John Medora

John L. Medora (born May 28, 1936), also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, who teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop".^[1]

He first recorded in 1957, and later that year wrote a song called "Do the Bop" with Dave White. On the advice of Dick Clark, the lyrics and title were changed to "At the Hop", and the song was recorded by Danny and the Juniors, becoming a US #1 and international hit. He later co-wrote other hits including "1-2-3" for Len Barry, and "You Don't Own Me" for Lesley Gore.^[2]

In 1965, he and White co-wrote and performed, as the Spokesmen, the song "Dawn of Correction", an answer song to Barry McGuire's hit "Eve of Destruction". The song reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The pair also formed their own publishing company which was later sold to Michael Jackson. Madara also worked as a record producer, and discovered both Leon Huff, later a highly successful songwriter and producer, and Hall and Oates.^{[2] [3]}

in the mid 1970s he moved to Los Angeles, and produced music for movies including Cinderella Liberty, and Hey Good Lookin', as well as for television.^[2]

References

1. "At the Hop - Danny and the Juniors -". Billboard. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
2. The Philly Sound: John Madara. Retrieved 4 September 2014
3. "John Madara Remembers ...", Forgotten Hits. Retrieved 4 September 2014

External links

• That Philly Sound: John Madara
• repertoire.bmi.com John Madara at BMI (CAE/IPI #: 19037892)
• John Madara discography at Discogs
• http://www.spectropop.com/JohnMadara/ extensive interview
• John Madara at the Internet Movie Database