Hi, everyone. I found the below Wikkipedia article on Robert Thomas (Bobby)
Freeman, June 13, 1940 to January 28, 2017. Devon.
Freeman was born and raised in San Francisco, California
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco,_California> .
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-vvn-2> [2] He started
singing in a doo-wop <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo-wop> group, the
Romancers, in his early teens, and first recorded with them for Dootone
Records <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dootone_Records> in 1956. Their
recordings included "House Cat", included on several later rock and roll
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_roll> compilations. However, the
group soon fell apart, and Freeman started a new group, the Vocaleers (not
to be confused with an earlier group of the same name who recorded "Is It a
Dream"). <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-blackcat-4>
[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-classic-5> [5]
When asked by a local DJ if he had written any songs, he wrote several and
recorded them as solo demos <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demo_(music)> .
These included "Do You Want to Dance", which were heard by a visiting record
label executive, Mortimer Palitz of Jubilee Records
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_Records> . He signed Freeman to the
label, and had the original recording overdubbed in New York by session
musicians including guitarist Billy Mure
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mure> . Released on the Jubilee
subsidiary label Jamie <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Records> , "Do
You Want to Dance" quickly rose to number 5 on the pop chart
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100> and number 2 on the R
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26B_chart> &B chart in early 1958, when
Freeman was still only 17.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-classic-5> [5]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-blackcat-4> [4] The
song was covered <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version> later (as
"Do You Wanna Dance") by Del Shannon
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Shannon> , the Beach Boys
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beach_Boys> , Johnny Rivers
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Rivers> , Bette Midler
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Midler> , John Lennon
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon> , Cliff Richard
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Richard> , Marc Bolan
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bolan> & T.Rex, the Mamas
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mamas_%26_The_Papas> & The Papas, Bobby
Vee <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Vee> and the Ramones
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramones> .
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-classic-5> [5]
Freeman appeared on American Bandstand
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bandstand> and toured with such
musicians as Fats Domino <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino> , the
Coasters <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coasters> , and Jackie Wilson
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Wilson> . Several of his follow-ups on
Laurie, including "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes" and "Need Your Love",
a ballad, also made the pop charts. He left Laurie in 1960 and signed with
King Records <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Records> , reaching the
charts again with "Shimmy Shimmy".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-classic-5> [5]
However, several of Freeman's later recordings for King in the early 1960s
went unreleased, for unexplained reasons. He did not return to the charts
again until 1964, after signing for the Autumn
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Records> label, when he had his
second top ten hit with "C'mon and Swim". The song was co-written by label
owner and radio DJ Tom Donahue <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Donahue>
(credited under his birth name, Thomas Coman), and 20-year-old Sylvester
Stewart, later known as Sly Stone <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_Stone>
, and was produced by Stewart. Freeman's final hit was "S-W-I-M", later in
1964. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-blackcat-4> [4]
In 1964, Bobby Freeman played nightly at the Condor Club
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Club> in San Francisco where Carol
Doda <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Doda> performed her topless go-go
dancing <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-go_dancing> shows. Mainly
supporting himself as a singer in clubs by the late 1960s, he continued to
release singles <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music)> on various
small local labels through to the mid-1970s, but met with little commercial
success. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Freeman#cite_note-6> [6] He
performed at the Bay Area Music ("Bammy") Awards in later years.
He died at his home in Anson, Texas
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson,_Texas> , on January 28, 2017.
