Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

1950s crooner 'Pookie' Hudson dies

|
|
 
  
Published: Jan. 21, 2007 at 3:53 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Thornton James "Pookie" Hudson, lead singer of the doo-wop group The Spaniels, has died of cancer at his home in Washington. He was 72.

The Spaniels achieved fame with their 1954 hit, "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight," which Hudson wrote for his girlfriend at the time, Artistsdirect.com said.

Hudson had a brief solo career after The Spaniels disbanded in the 1960s. He re-formed the group with a new lineup in the early 1970s, issuing a new version of "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" after the song was featured in the film "American Graffiti."

His smooth tenor voice was said to have influenced Smokey Robinson and Aaron Neville, said Bill Carpenter, Hudson's publicist.

"He really made a blueprint for what a crooner should sound like," Carpenter said.

He continued to perform until cancer forced him to retire last fall.

Hudson, who died Jan. 16, is survived by his wife, nine children and 16 grandchildren.

Topics: Aaron Neville, Smokey Robinson
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Entertainment News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Memorial Day: how it's changed, and why some people think it should not be part of a three-day weekend...
Born in Malaysia in 1923, after 3 years as a Japanese POW during WWII, 3 years fighting for the...
The eyes, the giant EYES..... GAAAAH
Delta Airlines begins testing flights with even crappier service
Only in Miami: Police shoot, kill naked man who was EATING A MAN'S FACE
You can get just about anything you want at Afghan markets, including lots of stolen American military...