Frankie Ford

Second cousin to Dr. John, Frankie Ford was singing with the Syncopators when he was asked to audition for Ace Records. His first single, "Cheatin’ Woman," was followed by the blessing and the curse that was the kinetic, hyper-catchy "Sea Cruise," a song Huey ‘Piano’ Smith had previously recorded with his group the Clowns. It sold over a million copies, and would be revived by Jerry Lee Lewis, Herman’s Hermits, Sha Na Na, and John Fogerty. Ford continued recording, but never repeated the success of "Sea Cruise." In 1971, he opened a club in New Orleans’ French Quarter and still looked youthful enough to play his younger self in the 1977 movie American Hot Wax, set in the late-'50s.