About Kenny Vance
Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg, December 9, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer who was a founding member of Jay and the Americans. His career spans from the 1950s to today, with projects ranging from starting doo-wop groups to music supervising to creating solo albums. Vance is also known for discovering and working with Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the two men who later became Steely Dan; Vance produced the first album the two worked on together, the soundtrack for the 1971 film You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat. He was also musical director for the Saturday Night Live band from 1980 to 1981. == Career == === Early career === Born in Brooklyn, Vance grew up hanging around the famous Brill Building, the Tin Pan Alley song machine, and started his first vocal group, the Harbor Lites, at 15. The group recorded two singles for Ivy Records in 1959. An early single, "Is That Too Much To Ask", experienced local popularity due to radio promotion by disc jockey Cousin Brucie. He then formed another group and auditioned for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who signed them to United Artists Records, and named the group Binky Jones and the Americans, which they tweaked to Jay and the Americans. === Jay and the Americans === Jay and the Americans released fifteen albums, and their first hit was "She Cried", which was released in 1962. The group's musical style evoked nostalgia for 1950s rock and roll and doo wop.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.