This sad news in from Oldies Music.com
George Jones, lead singer of the Edsels and writer of their hit, "Rama Lama Ding Dong", died Saturday (September 27) in Youngstown, Ohio at the age of 71. No cause of death was given but George had suffered from cancer. He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1936 and his family moved to Youngstown so his father could work in the steel mill there. Though he originally sang doo wop with other students at Campbell Memorial High School, it was in the Air Force that George wrote the classic "Rama Lama Ding Dong", which he didn't think would be a hit. Upon his return in 1957 though, the group recorded the tune, calling themselves the Essos (after the chain of gas stations). That was quickly changed to Edsels when Ford introduced their lavish new car. The song appeared in 1958 on tiny Dub Records out of Little Rock as "Lama Rama Ding Dong". The song went nowhere (much like the Edsel car), as did two follow-ups on two other labels, though the group did appear on "American Bandstand". It was the success of "Blue Moon" by the Marcels in 1961 however, that convinced a New York disk Jockey to start playing the similar-sounding song. That led to the song being leased by Old Town Records, who re-released it on their Twin label. With its title corrected, the song made #21 nationally, no doubt hindered by the release of an alternate take by Dub. In fact, though the Edsels then signed with Capitol Records, they had to compete with older recordings from Dub which were leased to Dot Records and never charted again on any label. The Edsels broke up in 1963 and in later years George managed several gospel groups, including one made up of his family members.
