John Lawrence Finneran[1] (August 10, 1938 – July 22, 1973),[2] better known under his stage name Larry Finnegan (sometimes erroneously listed as "Larry Finneran"), was an American pop singer.
Born in New York City, Finnegan's only hit in the US was 1962's "Dear One", which went to No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100,[3] and climbed to No. 1 in Australia. The recording had sold one million copies by 1966, earning a gold disc.[1]
In 1966 Finnegan moved to Sweden,[3] where Dear One was a #1 hit in 1962 and he had more hits, for example "Oh, Lonesome me (peaked at #9), "Pretty Suzie Sunshine (peaked at #7) and "I like it like that" (peaked at #5).
Due to his great successes in Sweden, Finnegan visited the country for tours and became involved in the Swedish pop industry. The first result came already in 1963 when the Swedish-Dutch singer Suzie (Martina Carina Peereboom) got her first hit with "Johnny Loves me" - written and produced by him. The record spent 10 weeks at the best selling chart Kvällstoppen and peaked at #7. Her German version Johnny komm became a hit in Germany.
Larry Finnegan also made records of his songs in German, among others Komm doch zu mir, Tiger aus Papier, Sieben Tage, Einen Grüss an Mama, Glück und heisser Tränen, Unterm Dach and Das schönste Mädchen der Welt.
In 1966, he started his own record label SvenskAmerican,[1] which published his own records – for example the singles "Good Morning Tears", (peaked at #7) and "Bound for Houston (peaked at #12) "Seven Days" (peaked at #4) – and also records with the Swedish group Sven-Ingvars.
Finnegan recorded several records in Swedish. The most successful was "Maria, min vän" (Maria, my friend), which spent 15 weeks at the best selling chart Kvällstoppen peaking at #1 and "Hälsa hem till mamma" (Send your greetings to my mama), which peaked at #6. His Swedish pronunciation was as good as perfect, without any American accent.
He also wrote songs which became big hits for Swedish artists, for example "Skona mitt hjärta" (Spare My Heart), Pick up the pieces in Finnegan's original version, performed by Siw Malmkvist (which peaked at #6 and also is her best selling record in Norway rendering her a Norwegian silver disc) and "Världens rikaste flicka" (The Richest Girl In The World) and "Tack för alla kyssar" (Thanks For All The Kisses), both with Yvonne Norrman, a popular Swedish artist he had signed for his record company Svensk-American.
His Pick up the pieces gave the Danish pop singer Bjørn Tidmand his big break in 1963, Brænd Mine Breve (Burn my letters), which peaked at #1. A Finnish version of the same song, Jätä minut jo rauhaan (Leave me alone) was a hit with the Finnish pop singer Marion Rung. Larry Finnegan's songs have been recorded by many artists mainly in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands. His discography includes 160 different versions: https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/573706-John-Finneran?page=1
Finnegan moved later to Switzerland, and in 1970 back to the United States.[3]
He died of a brain tumor at age 34 in 1973.[3][4]
Discography
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Record Label | B-side | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS | ||||
| 1961 | "Dear One" | 11 | 1 | Old Town Records | "Candy Lips" |
| 1962 | "Pretty Suzy Sunshine" | – | – | "It's Walkin' Talkin' Time" | |
| "Oh Lonesome Me" | – | – | "Knock on Wood" | ||
| "I'll Be Back, Jack" | – | – | Coral Records | "There Ain't Nothin' in This World" | |
| 1963 | "A Kiss and a Dozen Roses" | – | – | Old Town Records | "Pick Up the Pieces" |
| 1964 | "Dear One, Part Two" | – | – | RIC Records | "Baton Rouge" |
| "A Tribute to Ringo Starr – The Other Ringo" | 130 | – | "When My Love Passes By" | ||
References
- 1 2 3 Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 146. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ↑ Talevski, Nick (April 7, 2010). Rock Obituaries: Knocking On Heaven's Door. Omnibus Press. p. 175. ISBN 9780857121172. Retrieved August 27, 2021 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 3 4 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 861. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ↑ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000