R.I.P. Sonny Turner (24 Sep 1939 - 13 Jan 2022)

Sonny Turner, who replaced Tony Williams as the lead singer for The Platters in 1959 and performed on all their hits throughout the 60s and beyond, died yesterday aged 82. 

The Platters greatest era of hits was the late 50s when they achieved four #1 R&B and four #1 Hot 100 hits with "Only You", "The Great Pretender", "My Prayer", "Twilight Time" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" all before Turner was a member. 

I guess many simply dismiss The Platters as a 50s doo-wop group but you really need to check out their mid 60s (1967-68) output. I've selected some of their best from that era in the playlist below.

Several of their 60s recording were played on the Northern Soul scene, some at Manchester's Twisted Wheel in the early days before it was known by the term i.e.  "With This Ring", "Washed Ashore", "Sweet Sweet Lovin'" along with many others later including "Devri", "Hard To Get That Thing Called Love". They also did one of the few good covers of Jackie Wilson's "I Get The Sweetest Feeling" which was an album only track on an album with the same name. Turner and Wilson were good friends.

They also did a great (unreleased?) version of Johnny Hampton's "Not My Girl" (itself a bit of a holy grail record fetching well into four figures) which got a release on a 100 Club 8th anniversary single in 1987. Kent also released a CD compilation "The Musicor Years" in 1994 which contains most of their best tunes from the period.

Turner left the Platters in 1970 to pursue a solo career which didn't really take off. He released three singles on Musicor between 1970-72, one of which "Now That You're Gone" was later reissued by Kent in 2016. Another two were released in the early 80s. There are also three albums listed for him, the first self-released on Sonny in 1974 which consists of covers. The other two are from 1983 and 1988 and are actually the same album, with the 1988 one being a reissue of the 1983 album.