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| Different Keith... |
The Hit
A little tune titled, “Ninety-Eight Point Six,” which sounds like something you’d hear in some coming-of-age B-movie from the late 1960s (and which, if you type it as "98.6" fucks up the link, so...). It topped out at No. 7, but hung in the charts for just over a quarter of a year. It was written by a team - Tony Powers (lyrics), George Fischoff (music), John Renzetti (arrangement) - and handed to Keith, who was pried out of a band by a producer who saw star qualities in him and sent out into the world as a solo artist. Keith’s reaction to it all bears noting:
“And When I hooked up with Jerry [Ross] he put me more into that pop commercial vein, and after hearing the song I remember calling my wife at the time and saying you wouldn’t believe what they have me singing, and I sang it to her over the phone. No, I had no idea.”
That last comment was on whether he knew it’d be a hit when he recorded it…
The Rest of the Story
Keith was born James Barry Keefer, and grew up in Philadelphia and with the “fame” bug. He started a number of bands, nearly all of them a play on his name – e.g., Keefer and the Shadows, Keif and the Bel-Airs (then there was The Admirations) – but he realized he had to drop most variations of “keif” when he learned it was “a Moroccan drug.” Keefer did enough to catch the attention of a DJ named Kal Rudman, who steered him to Ross, who in turn rechristened him “Keith” and sent him out into the world.
The “pop commercial vein” worked well for Keefer, and Ross fed him a couple other tunes – e.g., “Ain’t Gonna Lie” - which became his first (minor) hit. With those two hits under his belt, Keith made a big enough name to open for The Beach Boys on a national tour. Touring, as it happens, was very eventful for him. First, he was kicked off that tour for this:
A little tune titled, “Ninety-Eight Point Six,” which sounds like something you’d hear in some coming-of-age B-movie from the late 1960s (and which, if you type it as "98.6" fucks up the link, so...). It topped out at No. 7, but hung in the charts for just over a quarter of a year. It was written by a team - Tony Powers (lyrics), George Fischoff (music), John Renzetti (arrangement) - and handed to Keith, who was pried out of a band by a producer who saw star qualities in him and sent out into the world as a solo artist. Keith’s reaction to it all bears noting:
“And When I hooked up with Jerry [Ross] he put me more into that pop commercial vein, and after hearing the song I remember calling my wife at the time and saying you wouldn’t believe what they have me singing, and I sang it to her over the phone. No, I had no idea.”
That last comment was on whether he knew it’d be a hit when he recorded it…
The Rest of the Story
Keith was born James Barry Keefer, and grew up in Philadelphia and with the “fame” bug. He started a number of bands, nearly all of them a play on his name – e.g., Keefer and the Shadows, Keif and the Bel-Airs (then there was The Admirations) – but he realized he had to drop most variations of “keif” when he learned it was “a Moroccan drug.” Keefer did enough to catch the attention of a DJ named Kal Rudman, who steered him to Ross, who in turn rechristened him “Keith” and sent him out into the world.
The “pop commercial vein” worked well for Keefer, and Ross fed him a couple other tunes – e.g., “Ain’t Gonna Lie” - which became his first (minor) hit. With those two hits under his belt, Keith made a big enough name to open for The Beach Boys on a national tour. Touring, as it happens, was very eventful for him. First, he was kicked off that tour for this:
“But a skit that had him squeezing or eating fruits with suggestive offstage audio comments and sound effects caused problems. Keith left the tour after the mayor of a large southern city objected to the humor. The politician's daughter had been in the audience!”
