Rockin Rebels : Wild Weekend ( 1963 )

The Rockin' Rebels career began when Buffalo, New York disc jockey Tom Shannon and his partner Phil Todaro wrote a theme song, "Wild Weekend," for Shannon's radio show. The song -- originally a vocal -- became a local favorite with his listening audience, and the light bulb went on over his head when he was deluged with requests for a copy of a record that doesn't exist. While hosting a record hop, Shannon was approached by a local high school band on the bill, the Rebels, named after Duane Eddy's backing group. The band asked Shannon if they could play an instrumental version of his theme song. Shannon hadn't thought of the tune as an instrumental, but after hearing the group's version of it, he quickly booked them into a studio. Released on Todaro and Shannon's own Marlee label in 1959, the record was a big hit regionally, kicking up enough noise to secure the band a spot on Dick Clark's Amercian Bandstand.
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