Joanie Sommers

Joanie Sommers
Sommers circa 1960s.
Background information
Birth name	Joan Drost
Born	(1941-02-24) February 24, 1941 (age 76) Buffalo, New York, United States
Genres	Popular music
Years active	1960s–1970s, 1980s

Joanie Sommers (born Joan Drost, Buffalo, New York, February 24, 1941) is an American singer and actress with a career concentrating on jazz, standards and popular material and show-business credits. Once billed as "The Voice of the Sixties", and associated with top-notch arrangers, song-writers and producers, Sommers' popular reputation became closely tied to her biggest, yet most uncharacteristic, hit song "Johnny Get Angry."

Sommers began singing in church choirs as a way to deal with "a difficult childhood", and in 1951 at age 10, appeared on a Buffalo television program singing Hank Williams' Your Cheating Heart, winning the amateur talent contest. In 1955 the family relocated to Venice, California. Sommers went on to win honors to become vocalist with her high school band at Venice High, and did so again at Santa Monica City College. Her break came after a friend took her to the Deauville Country Club (now Braemar Country Club) where she sang with arranger-composer Tommy Oliver whose band was resident at the time. Oliver arranged for a demo record to be cut and presented to Warner Brothers, whereupon Sommers was signed to the label.

Warner initially enlisted her vocal talents singing Am I Blue on a 1959 Warner specialty record Behind Closed Doors at a Recording Session and on one side of a spoken-word single Kookie's Love Song with Edd Byrnes. The pairing with Byrnes also put her into a small role in 77 Sunset Strip, the television series that featured Byrnes in the role of Kookie. In addition, she sang on Byrnes' I Don't Dig You and Hot Rod Rock which appeared on one of his albums.

Concurrently, Tommy Oliver supported Sommers by starring her in his orchestra engagements at California venues Hollywood Palladium and The Chalet at Lake Arrowhead.