Air Week: April 7-13, 2025

The “Juke In The Back” digs deep into New Orleans Rhythm & Blues this week to focus on Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers, one of the few vocal groups to come out of a city best known for its blues, jazz and cajun roots. The Spiders were the best known vocal group to come out of 1950s New Orleans, but Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers were probably more versatile in the sense that they could not only shout the blues, like Roy Brown or Wynonie Harris, but they could also harmonize like a top notch doo wop group. Bobby Mitchell is best remembered today as the cat who originally sang “I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday,” two years before Fats Domino would cut it, but it was his “Try Rock n’ Roll” from 1956 that would be his only charting hit (reaching #14 nationally). That song capitalized on the emerging rock n’ roll craze and remains a record of its time. Bobby Mitchell and The Toppers were definitely a vocal group of their time, but they are well worth checking out as Matt The Cat gives them the spotlight treatment on this week’s “Juke In The Back.”

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