The Gentrys

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The Gentrys were an American band of the 1960s and early 1970s, known for their one hit "Keep on Dancing".

Founded in 1963 and hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, the seven-member group of Treadwell High School students included Bruce Bowles (vocals), Bobby Fisher (saxophone, keyboards), Jimmy Hart (vocals), Jimmy Johnson (trumpet, keyboards), Pat Neal (bass), Larry Raspberry (guitar, lead vocalist), and drummer Larry Wall. Their million-selling "Keep on Dancing" reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965, and they appeared on Hullabaloo, Shindig!, and Where the Action Is, and toured with The Beach Boys and Sonny and Cher as well as playing on Dick Clark bills. However, two follow-up singles failed to break into the top 40, and the group disbanded in 1966. Other notable band members during the 1963-1966 years were Larry Butler (keyboards) and Ronnie Moore (bass).

"Keep on Dancing" is notable for the fact that it's actually one short recording repeated, to stretch the record out to the length of the typical pop single of its day. The second half of the song -- after the false fade, beginning with Wall's famous drum fill -- is the same as the first. The Bay City Rollers made the song a hit again in 1971, taking it to #9 in the UK.

Original member Jimmy Hart reformed The Gentrys in 1969 with himself as lead singer, but three attempts at singles again fell short of the top 40. The 1969-1974 Gentrys included Hart, Steve Speer (bass), Dave Beaver (keyboards), Jimmy Tarbutton (guitar), and Mike Gardner (drums). Hart subsequently found much greater fame and success in professional wrestling, as a manager and composer nicknamed "The Mouth of the South".