Joanie Sommers

Career

Sommers began singing in church choirs as a way to deal with "a difficult childhood", and in 1951 at age 10, appeared on a Buffalo television program singing Hank Williams' Your Cheating Heart, winning the amateur talent contest. In 1955 the family relocated to Venice, California. Sommers went on to win honors to become vocalist with her high school band at Venice High, and did so again at Santa Monica City College. Her break came after a friend took her to the Deauville Country Club (now Braemar Country Club) where she sang with arranger-composer Tommy Oliver whose band was resident at the time. Oliver arranged for a demo record to be cut and presented to Warner Brothers, whereupon Sommers was signed to the label.

Warner initially enlisted her vocal talents singing Am I Blue on a 1959 Warner specialty record Behind Closed Doors at a Recording Session and on one side of a spoken-word single Kookie's Love Song with Edd Byrnes. The pairing with Byrnes also put her into a small role in 77 Sunset Strip, the television series that featured Byrnes in the role of Kookie. In addition, she sang on Byrnes' I Don't Dig You and Hot Rod Rock which appeared on one of his albums.

Concurrently, Tommy Oliver supported Sommers by starring her in his orchestra engagements at California venues Hollywood Palladium and The Chalet at Lake Arrowhead.

Her 1960 debut single "One Boy" (from the musical Bye Bye Birdie) charted for 3 months peaking at #54 on the Billboard Top 100. Both "One Boy" and the flip side "I'll Never Be Free" were Billboard Spotlight Winners. A subsequent touring schedule included venues such as New York's Left Bank Club, Hollywood's Crescendo, Freddie's in Minneapolis, and The Cloister in Chicago and appearances on the Jack Paar Show and Bobby Darin Special.

In early 1960, Warner released Sommers' first LP, Positively the Most which did not include the One Boy hit single. Later that year Warner released the single Ruby-Duby-Du featuring a vocal version of the Tobin Mathews & Co. instrumental from the movie Key Witness; The record did not chart.

In 1962, her single "Johnny Get Angry", released on Warner Bros. Records, reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. When the Boys Get Together, charted at #94 later the same year. In a 2001 interview, Sommers commented on the legacy of her greatest hit: "Twenty albums with some of the greatest names in jazz and I'm eternally linked to Johnny Get Angry."

Her 1965 track, Don't Pity Me (Warner Bros. 5629 – Don't Pity Me / My Block), was a Northern Soul hit in the UK and often features on Northern Soul top lists. The 45RPM record routinely changes hands among collectors at over $500.00 a copy. The latter song "My Block" was written by Jimmy Radcliffe, Bert Berns and Carl Spencer and had previously been recorded by Clyde McPhatter on his "Songs Of The Big City" Album and by The Chiffons, recording as The Four Pennies on Rust Records.

Throughout the 1960s Sommers appeared on television as a singer and game show contestant including shows such as Everybody's Talking, Hollywood Squares, You Don't Say, and The Match Game, as well as a performer on Dick Clark's Where the Action Is, Hullabaloo, and other variety shows of the period. In 1963 she appeared on the January 22 segment of The Jack Benny Show where she sang "I'll Never Stop Loving You"; another guest was actor Peter Lorre.

Sommers' acting credits include Everything's Ducky (1961) opposite Mickey Rooney and Jack Arnold's The Lively Set (1964), where she sang "If You Love Him".

In a parallel career track of commercial vocal work, Sommers sang It's Pepsi, For Those Who Think Young (to the tune of "Makin' Whoopee") and, later, Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation in commercials, and she came to be referred to as "The Pepsi Girl". Years later she sang the jingle "Now You See It, Now You Don't" for the sugar-free companion product, Diet Pepsi.

Sommers voice work credits for animated films include The Peppermint Choo Choo, which was scrubbed, although the music was released; Rankin/Bass' The Mouse on the Mayflower as Priscilla Mullins (1968); and B.C.: The First Thanksgiving (1973) in dual roles as the Fat Broad and the Cute Chick.

In the early 1970s, Sommers withdrew from show business to focus on family life. She began making public appearances again during the 1980s, including two on KCRW's satirical radio program, The Cool & the Crazy, hosted by Art Fraud (Ronn Spencer) and Vic Tripp (Gene Sculatti).

In 2004 the Japan-only release "Johnny Got Angry" consisted of all original tunes written by Joanie's friend and fellow cartoon voice actor, Will Ryan.

Personal life

Sommers was married to theatrical agent Jerry Steiner up until his death in 1972. Their three children are Carolyn, Nancy and Jason.

Album discography