Terry Johnson

The longtime leader of doo wop legends the Flamingos, the multifaceted Terry Johnson also served as a Motown staff writer and producer during the label's commercial and creative heyday. Born Isaiah Johnson in Baltimore on November 12, 1938, as a youth he counted the Orioles' Sonny Til and the Swallows' Earl Hurley among his neighbors, while future Flamingos Jake and Zeke Carey were members of his church choir. In 1954, Johnson teamed with four high school friends as the R&B vocal group the Whispers, signing to the Philadelphia-based Gotham Records for a pair of 1955 singles, "...