This day in music history, June 16, 1956, the #1 song in the country was “The Wayward Wind” by Gogi Grant. Gogi was born Audrey Arinsberg on September 20, 1924 in Philadelphia. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 12. She always loved singing but never thought of it as a career. She was thinking of being a teacher or a commercial artist. All that changed when she entered a local talent contest at the Macambo nightclub. The orchestra leader at the club introduced her to a voice coach. Later she made a demo tape of the song “I’m Yours” at the Gold Star recording studio. Stan Ross was the studio owner and he set up an interview for her with a talent agent for MCA. However, the agent and Gogi agreed that she was not ready. A few days later Mr. Ross told Gogi that MCA wanted her. She left behind her demo and when the head of the music department returned from vacation he heard it and gave orders to “Find that voice.” It seems that she didn’t mean to leave it behind and they didn’t know who it was for three days.
Through MCA she signed with RCA records but none of her songs charted. Then Dave Kapp left RCA and started his own company. He was able to sign Gogi to a label called Era Records run by Herb Newman. During all of this Gogi had gone by her married name of Audrey Brown. Later her manager had her change her name to Audrey Grant. Later Dave Kapp had her change her first name to Gogi. He said that it came to him in a dream but some people doubt that is true. You see Kapp ate lunch at Gogi’s La Rue and some think that is where her name came from.
Some writers met with Gogi and showed her a song that was selected for her and played other songs that they had written. One of them was “Suddenly There’s a Valley.” She told them she liked it and wanted to record it. They were surprised as they thought it was more for a male voice. They let her record it and Gogi went on tour to promote the song. By the time she got to her first city on the tour there were 5 covers of the song. She said “If I hadn’t gone on that publicity trip, I would have lost that record.” It charted at #9. The follow up to that record was “Who Are We.” While recording it Herb Newman showed her a song he wrote in school with Stan Lebousky. They also thought it would be a good song for a man to sing. But, with some changes in the lyrics made, Gogi Grant recorded “The Wayward Wind” in the last 15 minutes of her recording session. “Who Are We” only reached #62 but “The Wayward Wind” went all the way to #1.
Through MCA she signed with RCA records but none of her songs charted. Then Dave Kapp left RCA and started his own company. He was able to sign Gogi to a label called Era Records run by Herb Newman. During all of this Gogi had gone by her married name of Audrey Brown. Later her manager had her change her name to Audrey Grant. Later Dave Kapp had her change her first name to Gogi. He said that it came to him in a dream but some people doubt that is true. You see Kapp ate lunch at Gogi’s La Rue and some think that is where her name came from.
Some writers met with Gogi and showed her a song that was selected for her and played other songs that they had written. One of them was “Suddenly There’s a Valley.” She told them she liked it and wanted to record it. They were surprised as they thought it was more for a male voice. They let her record it and Gogi went on tour to promote the song. By the time she got to her first city on the tour there were 5 covers of the song. She said “If I hadn’t gone on that publicity trip, I would have lost that record.” It charted at #9. The follow up to that record was “Who Are We.” While recording it Herb Newman showed her a song he wrote in school with Stan Lebousky. They also thought it would be a good song for a man to sing. But, with some changes in the lyrics made, Gogi Grant recorded “The Wayward Wind” in the last 15 minutes of her recording session. “Who Are We” only reached #62 but “The Wayward Wind” went all the way to #1.
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