"Of all my musical memories I treasure the works of John Madara. He'll always be remembered. He's a very special guy -- DICK CLARK "The name Johnny Madara may not be so familiar to many people. But when it comes to music, it is legendary. Here is a man, not only as a writer and producer, but also instrumental in the careers of Danny and The Juniors, Leon Huff, Hall & Oates, Len Barry, Lesley Gore, Chubby Checker, Maureen Gray, and untold others. He is one of the unsung heroes in the early days of rock and roll. Yet he has remained active through five decades in the music business. And then there's John as a singer. The works that you're about to hear represent John as a performer. But more important, his vision and understanding of how important our music was, and being a part of an exciting new industry that we called rock and roll, is really what he is about. You'll find that in his songs. There are many facets to John Madara. This is just one of them." -- THE GEATOR, JERRY BLAVAT Johnny Madara grew up in Philadelphia at a time when rock and roll was starting to take root. In June of 1957, at 21 years old, he launched his solo career with his first record, "Be My Girl," which reached the National charts. The follow-up to "Be My Girl" was "My Big Thrill." Johnny continued to record as an artist through 1975. During that time, he also wrote and produced with partner David White such classics as "At The Hop" and "Rock and Roll is Here To Stay" (Danny and The Juniors, written by David White and Produced by John). Following these mega-hits, the team of Madara & White wrote the hugely successful "The Fly" (Chubby Checker), "You Don't Own Me" (Leslie Gore) and "1-2-3" (Len Barry, who also wrote the song with Madara & White) and These and countless other hits by Madara & White helped to make up "The Sound of Philadelphia." Madara & White songs have reached millions of people through radio, films (including Grease, Dirty Dancing, The First Wives Club, Woodstock and American Graffiti) and TV. Worldwide sales have reached over 200 million records. In March of 2001, "At The Hop" was voted one of the top 100 songs of the century by The Recording Industry Association of America. The top two songs were "At The Hop" and "Rock Around The Clock. " Johnny is also working on a feature film, "At The Hop," and a musical is being developed that would feature the songs of Madara & White.