Tommy Hunt

Tommy Hunt
Background information
Birth name	Charles James Hunt
Born	(1933-06-18) June 18, 1933 (age 83) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation(s)	Singer
Associated acts	The Flamingos

Tommy Hunt (born Charles James Hunt, June 18, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American soul/northern soul singer, and a 2001 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee as a member of famed R&B group The Flamingos.

Born to Georgianna Derico, Hunt started his life in Pittsburgh, where his school friends, nicknamed him Tommy and it has stayed with him throughout his entire life. Music dominated his life and he was sent to reform school after spending his learning hours practicing for and entering talent shows. He was released from reform school when he was 10, and he and his mother moved to Chicago.

After a stint in the United States Air Force, Hunt went AWOL in order to be with his mother who was dying. He served time in prison for deserting, and after his release, returned to Chicago and formed a group called The Five Echoes. While performing in a club, he was approached by Zeke Carey of The Flamingos, and asked to take Carey's place, as he had recently been drafted. Hunt was kept on after Carey returned.

In 1959 their biggest hit was "I Only Have Eyes For You" which remains their most popular song, being used in film soundtracks and on compilation albums to this date.

Hunt left the group in 1960 due to musical differences, but within three days he was approached by Luther Dixon and released "Parade Of Broken Hearts" which was slow to be picked up by the radio stations. In New York a disc jockey called Jocko Henderson introduced the song but played the B-side by mistake. The track aired was "Human", Hunt's biggest hit in the U.S. His 1962 B-side, "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", written by Bacharach and David and produced by Leiber and Stoller, was the first recording of the song which later became a major hit for Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick and others.

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