This Tuesday past was Jimmy Merchant’s Birthday … founder of the legendary Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. I did a special show on my weekly radio show … Johnny Angel’s Heavenly Soul Show on jukinoldies.com … and during that show I played an interview I did with Jimmy Merchant years ago. During that interview, Jimmy talked about first meeting the gentlemen who made up the teenagers and how they originally started singing together even before Frankie Lyman joined the group. Adding Frankie’s young, unique voice to the mix eventually called the group Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers … and that’s another story. Jimmy went on to tell me how much he appreciated and loved harmony, which is evident in the Teenager’s songs. He talked about their first hit record which Jimmy wrote (Why Do Fools Fall In Love) and how it set the stage for future, teen artists. That song was originally meant to be a ballad but wound up being an up-tempo masterpiece. We talked about the first time we met and worked together when he was a member of the Royal All-Stars (pictured above) and how we again worked together when I was working for the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame and Museum. At the V.G.H.O.F., Jimmy and I were preparing for his performance as part of the Inductions Ceremony concert. Jimmy told me how the original idea for the song (Why Do Fools Fall In Love) changed to an up-tempo song rather that a ballad and mentioned that he would like to do it as a ballad. So, we started to dissect the song and turned it into the ballad he intended it to be for the Induction Ceremony Concert. Jimmy would later re-record the song as a ballad and told the story during his live performances. He would begin by starting the song as a ballad and then breaks into the up-tempo version as everyone remembered it. Jimmy is still going strong and has even dabbled as an artist painting and drawing. With all that said … I hope Jimmy had a blessed birthday and continues telling the story of how he was part of the DooWop, Rock and Roll History. God Bless you Jimmy Merchant … 1st Teenager!