He was a singer-songwriter born in New York often known as “Buddy” who, in the early 1950s, was the second tenor for the group originally called The Keynotes that would have their line-up changed and become The Chords.
Although they never were well known and had no other huge hits, they went down in history as being as the first artists with an R&B song to enter the pop charts in the 1950s when they reached No. 5 on the pop chart with their timeless “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)” in 1954. He left the band in 1956 and moved to Detroit to sing with the group The Hummers. He was also a member of the studio backing singers The Side Steppers, The Cognacs and The Twisters.
He returned to New York by 1960 and the original Chords line-up got back together under the name The Sh-Booms and recorded three tracks that were released as singles. After that they took the decision to disband he still sang, but also ran a bar/club which he had opened in New York.
Jimmy Keyes kept various incarnations of The Chords going through the years and in 1979 he would appear with them in performances at United in Group Harmony concerts and he was inducted into the United in Group Harmony Hall of Fame as a member of The Chords in 1996.
48 years after “Sh-Boom” had been first recorded he decided to put together a new version of The Chords in their memory, with other veterans of the business and him being the only surviving original member.
He passed away in a nursing home in The Bronx in March 2013 when he was 80 years old.
Big Wheelie & The Hubcaps recordings
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) (James Keyes/Carl Feaster/Claude Feaster/Floyd F. McRae/James Edwards)
Sources:
- http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2013/03/passings-floyd-buddy-mcrae-last.html
- http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/chords-singer-mcrae-dies-bronx-hospital-article-1.1295096
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chords_(American_band)
- http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/Chords/chords.html
- http://cdbaby.com/cd/mellows/from/evor