johnson and together with Roland "Don" Trone produced their one and only hit for this R&B vocal duo from Brooklyn, NY.
I remember the Don and Juan oldies song lyrics quite well as I was interested in a cute girl when this song was on the charts but didn't know her last name.
Let me tell you my story as to why I remember this wonderful old classic Doo-wop vinyl record from over sixty years ago.
My good friend Doug Bippus lived down the street from this cute girl and all I knew was her first name. Without her last name I couldn't look her up in the phone book.
Doug gave me her last name but I was kind of backward about calling her for a date. I previously had a steady girlfriend since the 7th grade but due to my too cool attitude we failed to make it a go in our senior year and both went with someone else to the senior prom.
I never felt good about that after going steady with this really nice girl for five years. So you see, up until that point I never really had to call any girls for dates.
The calling for a date process was uncomfortable for me. I would call, she would answer and I would hang up before saying anything. Any of you fellows remember doing that or was it just me? Naaahhh....you guys did it too.
Those of you reading this and not familiar with life a half century ago there was no such tell-tale device for shy boys known as caller ID.
I finally got a date with this girl named Francine during the summer of '62 but what I remember about the date was that she never really seemed too interested in me.
She was great company, attractive and polite so maybe it was the way I dressed, which at time was a little on the "Elvis" side, kinda loud. Maybe not, but whatever the reason I don't recall going on another date with her.
Enter the second "What's Your Name" girl during the following summer of 1963. As I was again leaving my friend Doug's house I turned the corner and spotted this pair of white short shorts and form fitting black sweater with a gorgeous dark haired beauty tucked inside.
She was sitting on her front porch steps and as I got closer she smiled as I drove by. The song "Next Door to an Angel" quickly popped into mind and I remembered some of the words in the second verse that surely must have been what I was thinking at the time.
I took a look and oh what a shock
To find a little bit of heaven right on my block
I'm livin' right next door to an angel
And I'm gonna make that angel mine
And really, how long can a guy drive down a street trying to look cool while staring at an angel on the porch, and facing oncoming traffic?
Nearly crashed my car. Gas was somewhere around 32 cents a gallon and I must have used a least a half a tank of gas circling the block in my cool blue '57 chevy to make sure this angel didn't disappear back into the clouds.
Doug came to my rescue again and told me her name was Ladale. This time I managed to date her all summer before she cut me loose. I'm not real positive, but I believe those two girls must have know each other as they both told me the same thing on our first date..."Keep your hands to yourself."
A few years later I would marry the girl that made my life complete and is still with me today. I've mellowed over the years so wherever those classy ladies are today I hope their lives have been good.
Watch this great video with an Oldies Jukebox and Don and Juan singing this classic old Doo-Wop song from 1962. After the song please continue reading and discover how the idea came to me to write a story based on this sixty year old song.
Don and Juan Oldies Song Lyrics
Written by Claude "Juan" Johnson
Released 1962
What's your name? I have seen you before
What's your name? May I walk you to your door?
It's so hard to find a personality with charms like yours for me
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ee
What's your name? Is it Mary or Sue?
What's your name? Do I stand a chance with you?
It's so hard to find a personality with charms like yours for me
Ooh-ee, ooh-ee, ooh-ee
I stood on this corner waiting for you to come along
So my heart could feel satisf-i-ied
So please let me be your Number One
Under the moon, under the stars, and under the sun
Oh-oh, what's your name? (what's your name?) Is it Mary or Sue?
What's your name? Do I stand a chance with you?
It's so hard to find a personality with charms like yours for me
Ooh-ee, ooh-ee, ooh-ee
What's your name?
What's your name?
Shooby-doo-bop-bah-dah!!
Whenever I decide to write a page I do it for a number of reasons. It could be about a vinyl record album, a song, a girl I was with, or a trip in a time machine to a particular place I may have been when a song was playing.
But I also get ideas from visitors or subscribers to my newsletter, just as I did with this song.
When
my music buddy Bill Moore contacted me and said he was adding a song to
his weekly entertainment schedule and told me it was the song "What's
Your Name" I immediately went into flashback mode.
The
story above was a result of a particular place in time I had completely
forgotten about, and yes it really did happen the way I wrote it as it
probably happened the same with many other teens then and now.
I
have the 45rpm record and it's another song you don't hear enough on
the radio, so I didn't have any immediate plans for the song until Bill
mentioned it. The memory kicks in (for now anyway) and the song goes
live. Don & Juan can look down and thank Bill Moore for their special page on this site.
I've always been amazed at the sound coming out of just two guys.
On
February 1st, 1962 the song was performed on Dick Clark's American
Bandstand. Nine days later it entered Billboard's Hot 100 chart,
eventually peaked at #7 and spent 13 weeks on the Top 100 list.
Sadly,
both men are no longer with us. Roland "Don" Trone died in May 1982 at
the age of 45 and Claude "Juan" Johnson passed on October 31st, 2002 at
the age of 67.
And sad too is the passing of my friend, Bill Moore, in 2020. I enjoyed our long distance friendship and keep his memory alive for his family and friends. Rest easy, my friend.
In the late 1940s, Seeburg manufactured its popular and distinctive
"trashcan-shaped" series of jukeboxes. This one you see here is the
Seeburg Symphonola, Model 148 "Trashcan" Jukebox of 1948, so nicknamed
due to their shape.
When they began to make jukeboxes, the 78
rpm record was standard and only a few selections could be played on one
machine. This changed with the Seeburg model M100A which could play 50
records front and back for a total of 100 selections, an immense variety
at the time.
In 1950, Seeburg introduced the first commercial
jukebox designed to play the then-new 45 rpm records. They later
increased the number of records from 50 to 80, then 100 per machine.
The classic M100C is featured during the opening of the "Happy Days" TV series.
Return to Golden Oldies main page.
Return to the Doo-Wop main page.
Step back in time and relive those Blue Moon vinyl record memories with this unique cover of a Doo-Wop classic from 1961. You're gonna love this performance.
Signed to the new Gordy label in 1962, this group recorded Berry Gordy Jr.'s "Do You Love Me," resulting in the group's (and label's) first hit. Read the story here.
A remarkable true story and memories of this seldom played classic from 1959. Read the Darling Lorraine story.
This story reveals how an altercation between 2 teens resulted in a #1 song for The Angels. Read the finger pointing story here.
As countless broken-hearted teenage girls cried into their pillows, girl group records addressed themes of special importance to these young teenage girls. Read more..
A fantastic saxophone solo, an opening line wolf whistle and a cute girl struttin' around on stage screaming "We wear Short Shorts" gave the Royal Teens a #3 hit song in 1958. Read their remarkable story.
This song was #1 for Little Eva in 1962, and the cover version by Kylie Minogue was so popular it spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart. Listen to the original 45rpm recording and watch the best dance version ever! Read more.
Pink Shoe Laces was a cute #
3 hit song for 13 year old Dodie Stevens in 1959. Forty years later she
performs with her daughter in a 1999 special called "Rock-n-Roll
Graffiti" and WOW! Check it out!
"It's the smile on your face, It's your style and your grace... And that's why, that's why I love you."
A man with this much talent should certainly be entitled to more than this one simple page that I have provided and not just because I enjoyed one particular song of his more than his others. Check out his Guitar Riffs in this song.