Meri Wilson

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Meri Wilson
Born June 15, 1949(1949-06-15)
Nagoya, Japan
Origin American
Died December 28, 2002 (aged 53)
Americus, Georgia, USA
Genre(s) Novelty songs
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s) Guitar
Years active 1977-2002
Label(s) BNA, Pye

Meri Wilson (15 June 1949 - 28 December 2002) was an American popular music singer, specializing in double entendre novelty songs.

She was born in Nagoya, Japan, at a U.S. military base, but raised in Marietta, Georgia. Wilson later gained a Masters Degree in Musical Education at Georgia State University.

In the 1970s she moved to Dallas, Texas and worked as a singer and model. She achieved sudden fame in the summer of 1977 after she recorded a song titled "Telephone Man", which was filled with suggestive lyrics and her breathy squealing voice. The song became a surprise hit single, climbing the UK Singles Chart to Number 6, spending ten weeks in the listings, as well as making it to #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. In addition, the song would become a favorite of Dr. Demento's radio show many years later.

Wilson later recorded other novelty songs, including "Dick The D.J." and "Peter The Meter Reader".[1]

She died in 2002, at the age of 53, after she lost control of her car on Highway 377 in Americus, Georgia, during an ice storm.

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Liner notes in Rhino Records' collection of 1970s hit singles, Have A Nice Day