Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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SUNNY & THE SUNGLOWS
“TALK TO ME”
(Joe Seneca)
Tear Drop 3014
No. 11 October 26, 1963
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Sunny Ozuna (lead vocals) and the rest of the Sunglows–Gilbert Fernandez, Alfred Luna, Tony Tostado, and
the Villanueva brothers (Jesse, Oscar, and Ray)–met while attending the Burbank Vocational School in San
Antonio, Tellas. When they formed their act in 1959, they were Chicano rockers, but each member brought
a unique musical influence to the total sound. Within the Sunglows were strong interests in the blues,
country, Tex-Mex, mariachi, up-tempo polkas, and the swamp-pop leanings of JOE BARRY, ROD
BERNARD, and Jivin’ Gene.
In 1962, the group formed the Sunglow record label; with limited distribution. A positive response to the
Sunglows’ eclectic offerings came with “Golly Gee,” possibly their initial single. For a time, Okeh picked up
the disk for national dispersal. The following year, producer Huey “Crazy Cajun” Meaux–the Lousiana
barber/eccentric known for his recording successes with BARBARA LYNN and later ROY HEAD, Sir
Douglas Quintet and Freddy Fender–had Sunny and crew cover “Talk To Me,” a ramblin’ rockaballad first
popularized in the ’50s by Little Willie John. The cut was swampy, pleasantly sloppy, and right on the
groove.
Remakes of Tony Bennett’s “Rags To Riches” (#45, 1963) and the Five Keys’ “Out Of Sight-Out Of Mind”
(#71,1964) were similarly styled romps, and fairly successful ones. These platters appeared under the
name “Sunny & The Sunliners,” in order to distinguish the group’s pop releases from the polka
instrumentals that they were concurrently issuing under the “Sunny & The Sunglows” banner. One of these
[pop] sax-soaked singles, “Peanuts,” would reach number 64 in 1965.