Tommy Hunt - Wildfire

Tommy Hunt sings "Wildfire", a song which Clive Scott and I actually wrote for Rosetta Hightower just a few weeks before Clive's accident. It was fated not to be, as we had a power cut that day, so Rosetta turned round and went home. Then the power came back on but she decided not to come back to the studio, so we demo'ed it for Tommy Hunt to sing, never dreaming Clive would pass away before he got a chance to do his vocals. Glenn Keiles helped me to finish the track, and The Flirtations and Steve Brookstein are singing on the backing vocals. This track is from my Album "Northern Soul 2009" and is a bittersweet loving tribute to the much missed Clive Scott. The legendary Tommy Hunt was born on the 18th June 1933, music dominated his life, and whilst performing in a club one night he was approached by Zeke Carey of The Flamingos to join the group and temporarily take his place whilst he served his time in the Army. There followed in 1958 their biggest hit 'I Only Have Eyes For You' for which the Flamingos are world renowned and it remains their most popular song, being used in movies and on compilation discs to this date. Tommy left the group in 1960 due to differences, mainly because he was not Jewish as were all the other members with the exception of Nate Nelson. Within 3 days he was approached by Luther Dixon and released 'Parade Of Broken Hearts' which was slow to be picked up by the radio stations until one day in New York a deejay by the name of Jocko introduced the song and flipped it by mistake causing the phones to ring off the hook... That song was 'Human'...Tommy's biggest hit in the USA. Tommy became a regular performing at The Apollo in New York. Tommy sang for the 2nd Anniversary of the Wigan Casino and there followed the ladder of his success on the Northern Soul Scene. Tommy was approached by Russ Winstanly and Mike Walker of Wigan Casino fame and released several hits on Spark, firstly a cover version of "Cracking Up Over You", formerly sung by his idol and biggest influence Roy Hamilton, and then followed on by this song, which gained some chart success in 1976, "Loving On The Losing Side". 1982/83 saw him win the Male Vocalist of the Year, presented by the Club Mirror Award. In 1996 the first of his recognitions came in the form of The Rhythm and Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for the Flamingos contribution to music. The Flamingos were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of America for their 30 year outstanding contribution to music.