LARRY FINNEGAN

b. Johnny Lawrence Finnegan, 10 August 1938, New York City, New York, USA, d. 22 July 1973. Finnegan nearly reached the Top 10 in 1962 with a single called "Dear One", but never had another hit. Having studied several instruments in his youth, Finnegan and his brother Vinnie co-wrote the song that would put him on the charts in 1961. He recorded a demo of the song on his own and took it to Hy Weiss of Old Town Records, who then signed him. The up-tempo country song ultimately reached number 11 in early 1962, but follow-up attempts failed, and in 1966 Finnegan moved to Sweden, where he started his own record label, Svensk-American. He then moved on to Switzerland and came back to the USA in 1970, where he died of a brain tumour in 1973.