Tribute to Dwight Twilley, featuring Sheldon Zoldan

The Beatles had a big influence on the music of Dwight Twilley, who was known as one of the fathers of power pop. His tribute is one of 44 episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.

He and Phil Seymour formed the Dwight Twilley Band, and their first single "I'm on Fire," was a surprise hit. However, they were unable to capitalize on the single's success because of internal problems at their record company. 

And so it went for Twilley's music career, coming so close to stardom but not quite making it really big.

To learn more about Twilley, you may want to read this review of "The Best of Dwight Twilley – The Tulsa Years (1999-2016) Vol 1." It's on the ClassicRockHistory website and gives the reader a feel for the artist himself. The album is available on Amazon. 

The image in this episode's chapters is from the cover of the Dwight Twilley Band's "Twilley Don't Mind," released in 1977. It's also available on Amazon.

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.
 
To hear "I'm on Fire," the song featured in this tribute, you can go here. 

Sheldon Zoldan, the writer and editor who wrote and recorded these tributes, also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to my show!

Available on Apple, Spotify, Audible and in other podcast directories, and on YouTube.

Transcript

Kate:
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Hello, and welcome to Everyday Creation. This is

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your host, Kate Jones, with one of 44

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tributes

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to significant figures in the music industry

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who passed away in 2023.

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My guest Sheldon Zoldan,

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a longtime writer and newspaper editor,

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wrote these short biographies

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and recorded them.

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Each one is an intriguing

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glimpse into the life and impact of someone

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who contributed

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to the soundtracks of our lives. Here's what

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Sheldon has to say in this tribute.

Sheldon:
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Dwight Twilley reached for the stars,

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but never quite grabbed on.

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He was little more than a one-hit

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wonder who was known as one of the

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fathers of power pop.

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Twilley died October 18th in Tulsa, Oklahoma,

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several days after having a stroke

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while driving his vehicle and then crashing into

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a tree. He was 72.

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Twilley got his start in his hometown of

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Tulsa when he was a teen.

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He and his band partner, Phil Seymour,

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met while waiting in line at a movie

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theater to see the Beatles' "A Hard Day's

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Night."

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They formed the Dwight Twilley Band and remained

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partners until the band broke up in 1978.

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Twilley did the songwriting for the group. He

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shared vocals with Seymour.

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The Beatles had a big influence on his

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music.

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He added a rockabilly

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flair when the group moved to Memphis.

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Our Song of the Day, "I'm on Fire,"

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was their debut single in 1975.

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It rose to number 16

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on the Billboard Hot 100,

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but the group couldn't take advantage of their

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surprise hit.

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Their first album

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didn't come out until almost a year later

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thanks to internal problems with the company they

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had a recording

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contract with.

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By then,

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the momentum was gone.

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The album only reached 138

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on Billboard's

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200 album chart.

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The next album did a little better, reaching

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number 70,

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and a year later the group disbanded.

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Twilley took his act solo.

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He had one hit,

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"Girls," which rose to number 16 on Billboard's

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Hot 100 chart in

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1984.

Kate:
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This is Kate again. Please go to the

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description for more information and to hear the

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song that Sheldon referenced.

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If you enjoyed this tribute, please check out

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the rest of them. Although some of the

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names are not as familiar as others, the

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biographies

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are equally intriguing.

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Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation.

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Please share this episode with anyone who might

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enjoy it.