Rick Derringer, who had a hit with ‘Hang On Sloopy' and produced ‘Weird Al,' dies at 77
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As a teen, he formed the McCoys with his brother, Randy, and found fame singing 'Hang On Sloopy,' a No. 26 hit about lovers from different socioeconomic circumstances. Derringer enjoyed his first solo hit with 'Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo,' which was used in the fourth season of 'Stranger Things.'
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His best-charting album was 'All American Boy' in 1973, which included the instrumentals 'Joy Ride' and 'Time Warp.' His sole Grammy was for Yankovic's 'Eat It,' which had the Michael Jackson parodies 'Eat It' and 'Who's Fat.'
Throughout the 1970s and '80s, Derringer worked extensively as a session musician, playing on albums by Steely Dan — including 'Countdown to Ecstasy,' 'Katy Lied' and 'Gaucho' — Todd Rundgren, Kiss and Barbra Streisand. He played on Air Supply's 'Making Love Out of Nothing at All.'
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In the mid-1980s he began working with Lauper, touring in her band and playing on three of her albums, including the hit 'True Colors.' He toured with Ringo Starr and The All-Starr Band.
In 1985, he produced the World Wrestling Federation's 'The Wrestling Album,' which consisted primarily mostly of pro wrestlers' theme songs, many of which he co-wrote, including what would become Hulk Hogan's theme song 'Real American.'
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Directed by Ilya Naishuller ('Nobody') and written by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec and Harrison Query, the movie begins with a scene set at the Tomatino Festival in, Buñol, Spain, in which great crowds of participants lob tomatoes at each other in a massive food fight — it's a real thing — foreshadowing the blood that will soon be flowing through the town square, as a team of unidentified bad guys ambush the British and American agents who are tracking them. They've been set up, declares M16 agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who is later reported 'missing and presumed dead' — meaning, of course, that she is very much alive and will be seen again; indeed, we will see quite a lot of her. Meanwhile, the prime minister and the president board Air Force One for Trieste. They talk movies: 'I like actual cinema,' says Clarke, who claims to have never seen one of Derringer's pictures. 'I'm classically trained,' the movie star protests. 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