Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones

Emerging from Spartanburg, South Carolina, Joe Bennett And The Sparkletones embodied the earliest wave of rock ‘n’ roll, when groups of teenagers assembled to play music shaped by their personal passions, foremost among them fashion. The quartet, whose members ranged in age from 14 to 17, consisted of Joe Bennett on vocals and lead guitar, Howard Childress on rhythm guitar, Wayne Arthur on double bass and Irving Denton on drums. Their sole major success arrived in the summer of 1957 when “Black Slacks” climbed to number 11 on the R&B chart and number 17 on the pop chart. Capitalizing on that momentum, the band reached number 42 with the follow-up “Penny Loafers And Bobby Sox.” Both sides were cut for ABC Records in New York under the supervision of producer Don Costa. A move to Paris Records in 1959 yielded no further traction, nor did the Elvis Presley tribute “The King Is Coming Back,” issued that same year under the alias Billy and Eddie. By 1960 the group had disbanded.