Jay and the Americans were a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (né Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (né Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (né Yaguda), though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.
They were discovered while performing in student venues at New York University in the late 1950s. They auditioned for Leiber and St...
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Jay and the Americans were a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (né Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (né Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (né Yaguda), though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.
They were discovered while performing in student venues at New York University in the late 1950s. They auditioned for Leiber and Stoller, who gave the group its name. In the manner of the time, Leiber and Stoller wanted to extend this to "Binky Jones and the Americans," but Traynor declined to be known as Binky Jones his whole career. He instead offered up "Jay," a family nickname, and it suited everyone.
With Jay Traynor singing lead, they first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune "She Cried," which reached #5 (later covered by The Shangri-Las, Aerosmith, and others). The next two singles didn't fare nearly as well, and Traynor left the group. David Black (né...
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