b. Charles Hunt, 18 June 1933, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Hunt's dramatic pop-soul vocals, on string-drenched ballads, perfectly represented the Brill Building sound of the early 60s. He had a long career in vocal groups prior to his solo career of the early 60s. In 1952 and 1953 he was a member of the Chicago-based Five Echoes along with future soul superstar Johnnie Taylor. He was a member of the Flamingos from 1958 to 1961. His biggest hit was "Human" (number 5 R&B, number 48 pop) in 1961, recorded for Scepter Records. He recorded other top-notch material for the company, including "I Am A Witness" (1963) and the original version of "I Just Don't Know What To Do For Myself", which later became a hit for Dusty Springfield. His last hit was the wonderful Luther Dixon-produced hit "The Biggest Man", for the Dynamo label in 1967. He moved to England in the 70s and recorded for Polydor in 1972 and Pye in 1974. In the late 70s he was a star on the northern soul circuit, and had a hit with a revival of Roy Hamilton's "Crackin' Up" on the Spark label, the first of three UK hits. He recorded two albums while in England, Live At The Wigan Casino (1975), a collection of 60s soul songs, and A Sign Of The Times (1976), a collection of songs that reflected the tastes of northern soul fans.

Listen to Tommy Hunt at Finetune.

• I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself

• Flamingos
• The Skyliners
• Little Anthony & The Imperials
• The Temptations
• Burt Bacharach
• Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
• Lee Dorsey
• Major Lance
• Crests
• Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
• The Five Satins
• Marv Johnson
• Fantastic Four
• Garnet Mimms
• Sammy Turner
• The Four Tops
• The Hollywood Flames
• The Lost Generation
• The Newcomers
• The Originals

• TOMTR928