David White (musician)

David White (born November 26, 1939, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American singer and songwriter. He formed, and was a founding member of the doo-wop quartet Danny & the Juniors as well as being a founding member of the pop trio The Spokesmen. He wrote the Rock and Roll anthem, "Rock and Roll is Here to Stay" and co-wrote a number of other hit songs, including "At the Hop," "You Don't Own Me" and "1-2-3."

David, prior to attending school, toured the country performing with his parents in their acrobatic/hand-balancing act called Barry and Brenda and Company. He was the Company.

In 1955, White formed a vocal group that he named The Juvenaires, of which he was a member singing first tenor. The other original members were Danny Rapp (lead singer), Joe "Terry" Terranova (baritone) and Frank Maffei (second tenor).

In 1957, David and John Madara wrote "Do the Bop" for the group. John, who had a chart record at the time called "Be My Girl" on Prep Records under the name of Johnny Madara, took The Juvenaires to his vocal coach/record producer, Artie Singer for an audition. Artie liked what he heard and scheduled a recording session at Reco-Art Studios in Philly to record "Do the Bop" and a ballad that David White had written called, "Sometimes (When I'm All Alone)."

At the recording session, The Juvenaires were told that they would be singing back-up for John, who needed a follow-up record. They complied but as it turned out, John's record company turned it down. Artie Singer took it to Dick Clark, who suggested that they call it "At the Hop" since the dance called the Bop was on the way out and the hops were what was happening. Artie took his advice and changed some of the lyrics to fit the new idea, becoming a co-writer on the song with David and John. A new recording session was scheduled at Reco-Art Studios with recording engineer/owner, Emile Corson. The trio of musicians consisted of Walt Gates on grand piano, Artie Singer on upright bass and Jack O'Brian on drums. This time, The Juvenaires recorded the two songs while John Madara was in the control room overseeing the session.

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