Carl Gardner 

Tyler native Carl Gardner first performed in the 1940s’ doo-wop group The Robins.

In the mid 1950s he formed The Coasters with Bobby Nunn, Leon Hughes and Bill Guy. They quickly had a series of feel-good hits: “Yakety Yak,” “Young Blood,” “Searchin’” and “Poison Ivy.”

Their single “Yakety Yak” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent seven weeks as the No. 1 rhythm and blues song.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Gardner died in 2011 at his home in Florida at age 83. 

On this date in 1959, The Coasters, performed on “The Dick Clark Show.”

Gardner

In the Spotlight

— 2018: Texarkana native Telvin Griffin begins a short stint playing a police officer on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

— 2011: Longview native Forest Whitaker is a guest on “Lopez Tonight.”

— 2010: Longview native Forest Whitaker is a presenter at the Academy Awards

— 1997: Ron Raines, who attended Nacogdoches High School, sings on a “Great Performances” episode featuring the music of Ira Gershwin..

— 1990: K.T. Oslin, who attended Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, and The Oak Ridge Boys, featuring Lamar County native Duane Allen, appear on the TV special “An All Star Salute to Country Music.”

— 1986: Tyler native Sandy Duncan appears on the PBS “Great Performances” episode saluting Irving Berlin.

— 1984: At the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, The Cathedrals, led by Glen Payne of Royse City, is a nominee for Southern Gospel Album of the Year (“Live in Atlanta”).

— 1983: Mineola native Noble Willingham is in the TV miniseries “Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story.”

–1980: Quitman native Sissy Spacek plays country singer Loretta Lynn in an Oscar-winning role in “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

— 1964: “She’s Gone Gone” by Corsicana native Lefty Frizzell is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

— 1959: Honey Grove native Bill Erwin plays a business owner in an episode of “Perry Mason” starring Raymond Burr.

— 1954: Honey Grove native Bill Erwin appears in an episode of “Repertory Theatre.”

— 1941: Posey native Eddie Dean appears in “A Man Betrayed” starring John Wayne.

— 1941: Blooming Grove native Georgia Carroll appears in “Play Girl.”

— 1938: Corsicana native Maston Williams appears in “Call the Mesquiteers.”

— 1932: Panola County native Tex Ritter begins performing in “The Roundup” on Broadway.