Throughout the Summer of 1964 and into the Fall, The Chartbusters were making a name for themselves with their debut single, "She's The One". The single made it to the top of the charts in many markets, peaking at #33 on the national Billboard Hot 100 Chart. But as the single finally began to fade, it was time to ready a follow up. In those days singles followed each other pretty quickly, with 3 or 4 months being most singles' average lifetime.
Figuring that I was the age of the typical music fan, my dad came to me and played both sides of the band's new single. First he played the side everyone was leaning towards, a Big Al Downing composition entitled "Stop The Music". Then he played the other side, a tune written by lead vocalist/lead guitarist Vernon Sandusky called "Why (Doncha Be My Girl)". I immediately chose "Why". I loved the harmonies and the brisk pace of the song and I was thrilled to have a hand in the selection of the next A-side.
"Why (Doncha Be My Girl)" just barely made the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #92. A few places around the country really supported the follow up, but The Poe Kat felt that instead of going forward, the band was going backward. Still, everyone was in high spirits and The Chartbusters continued to be a prime concert draw.
I thought the band's third single, "You're Breaking My Heart", was one of their best. It reminded me a lot of The Searchers. But it failed to do much and it marked The Chartbusters' last single for Mutual Records.
The band's next single was on Crusader Records. My dad wanted to convey some of the excitement of The Chartbusters' live performances, so they did a remake of one of the band's concert staples, "New Orleans". My dad overdubbed live crowd noises to the track - a pretty progressive idea at the time (even though thoroughly misleading) - and it did create an aura of excitement. That single had pockets of big support, but peaked at #134 on the Billboard Top 200 Singles Chart...