The Techniques (Georgia Tech University, Atlanta, GA)
Personnel :
Buddy Harold (Lead)
Jim Tinney (First Tenor)
Jim Moore (Bass)
Jin Falin (Baritone)
Discography :
1957 - Hey! Little Girl / In A Round About Way (Stars 551 / Roulette 4030)
1958 - (Why Did I Ever) Let Her Go / Marindy (Roulette 4048)
1958 - Moon Tan / The Wisest Man in Town (Roulette 4097)
Biography :
Four
Phil Sigma Kappa Fraternity brothers with time on their hands started
singing "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing", slightly off keys and just
for fun. Students passing by stopped to listen, and the Techniques had
their first audition. A listener suggested the boys - Jim Moore, 22,
Knoxville; Jim Falin, 21, Corcoran, Calif; Jim Tinney, 22, Greenville,
SC., and Buddy Harold, 21, Louisville, Ky. - sing at rush parties. The
boys agreed it would be a lark. Sosing they did.
That was in fall of ’55. a few weeks later the boys tagged themselves The Techniques, and sang their lucky song, "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing »,to win local talent contests. They appeared on local TV and Radio shows, including several telethons for charity. They got star billing on a tV afternoon show for three months.In July 1957, The Techniques decided to give up their singing and concentrate on their studies. Not that their grades were suffering noticeably, but, after all, they were singing just for fun. At his home in Knoxville, Buddy took "about three minutes" our to write down a song "just to see how it would sound."
When he returned to College, a classmate asked the Techniques to
sing at a party. The Boys gathered in the library to rehearse, and sang
Buddy’s song. They taped the tune "Just for the heck of it." Buddy
thought a record of the song would make a nice keepsake, so he took it
to a local recording studio. The manager, after listening to the tune,
"doctored it a bit," with echoes and sound effects. Lowery produced a
session with the techniques, with back up musicians Ray Stevens, Jerry
Reed, Joe South and Chet Atkins…. "He only charged what it cost to make
the records," Buddy recalled, "but it took my last ten dollars to pay
for it." That investment has paid off handsomely.
The
songs Buddy wrote and the record his last ten dollars bought was "Hey
Little Girl," one of the nation’s top hit in November 1957. Although
they "thought it sounded pretty good," The Techniques didn’t fully
appreciate the potential selling power of the record until their friend
Jerry Vandeventer of WSB heard the song, played it over the air. A local
music publisher went into action, released the record nationally on
Roulette. Overnight, in New York, "Hey Little Girl" jumped "from
nothing" to a listing among the top 20 tunes. On the heels of their
triumph on American Bandstand, The Techniques opened at the Paramount
theater in New York for a week’s engagement over the thanksgiving
holidays. Roulette released two others singles in 1958, but "Hey Little
Girl" is the only Billboard chart entry for the group.
Songs :
(Why Did I Ever) Let Her Go Hey! Little Girl
Marindy The Wisest Man You Know
Moon Tan In A Round About Way