Gary U.S. Bonds

In 1967 during the height of The British Invasion, appeared as a guest performer at a local disco "The Chateau Pelham " in Bronx, New York City. He belted out his big hits such as "Quarter To Three" and "New Orleans" and to the surprise of many, his own powerful rendition of "Unchained Melody".

" Bonds and Guida recorded their version of it - backed by the original group - called it "Quarter to Three" and the rousing, infectious (and somewhat primitive) production proved to be an even bigger hit than "New Orleans", reaching the #1 spot in the summer of 1961 and becoming Bonds' signature number. Three more top-ten hits followed that same year, but unfortunately for Bonds that was the high point of his career. Although he continued to record and perform for the next 20 years - occasionally writing songs for other artists, too - none of his records ever made the charts.

Born Gary Anderson in Florida but raised in Virginia, he sang in his church choir as a youth. While in high school he joined a vocal group named The Turks that sang in the Norfolk area. Frank Guida, who owned a record shop in Norfolk and had just started a small record label called Legrand Records, took notice of his talents, and in 1960 took Anderson to his studio to record a song called "New Orleans". Thinking that "Gary Anderson" was too plain and unmemorable a name for a singer, Guida remembered a poster he had seen in a delicatessen to try to get citizens to purchase government bonds--in big letters it had said "Buy U. S. Bonds!" Guida thought that was the perfect name, and so "Gary U. S. Bonds" was born. "New Orleans" turned out to be a major hit, cracking the top ten in record time. Bonds' follow-up song was a remake of a record cut by a local group, Daddy G and the Church Street Five, called "A Night With Daddy G.