Biography
Troy Keyes came into the world on March 13, 1940, in Pantego, North Carolina, and later earned lasting notice among soul collectors chiefly through his 1968 cult favorite “Love Explosions.” Church choir membership occupied his childhood until age ten, when he relocated to Brooklyn, New York, and began harmonizing in street-corner doo-wop ensembles while also taking dance classes at the Fred Astaire Studio. In 1955 he entered the vocal group the Starlites, which secured a contract with the small Peak label after winning a local talent contest; their single “Missing You” produced no results. By 1958 Keyes had moved to the Velours, recording several singles for Cub and the album Remember with the Velours for Onyx before that act disbanded. A brief period with the Rays preceded his 1960 solo deal with Atco, where the 1961 release “The World Without You” appeared under the name Mitchell Keyes. Teaming with fellow Atco artist Jimmy Williams, he formed the High Keyes, whose 1963 version of Doris Day’s “Que Sera Sera” nearly reached the Billboard Top 40. Military conscription soon placed him in the U.S. Army for several years of service in Europe. After returning, Keyes and Williams revived the High Keyes and issued the Verve single “Living a Lie,” later recognized as a Northern soul staple. Resuming his solo path, he signed with ABC and entered the Hot 100 with “Love Explosions,” yet subsequent tracks “No Sad Songs” and the Norma Jenkins duet “A Love Gone Bad” brought no further commercial breakthrough. In 1971 VMP issued his self-written anti-Vietnam statement “If I Had My Way,” another record that reached Northern soul audiences only after the fact. The 1973 single “See No Evil” likewise failed to sell, prompting Keyes to earn his living through advertising jingles until 1977, when he rejoined performing in a later edition of the Crests. Apart from supplying backing vocals on Peabo Bryson’s early-’80s Bang sessions, he spent most of the following two decades outside music in telecommunications work. A return to the stage arrived in the late ’90s through appearances at Northern soul weekenders before new listeners.
Albums
