Tommy "Bubba" Facenda is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 singer and guitarist. He is best known for his one-hit wonder

One-hit wonder

A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...

 single, "High School U.S.A."

Career

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...

, Facenda was asked to join Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent

Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...

's Blue Caps in 1957, where he was given the nickname "Bubba". Facenda and Paul Peek

Paul Peek

Paul Edward Peek Jr was an early rockabilly pioneer. Peek was born in High Point, NC was raised in Greenville, SC. Paul learned to play the guitar, steel guitar and bass while he was 12 years old. When he was 14 he played in several local country bands...

 became known as "The Clapper Boys" of Vincent's band, because of their trademark handclap style during live shows. Facenda toured with Vincent and appeared in films with him, but by 1958 had left Vincent to seek a solo career. He signed with Nasco Records and released his first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Little Baby" b/w "You Are My Everything".

The single received no attention, and Facenda headed to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he met Frank Guida

Frank Guida

Frank Guida was a Sicilian-American songwriter and music producer credited with discovering Gary U.S. Bonds, whose hits, including "New Orleans" and "Quarter to Three", he produced. He was also a songwriter for Leroy Toombs...

, the head of Legrand Records. Guida asked him to record a novelty song

Novelty song

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...

 entitled "High School U.S.A.", using names of high schools in his home state of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 picked up the song for national distribution, and had him record 28 different versions of the tune, using regional high school names from various parts of the United States. The song became a nationwide hit, reaching #30 on the Black Singles Chart and #28 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in 1959. All 28 versions were combined into one chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

listing.

He recorded a follow-up single, the self-penned "Bubba Ditty", which was released in 1960; after this he served in the military through 1962 and then returned to Portsmouth, where he worked as a firefighter for the Portsmouth Fire Department. He toured again with the Blue Caps beginning in 1982, including in Europe. Facenda also later did some stage acting, performing in a play entitled Just Us.

Singles

• "Little Baby" / "You're My Everything" - Nasco 6018 - 1958
• "High School U.S.A." (National version) / "Give Me Another Chance" - Legrand 1001 - 1959
• "High School U.S.A." (Regional versions, see below) / "Plea Of Love" - Atlantic 51-78 - 1959
• "Bubba Ditty" / "I Don't Know" - Atlantic 2057 - 1960
• "High School U.S.A." (National version) / "High School U.S.A." (Los Angeles Version) - Legrand 1001 (reissue)

Regional Atlantic Records releases of "High School U.S.A.

• Virginia—45-51
• New York City—45-52
• North & South Carolina—45-53
• Washington D.C. -- 45-54
• Philadelphia—45-55
• Detroit—45-56
• Pittsburgh—45-57
• Minneapolis/St. Paul—45-58
• Florida—45-59
• Newark, New Jersey—45-60
• Boston—45-61
• Cleveland—45-62
• Buffalo—45-63
• Hartford, Connecticut—45-64
• Nashville—45-65
• Indianapolis—45-66
• Chicago—45-67
• New Orleans—45-68
• St. Louis & Kansas City—45-69
• Georgia & Alabama—45-70
• Cincinnati—45-71
• Memphis—45-72
• Los Angeles—45-73
• San Francisco—45-74
• Texas—45-75
• Seattle, WA & Portland, OR—45-76
• Denver—45-77
• Oklahoma—45-78