John Medora

John L. Medora (born May 28, 1936), also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer who teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop".^[1]

He first recorded in 1957 with a hit single "Be My Girl", and later that year wrote a song called "Do the Bop" with Dave White. The "Bop" was a popular dance on the TV show, American Bandstand. On the advice of the host Dick Clark, the lyrics and title were changed to "At the Hop", and the song was recorded by Danny and the Juniors, becoming a US number 1 and international hit. He later co-wrote other hits including "1-2-3" for Len Barry, and "You Don't Own Me" for Lesley Gore.^[2]

In 1965, he and White co-wrote and performed, as the Spokesmen, the song "Dawn of Correction", an answer song to Barry McGuire's hit "Eve of Destruction". The song reached number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The pair also formed their own publishing company which was later sold to Michael Jackson. Madara also worked as a record producer, and discovered both Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble (Gamble and Huff), later a successful songwriter and producer attributed to pioneering the style of music known as Philly Soul, and the recording artist Hall and Oates.^[2][3]

He spent two years in Las Vegas working with one of the most successful performers of all time, Wayne Newton. He produced two of his albums and further produced and wrote songs for a Christmas television special for Wayne Newton on CBS. In the mid 1970s he moved to Los Angeles, and produced music for movies including Cinderella Liberty and Hey Good Lookin', as well as for television.^[2]

Film soundtracks[]

Songs have appeared on some of the biggest grossing soundtrack albums of all time, including American Graffiti and Woodstock ("At The Hop"), Grease ("Rock and Roll is Here to Stay"), Hairspray ("The Fly" and "You Don't Own Me"), Mr. Holland's Opus ("1-2-3"), and Dirty Dancing and The First Wives Club ("You Don't Own Me"). It was the 1996 hit film, The First Wives Club, that not only featured "You Don’t Own Me", but it was used as the theme of the movie. On November 27, 2016, the song was announced to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[4]

References[]

External links[]

• That Philly Sound: John Madara
• Repertoire.bmi.com John Madara at BMI (CAE/IPI #: 19037892)
• John Madara discography at Discogs
• Extensive interview
• John Madara at IMDb