Biography

The Platters were a successful vocal group of the early rock and roll era. The original group members were Alex Hodge, Cornell Gunther, David Lynch, Joe Jefferson, Gaynel Hodge and Herb Reed. Convinced by Jean Bennett and Tony Williams that "Only You" had potential, Ram had the Platters re-record the song during their first session for Mercury. Released in the summer of 1955, it became the group's first Top Ten hit on the pop charts, and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The follow-up, The Great Pretender, exceeded the success of their debut. It became the Platters' first national #1 hit. Other hits were "My Prayer", "You'll Never Never Know", "Twilight Time", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". In 1956, The Platters appeared in the first major motion picture based around rock and roll, Rock Around the Clock, and performed both "Only You" and "The Great Pretender"