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MUSIC HISTORY 101
JULY 21, 2006 - Singer HERBIE KALIN (b. February 16, 1934 in Port Jervis, New York as Herbert Kalin) from a heart attack at age 72. He was married and had four children, Suzan Lynn, Kelly Lee, Buddy Ladd, and Jonathan Ray. Kalin was best known as half of the pop music duo called The Kalin Twins. Harold (Hal) and Herbert (Herbie) Kalin were a twin brother act whose only Top Ten hit was "When".
The twins’ first public performances came at just five years of age at a local Christmas party, and the bug stayed with them. Among their favorites were Johnnie Ray, Nat 'King' Cole and Tony Bennett, music from the pre-rock era. But they also heard rhythm and blues and early rock n roll. At high school, they were stars of both the baseball team and end-of-term concerts. They graduated from Port Jervis High School in June 1952, but plans to break into the music industry were delayed when Hal was drafted into the Air Force as a radio operator. They kept in touch during this period, recording and writing songs on a tape recorder and sending them back and forth. After Hal’s discharge in 1956 they set about resurrecting their double act in Washington, DC and began to play the nightclubs there.
In 1957 they came to the attention of songwriter Clint Ballard, who offered his services as manager and got them a deal with Decca Records in New York and booked them on the New York nightclub circuit. Ballard was the writer of many hit records such as "Good Timin'" for Jimmy Jones, and "I'm Alive" for The Hollies.
During these early struggles, a demo single was pressed in December 1958, combining the compositions “Beggar Of Love” and “The Spider And The Fly”. The result was an audition for Decca, and their first proper single was Ballard’s “Jumpin’ Jack” backed by the twins’ “Walkin’ To School”. It was music that had one foot in the semi-rock pop of Paul Anka and Bobby Darin and one in Everly Brothers-style close harmonies. The record flopped, but on their second session, the Kalin Twins clicked.
While searching through piles of writers’ demo tapes to find a suitable follow-up the twins discovered a song entitled ‘When’, written by Paul Evans and Jack Reardon. It became their second single. “When” was first offered to the Everly Brothers, who rejected it, as did the Kalin Twins' producer, Jack Pleis. Overruled by Ballard and his protégés, Pleis scored an appealing stop-start arrangement, punctuated by finger-clicks. However, the record company chose to plug its flip side called “Three O’Clock Thrill” instead. It was not until disc jockeys belatedly began to play “When” that the single took off.
Hal later told Jimmy Guterman in 1991: "Decca thought that 'Three O'Clock Thrill' was more of a teenybopper hit. It mentioned a soda store and had a nice sax ride. They took out big ads in Billboard, but we were secretly promoting 'When'. We knew 'When' would make it." The 1957-58 sessions were all held at the Pythian Temple in New York City, under the supervision of Pleis, but the three 1959 recording dates occurred in Nashville, with Owen Bradley in the producer's chair and with accompaniment by the Nashville A-Team. “When” quickly topped the UK Singles Chart, and reached #5 in their US selling over two million copies worldwide in the process. The Kalin Twins were the first set of twins to reach #1 in the UK as a duo, not matched until “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers hit the top in 2000. “When” remained in the UK listings for 18 weeks, 5 of which were at #1.
With the knowledge that, in 1956, Elvis Presley accounted for 60% of RCA's net takings, every other record company in North America put forward a challenger. As Acuff-Rose did with the Everly Brothers, Decca promoted the Kalin Twins as two Presleys for the price of one. With open-necked shirts, striped blazers and gravity-defying hair-dos, they seemed to vindicate the company's strategy in 1958 with the million-selling “When.” Decca's press office subtracted five years from the date of their birth. Coast to coast touring of the USA ensued before a two week engagement at the Prince Of Wales Theatre in England (later dates introduced Cliff Richard as support artist on his first national tour). The twins were one of the first US rock 'n' roll acts to undertake a UK tour, and it sealing a lifelong friendship with Cliff Richard. That autumn, “When” unseated the Everly Brothers at #1 in Britain. A further month at the top warranted a performance by the twins at the London Palladium and on BBC television's pioneering pop series “6-5 Special.” silver color wears for bridesmaid With Sequins
Their second single, "Forget Me Not," reached #12 in the US Billboard chart later in 1958, but after two further low-ranking entries in 1959 including “Oh! My Goodness” they never reached the Top Forty again. Two more minor US hits followed titled “It’s Only The Beginning” and “Sweet Sugar Lips” which spent one week at #97 in July 1959 and that was the end of the line, chart-wise as their remaining Decca sides failed to sell. After several NYC sessions in 1960-61, the Kalins returned to Nashville in June 1962, for their final Decca session. A cover of Joe Brown's # 2 UK hit "A Picture Of You" was completely overlooked by American record buyers. But recording was no longer the Kalins' focus. Through the remainder of their Decca contract, Herb and Hal spent most of their time on the road.
By the mid-1960s with English groups like The Beatles placing on US charts, there seemed little place in the market for the Kalin Twins’ innocent harmonies, although a further single, “Sometimes It Comes, Sometimes It Goes” for Amy Records, did appear in 1966. Eventually, disillusioned with diminishing returns, the brothers returned to their day jobs, with each pursuing college degrees.
They did not perform again until 1977 when a friend booked them to appear weekly at his new nightclub, the River Boat Club. This led to further one-off engagements, in which they were sometimes joined by younger sibling Jack to appear as the Kalin Brothers. A brace of singles appeared for small labels: “Silver Seagull” and “American Eagle” both used the same backing track. Latter-day releases included a 1980 disco remake of “When.”
They disappeared again as a performing act, until 1989 when Cliff Richard invited them to play at his Wembley Stadium “The Event” concerts, as part of a sequence paying homage to the 1950s television pop show, “Oh Boy!” With their openly nostalgic “Remember When” revue, the now bearded, bow-tied and tuxedoed twins remained a reliable attraction, and a cabaret tour of Australasia was scheduled for the New Year. In 2000, they collaborated on an autobiography, “A Smash in the Can.” Herbie Kalin died almost a year after the death of Hal, whose death on August 24, 2005 at age 71 was a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Charles County, Maryland.

READ MORE:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4226748/bio
http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/kalin_twins.htm
http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/The-Kalin-Twins.html
https://www.theguardian.com/…/2005/sep/27/guardianobituarie…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalin_Twins

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