The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood", "Charlie Brown", "Poison Ivy", and "Yakety Yak", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller.
History
The Coasters were formed on October 12, 1955, when Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn left Los Angeles–based rhythm-and-blues group the Robins and signed to Atlantic Records. Dubbed the Coasters because they had moved from the West Coast to the East Coast, the original lineup comprised the vocal quartet of Gardner, Nunn, Billy Guy, and Leon Hughes (who was replaced by Young Jessie on a couple of their early Los Angeles recordings), plus guitarist Adolph Jacobs up until his departure in 1959. (their sixth single with Leiber and Stoller). The record was popular enough for Atlantic Records to offer Leiber and Stoller an independent production contract to produce the Robins for Atlantic. Only two of the Robins—Gardner and Nunn—were willing to make the move to Atlantic, recording their first songs in the same studio as the Robins had done (Master Recorders). The Coasters also joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
Several groups used the name in the 1970s, touring throughout the country, though original member Carl Gardner held the legal rights to it.
Leon Hughes, the last surviving member of the original Coasters, died of natural causes on March 1, 2023, at the age of 92. Prior to his death, he performed with his own group.
Several former members of the band met untimely ends. Saxophonist King Curtis, known as the "Fifth Coaster," was fatally stabbed by two drug addicts outside his apartment building in 1971. Cornelius Gunter was murdered in a Las Vegas parking garage in 1990.
Group members
List of current members from the official Coasters website run by Veta Gardner's Official Coasters, Inc. or November 2009–2016 and the UK Singles Chart.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of singles with year, title, label, peak chart positions, album
! scope="col" rowspan="2" width=6% | Year
! scope="col" rowspan="2" width=30% | Title<br><small>A-side / B-side</small>
! scope="col" rowspan="2" width=15% | Label<br>(US)
! scope="col" colspan="3" width=24% | Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" width=25% | Original<br>album
|-
! width=8% | <small>Billboard Hot 100</small><br>
| 1
| 15
|-
|"Run Red Run" /
| rowspan="2" | Atco<br><small>(45-6153)</small>
| 36
| 29
| —
| rowspan="2" | Coast Along
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="4" | 1960
| "What About Us"
| 47
| 17
| —
|-
| "Bésame Mucho" (Part 1) /<br> (Part 2)
| Atco<br><small>(45-6163)</small>
| 70
| —
| —
|
|-
| "Wake Me, Shake Me" b/w<br> "Stewball"
| Atco<br><small>(45-6168)</small>
| 51
| 14
| —
| Coast Along
|-
| "Shoppin' for Clothes" b/w<br>"The Snake and the Book Worm"
| Atco<br><small>(45-6178)</small>
| 83
| —
| —
| Coast Along <small>(B-side)</small>
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" | 1961
| "Wait a Minute" /<br>"Thumbin' a Ride"
| Atco<br><small>(45-6186)</small>
| 37
| —
| —
| Coast Along <small>(A-side)</small>
|-
| "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" b/w<br> "Keep on Rolling"
| Atco<br><small>(45-6192)</small>
| 23
| 16
| —
| Coast Along
|-
| "Girls Girls Girls" (Part II) /<br>(Part I)
| Atco<br><small>(45-6204)</small>
| 96
| —
| —
| Coast Along <small>(A-side)</small>
|-
! scope="row" | 1964
| "T'ain't Nothin' to Me" b/w<br>"Speedo's Back in Town"
| Atco<br><small>(45-6287)</small>
| 64
| 20
| —
|
|-
|}
Billboard Year-End performances
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
! Year
! Song
! Year-End<br>Position
|-
| scope="row" | 1957
| "Searchin'"
| 21
|-
| scope="row" | 1958
| "Yakety Yak"
| 21
|-
| scope="row" rowspan="3"| 1959
| "Charlie Brown"
| 17
|-
| "Poison Ivy"
| 54
|-
| "Along Came Jones"
| 80
|}
References
Bibliography
- Carl Gardner – Yakety Yak I Fought Back - My Life with The Coasters (Veta Gardner, AuthorHouse, 2007, )
- Bill Millar – The Coasters (Star Books, 1974, )