Tommy Hunt

Born in Pittsburgh, Tommy Hunt launched his recording endeavors at age 20 by cutting singles alongside his debut ensemble, the Five Echoes, during 1953. His most significant imprint on rock & roll, R&B, and popular music arrived five years afterward, however, through his tenure with the Flamingos between 1958 and 1961. That span aligned with the ensemble's End Records contract and the emergence of their most recognizable and massive success, "I Only Have Eyes for You," whose impact stemmed in part from Hunt's dramatic background vocals paired with understated piano support, rendering it among the defining '50s R&B recordings. He also appears delivering lead vocals on a powerful jump-blues rendition in the jukebox film classic Go, Johnny, Go, as the regrouped five-piece mimes to their End version of "Jump Children."

After departing the Flamingos in 1962, Hunt secured a solo deal with Florence Greenberg's Scepter Records in New York. Although Greenberg expressed little enthusiasm for Hunt either vocally or personally, the label's A&R head and music director Luther Dixon championed his timbre and supplied the track "Human," which rose to number five on the R&B chart by the close of 1961. Hunt remained with the company another three years through 1964, completing the full-length I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself toward the end of 1962. His rendition of the title song never appeared as a single yet preceded Dusty Springfield's better-known version by nearly two years. Following Dixon's exit from Scepter in late 1963, Ed Townsend assumed the music director role and oversaw one of his earliest productions: Hunt's recording of Townsend's "I Am a Witness," featuring Bernard Purdie on drums and Mickey Baker on guitar, with backing vocals from the Shirelles, Dee Dee Warwick, and the Sweet Inspirations. The release marked Hunt's final chart appearance for the label at number 71.

Hunt exited Scepter in 1964 and subsequently joined the Dynamo roster, where he placed a single on the charts in 1967. He eventually relocated to Europe and sustained performances across Germany and additional Central European territories into the '90s. His sole Scepter album has yet to see reissue, though selections from it alongside his label hits and further tracks surfaced on the 1992 double-CD compilation Capricorn's Scepter Records Story.