Don & Juan, born Claude Johnson and Roland Trone, scored one big hit in 1962, entitled "What's Your Name." The single has become a doo wop classic, but its smooth ballad style also hints at the beginning of the emergence of soul.
Johnson and Trone got their start in a Brooklyn band called the Genies. In 1959, they released an up-tempo single, entitled "Who's That Knocking," on Shad Records. The song reached number 71 on the U.S. charts. They were unable to reproduce that success and were dropped from the label. Johnson and Trone continued to perform sporadically while working as painters on Long Island, and were rediscovered by an agent named Peter Paul, who arranged for them to sign with Big Top Records. They changed the name of their duo to Don & Juan and recorded "What's Your Name," which eventually peaked at number seven on the charts. Only one other single, "Magic Wand," charted, though the band continued to record until 1967.
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