The Hilltoppers

Initially formed by three Western Kentucky University students in Bowling Green—Jimmy Sacca, Seymour Spiegelman, and Don McGuire—the Hilltoppers began as a vocal trio. Sacca already knew pianist Billy Vaughn, whose age exceeded that of the three friends yet whose voice complemented their sound so closely that he joined as a permanent member. Vaughn contributed the original song “Tryin’,” which the quartet recorded and forwarded to a local radio DJ; the DJ in turn alerted Randy Wood, head of Dot Records in Nashville, leading to the group’s signing with the label.

The single advanced slowly, region by region, before reaching the Top Ten and peaking at number seven. The members adopted matching beanies and letter sweaters as their signature college style, then performed on Ed Sullivan’s The Toast of the Town in October 1952, on The Perry Como Show the following November, and alongside Patti Page, Kate Smith, Sammy Kaye, and Milton Berle. When Jimmy Sacca received his military call-up, the Hilltoppers recorded several tracks in advance for later release.

After “Tryin’,” additional Top Ten successes arrived in quick succession—“P.S. I Love You,” “I’d Rather Die Young,” “To Be Alone,” “Love Walked In,” “From the Vine Came the Grape,” and “Till Then”—establishing the Hilltoppers among the leading American vocal groups of the 1950s. Nevertheless, the rising tide of rock & roll soon rendered their clean-cut collegiate image dated. In 1955 Billy Vaughn departed to launch an orchestral solo career and was replaced by Chuck Schrouder. Vaughn promptly scored a number-two hit with “Melody of Love,” followed by further Top Ten entries “The Shifting Whispering Sands, Pts. 1-2,” “Raunchy,” and “Sail Along Silvery Moon.”

Attempting to reach mid- to late-1950s teenagers, the Hilltoppers updated their approach and cut material that rivaled the era’s dominant vocal group, the Platters; among those tracks was “Only You (And You Alone),” written for the Platters by Buck Ram. Their largest American success came with “Marianne,” first recorded by Terry Gilkyson & the Easy Riders. In Britain they registered only three chart entries: “Only You,” which reached number three in May 1956, a reissue of their debut “Tryin’,” and “Marianne” in spring 1957. The quartet remained on the Dot roster for another decade before disbanding in 1963. A brief mid-1970s reunion produced new versions of their major hits for ABC-Paramount, and the members continued performing until 1975.

Following the split, Jimmy Sacca worked briefly for Dot Records in the early 1960s, then assembled a new Hilltoppers lineup that toured internationally from 1968 to 1979; in 1979 he and his son opened a talent agency. Sacca died in Lexington on March 7, 2015. Seymour Spiegelman also joined Dot Records and later Peter Pan Industries; he died in New York on February 13, 1987. Choosing not to travel, Billy Vaughn became Dot’s music director and, as the Billy Vaughn Orchestra, placed the instrumental “Melody of Love” on the 1954 charts; he died in Escondido, California, on September 26, 1991. Don McGuire launched a real-estate business in Lexington while serving as Western Kentucky University’s liaison to the state legislature; the final surviving original member, he died on September 7, 2018.