Donnie Elbert – Nostalgia Central

American soul singer was born in New Orleans on 25 May 1936, moving with his family to Buffalo, New York, aged three.

An athlete in his High School days, he high-jumped 6ft. 1½” and sprinted 100 yards in 10 seconds flat (both were records for his school), winning an athletics scholarship to Syracuse University in Ohio.

But any ambitions he had to become a top international athlete were ended when he sustained a nasty shoulder injury playing American-style football. He left college feeling dejected and took a series of odd jobs, making appearances as a singer at night.

When his father refused to keep his allowance going to support his rather indeterminate way of life, Donnie decided a music career was for him.

He recorded a demo, washing cars to raise sufficient money for the session, and took it to a friend who played it to a producer, earning him a recording contract with the King label’s DeLuxe subsidiary.

His solo debut, What Can I Do?, entered the Billboard Top Hot 100 Charts (it actually went into the Top 50), and he followed it up with the less successful Believe It or Not and Have I Sinned?

He made successful appearances on TV shows like The Andy Williams Show and at innumerable concert and club appearances throughout the US and released the album, The Sensational Donnie Elbert Sings.

Leaving DeLuxe in 1959, he joined Red Top Records for Someday (You’ll Want Me to Want You) (1960), and then Vee-Jay Records for Will You Ever Be Mine?

His career was interrupted by a spell in the US Army, from which he was discharged in 1961.

Donnie moved to live permanently in the UK in 1966. In England, he worked as an independent producer for several record companies and released his cover version of The Supremes‘ Where Did Our Love Go? on the London label in 1972. It became his biggest hit, both in the UK and the US.

He followed his success with two further smash hits – a version of The Four Tops‘ song  I Can’t Help Myself and Little Piece Of Leather.

By the mid-1980s, Elbert had retired from performing and became director of A&R for Polygram’s Canadian division. He suffered a massive stroke and died on 26 January 1989, at the age of 52.