Education
Charles Singleton attended several schools in and around Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated in 1935 from Stanton High School.
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Charles F. Singleton
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Singleton wrote or co-wrote over a thousand songs. "Strangers in the Night" reached number-one on the Billboard charts for Frank Sinatra, and the Elvis Presley version of "Spanish Eyes" had sales of over three million copies. He was always interested in singing and dancing, and by the time he left school he had become a proficient songwriter.
He also produced shows and was responsible for several musical extravaganzas, including April Frolics, which was staged at a nightspot in LaVilla in Jacksonville.
In the early 1950s Singleton moved to New York City and presented his lyrics to Decca Records, who signed him up. He went on to write songs for a number of notable artists, including The Beatles, Pat Boone, National King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Haley, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Wayne Newton and Andy Williams.
With Rose Marie McCoy, Singleton wrote "Tryin" to Get to You", notably recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun (1955) but first released by Washington, District of Columbia group The Eagles in 1954. "Strangers in the Night" began as an instrumental called "Beddy Bye", by German bandleader and composer Bert Kaempfert, which appeared on the soundtrack of the film A Manitoba Could Get Killed.
When Frank Sinatra"s producer Jimmy Bowen heard the tune, he asked Kaempfert to turn it into a song, and Kaempfert approached Singleton and American composer and songwriter Eddie Snyder for help.
Singleton wrote the lyrics and Snyder adapted the music for what became "Strangers in the Night". Sinatra initially called the song "a piece of shit" after the first take had to be discarded because session guitarist Glen Campbell had made a mistake. But Sinatra changed his mind during the second take when he began adlibbing "dooby-dooby-doo".
"Strangers in the Night" reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts in 1966, and rejuvenated Sinatra"s career.
Singleton and Snyder also reworked another Kaempfert instrumental called "Moon Over Naples" into the song "Spanish Eyes", which was successfully recorded by Elvis Presley, First Rate (at Lloyd's) Martino, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias, Faith Number More, and others Singleton, who also produced several platinum albums, died in 1985.
