Pomus was a Jewish New Yorker who had contracted polio as a child. The polio left him reliant on crutches, but it was an accident a few years later, that put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He started his music career, performing with black musicians who played the Blues, but it was as a songwriter that he became really successful.
Pomus wrote a song called Young Blood, which was a huge hit for The Coasters. It earned him a cheque for $1,500 and he never looked back! Doc Pomus continued to write hit after hit, creating so much of the music that defines the 1960s.
The story goes, that when Pomus married Willi Burke, a Broadway dancer, he knew that all the men at the wedding would want to dance with his beautiful bride. As he was wheelchair bound, the sight of her enjoying dancing with other men, made him anxious.
Three years later, Pomus found an old wedding invitation that reminded him of how he felt on that day and he was inspired to write the ever popular song, Save The Last Dance For Me.
Save The Last Dance For Me, reached No. 2 in the UK singles chart in 1960. It was produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, a song writing team who also became ground breaking producers. They took an apprentice under their wing, Phil Spector, who was at that time, unknown. Phil Spectre later proved himself to be a genius in the world of music production, creating the famous Wall of Sound.
Save The Last Dance For Me was a UK hit for The Drifters again in 1979. It has been covered many times over the years by various artists. The most recent successful version, is by Canadian crooner Michael Buble, who released it as a single in 2006.
