The explosive vocal attack of Boston's Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon thrived despite emerging during an era of watered-down teen idols. Cannon insisted on keeping the rock and roll flame alive with his 1959 breakthrough "Tallahasee Lassie" on Swan Records out of Philly, and he persisted with big band-backed revivals of "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" and "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy" and the '62 smash "Palisades Park," penned by future Gong Show host Chuck Barris. The British Invasion didn't silence "Boom Boom" as it did so many of his contemporaries; he stormed through "Abigail Beecher" and "Action" on Warner Bros. like nothing had changed, liberally inserting his trademark "Whoo!" exclamations for good measure.

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