The Late Great Dwight Twilley

Power pop Dwight Twilley died yesterday, October 18 2023, at the age of 72. On Saturday he had a stroke while driving and his car crashed into a tree. He died four days later in the hospital. Dwight Twilley was best known for his hits "I'm On Fire" and "Girls."

Dwight Twilley was born on June 6 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He had taken an interest in music while young and was an Elvis Presley, but it was seeing The Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that led him to pursue music as a career. While still in junior high he formed his first band, The Intruders. It was at a screening of The Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night (1964), that he met future collaborator Phil Seymor. They formed a band called Oisler, splitting the duties of lead vocals between them. In 1969 they left Tulsa for Memphis, Tennessee. They returned to Tulsa and then in late 1974 the band Oisler went to Los Angeles. They signed with Shelter Records, who insisted they change their name to the Dwight Twilley Band. It in one night at Church Studio that the Dwight Twilley Band recorded their hit "I'm On Fire." It was released in April 1975.

"I'm on Fire" proved to be a hit, going to no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was followed by the Dwight Twilley Band's first album, Sincerely. Unfortunately, the Dwight Twilley Band was not able to capitalize on the momentum from "I'm on Fire." Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour both sang on the debut album of fellow Shelter artists Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Their second album, Twilley Don't Mind, was released in September 1977. While it reached no. 70 on the Billboard album chart, none of their singles charted. The Dwight Twilley Band split up only a few months after the release of Twilley Don't Mind.

Dwight Twilley became a solo artist and his first album as such, Twilley, was released in 1979. Dwight Twilley's second album as a solo artist, Blueprint, was rejected by Arista Records. As a result, his next album would not be released until 1982. Scuba Divers performed better than Twilley, reaching no 109 on the Billboard album chart. Jungle, released in 1984, produced Dwight Twilley's second hit single. "Girls" reached no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single from the album, "A Little Bit of Love," reached no. 77 on the chart.

Unfortunately, Dwight Twilley would not see the success on the chart that he had with  Jungle again. He left EMI America for Private I Records, for whom he recorded his next album Wild Dogs. The album failed to chart. His next album, The Luck, would remain unreleased for several years. In fact, his album Tulsa would be released before it was, in 1999. The Luck was finally released in 2001. His final album, Always, was released in 2014 and featured Ken Stringfellow of The Posies and Mitch Easter, known as the front man of Let's Active and a producer for R.E.M.

Dwight Twilley was a true pioneer in power pop. The Dwight Twilley Band's single "I'm on Fire" hit at a time when only a few power pop artists (Badfinger, The Raspberries) had charted before. They would pave the way for other power pop acts, including Cheap Trick, The Knack, and The Romantics. He would influence such acts as The Posies and Matthew Sweet. Dwight Twilley's music was archetypal power pop. It was characterized by Beatlesque harmonies and clear, crisp guitars. It is sad that while Dwight Twilley was often a darling of the critics, for the most part he rarely saw success on the charts. Among the innovators of power pop, his music really deserves to be heard.