It Happened 50 Years Ago: J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers “Last Kiss”
Texas-based band J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers hit the Top 40 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart just once, with their first charting single, “Last Kiss.” That single performed well, though, as it rose all the way to number 2. Exactly 50 years ago, “Last Kiss” reached its peak position, where it would spend one week.
The band would go on to chart twice more. “Hey Little One,” the follow-up single to “Last Kiss,” hit number 85 while spending two weeks on the chart in late 1964. Then, just over nine years later, in late 1973 and early 1974, “Last Kiss” reappeared on the chart for five weeks, stalling out at number 92.
Interestingly, nearly 35 years after the original “Last Kiss” hit number 2, in June of 1999 Seattle-based band Pearl Jam peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100 for one week with a remake of “Last Kiss.” Like the Cavaliers’ version of “Last Kiss,” Pearl Jam’s version is the band’s most successful charting single.
