The Fantastic Johnny C’s producer Jesse James came up with the adjectival name, The Fantastic Johnny C. He credited it with making sure the airplay gave the audience a built-in opinion, as though from the DJ himself—until of course everyone saw the name on the hit, “Boogaloo Down Broadway.” The catchy tune infroduced the world tor both Johnny Corley and producer Jesse James—later to produce Cliff Nobles and Co’s “The Horse.” The same also fit Johnny Corley. Humility wasn’t a personality trait treasured any too highly by the exuberant showman in Johnny Corley.The loose limbed young soul singer blazed a trail straight up the charts in 1967 by marrying two popular dance steps into one funky page entitled “Boogaloo Down Broadway.” The results ignited discotheque floors across American and made a star – however momentarily – of the ultra-confident Mr. C. The song also helped greatly in establishing the Phil-L.A. of Soul Label – then a newly inaugurated R&B subsidiary of Jamie/Guyden Records – as a primary outlet for the rapidly emerging Philadelphia soul sound.
Johnny Corley was born in Greenwood South Carolina on April 28, 1943. When he finished the service he moved outside Philadelphia to Norristown, PA. The work he did as a heavy-equipment operator ultimately got him a job with the state of Pennsylvania. Butmeantime Jesse James found him in church they both attended.
James heard that pop radio stations would not play Dyke and the Blazers’ “Funky Broadway” because of the scandalous (at the time) first word of the title. So James rewrote the lyric of his first production with Corley, “Look What Love Can Make You Do,” using the forbidden word “funky” in the lyric but not the title. James himself sang the word to get it the way he wanted. The rest was history.
"Boogaloo Down Broadway" got to No. 7 on the po chart and No. 5 on the R&B chart. The follow-up, "Got What You Need charted and "Hitch It to the Horse" even went Top 40, in 1968. His performing career started near the top, working with Sam & Dave, the Vibrations, and Joe Simon.at the fabled Uptown Theater in Philadelphia, Johnny Corley died in 2002.
