Big Daddy

by William Ruhlmann
Big Daddy, a Los Angeles-based comedic pop group that emerged in 1983 on the Rhino Records label, specializes in performing Contemporary hits in the styles of 1950s and early-'60s rock & roll. For example, they scored a Top 40 hit in the U.K. in 1985 by recording Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" as it might sound if sung by Pat Boone. The group's real history is shrouded in mystery -- they claim to be the last great '50s group and to have been kidnapped by Laotian guerillas while entertaining U.S. troops in Vietnam and not rescued until 1983. As of 1991, they were an octet featuring four lead singers, Marty Kaniger (also guitar), Tom Lee (also guitar), Bob Wayne, and Don Raymond (also guitar), plus John Hatton (bass), Norman A. Norman (keyboards), Bob Sandman (reeds), and Damon DeGrignon (drums).