marvin berry & the starlighters was the fictional band in back to the future that played earth angel.
marvin berry & the starlighters was the fictional band in back to the future that played earth angel.
who was the fictional band in back to the future that played earth angel?
marvin berry & the starlighters
in addition to cover versions, the song has also been employed in various film and television soundtracks. the 1991 film "earth angel" was named after the song. the song has been used in the television series "happy days". it was featured prominently in the film "back to the future" (performed by harry waters jr. as marvin berry & the starlighters), as well as "superman iii" and "the karate kid part ii". it is also used in the jukebox musical "jersey boys", a musical about the rock band the four seasons. australian group human nature covered the song on their 2014 album "jukebox".
earth angel
at the time, it was a rare achievement for an r&b song to chart within the top echelons of the pop chart. the penguins were the first west coast r&b group to dent the pop top ten. in may 1955, dootsie williams was presented with a gold record to celebrate the record selling one million copies (it was reported that nearly 200,000 copies of "earth angel" were sold in southern california alone). with the popularity of the song "the flying saucer", the single saw revived sales in summer 1956. when the penguins switched to mercury records, the label reissued "earth angel" in september 1956 with string accompaniment. the following july, "billboard" reported that the single was again breaking out in certain markets, remarking, "this wax breaks out every summer." it made another appearance at #101 in late december 1959. indeed, "billboard" confirmed the single's enduring popularity in 1960: "the original version of 'earth angel,' for example, is still known to be a heavy traffic item in many areas." by 1963, williams had told "billboard" the single had passed the 2,000,000 mark, and it was reported to be the top-selling single of dootone records (at this period renamed dooto). the same year, it was reported that thousands of bogus copies of "earth angel" were attempted to be sold by an unidentified counterfeiter.
earth angel