The Manhattan Transfer had scored two prior Top 40 hits -- the Jesus-inspired "Operator" in 1975 and their take on the old black-and-white television show "Twilight Zone" with "Twilight Zone/Twilight Time" in 1980. Neither song cracked the Top 20.
So when the quartet of Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Cheryl Bentyne and Janis Siegel went back into the studio to put their four-part harmonies down for tracks that what would be for the album "Mecca For Moderns," they chose to re-record the old Ad Libs' 1965 hit "The Boy From New York City."
But how did they get to that point? The man who produced that hit, jazz producer extraordinaire Jay Graydon, explained it this way to the SongFacts Web site: "When we were picking songs for the album, we used to go to Tim's apartment. Tim played some old 45s, and we'd all come up with ideas and kick things around and listen to the tunes and go, 'Hey, put that in the 'hold' pile.' And we'd play another one, and we'd go, 'Okay, that's in, that's a great song.' So I'm leaving. I'm walking out the door, I'm going to my car, and Tim plays 'The Boy From New York City.' I run back to the door and I go, 'Why haven't you played that before?!? Why didn't you play that during the meeting?!? We've got to do this song. This is perfect.' We did it, and it was a big hit."
On the original production of the Ad-Libs' song, it was an up-and-coming producer-musician named Leon Huff (later of Gamble & Huff fame) who played the piano. On the version recorded by the Manhattan Transfer, Graydon hired a Canadian who was trying to make a name in the business to play piano by the name of David Foster. With horns added on to the song and guitars provided by Al Viola, Dean Parks and Toto's Steve Lukather, "The Boy From New York City" was turned into a modern jazz-type record, compared to the soul-sounding original by the Ad-Libs.
But Graydon felt comfortable with the work he pushed the Transfer and the musicians and felt it was the first release to come from the album.
In early May 1981, "The Boy From New York City" first reached radio stations throughout the country for airplay. The reviews were mixed -- some station fans loved the song, others most likely rolled their eyes to the top of their heads.
But on Sunday, May 10, 1981, everything came to a head in the biggest city in the world. Shortly after the weekly broadcast of American Top 40 finished at 1 p.m. on radio station WNBC-AM (660), the disc jockey who took over after the show started his show with a "You pick the next hit" contest as he did every Sunday at that time. For this particular day, he picked that new Manhattan Transfer release against the most wild and out there songs by a new British act making big noise in its native country and was ready to take the next step in America.
New York City and tri-state listeners had a choice to make between "The Boy From New York City" and "Antmusic," a recent No. 2 hit in the UK for an act called Adam & The Ant, a band consisting of men dressed up in Revolutionary War fatigues and dressed up in makeup, led by lead singer and songwriter Adam Ant, real name Stuart Goddard.
So the phone calls came in as the DJ played the next two songs. And after those two songs played, the two songs were in a relative flat-footed tie! So with no other way to decide the tie, he randomly looked at his phone line, still lit up. Of the nine keys, he'd press a button and asked the listener on the air what they'd chose between the two songs. Five calls down, "The Boy From New York City" held a 3-2 lead. Next caller: "WNBC, which song will you pick from?" "The Boy From New York City." Thank you."
It was 4-2 with three calls left. It was obvious that the Manhattan Transfer had a hit on their hands. Now it was up to just one more listener to confirm it. The DJ hit the seventh button.
"WNBC, which song is it that you would pick?"
"Antmusic."
Onto No. 8.
"WNBC, which song is it you will choose from?"
"I'm going with 'Antmusic.'"
Suddenly, it was tied at 4-4. The person on hold on the No. 9 line was about to decide this battle.
"Hello, WNBC! We're asking you to decide which song you will choose from. Is it 'Boy From New York City' by the Manhattan Transfer or 'Antmusic' by Adam & The Ants. What is you choose?"
"Hi. I'm going to go with 'Antmusic.'"
And as that phone call came to an end, the opening strains of "Antmusic" by Adam & The Ants came on the airwaves. This new act from England had a huge hit on their hands and the people of New York City had decided it ... well, barely.
But Epic Records in the United States never, ever felt comfortable with releasing any of the Ants' music in this country, including "Antmusic" and though it was a catchy tune, only a smattering of fans "got" Adam & The Ants. Meanwhile, Atlantic Records knew that the Manhattan Transfer were a thing in this country with their four-part harmonies of jazz, swing, '40s style, pop music. After all, a one-phone call loss to a New Wave band that had a hard time getting any footing in this country wasn't deterring them from having a hit song.
Thus "The Boy From New York City" got released and debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 72 on May 23, 1981. It swiftly climbed to No. 57, then to No. 47, and on June 13, 1981, "The Boy From New York City" debuted at No. 34. It began its ascension up the chart -- to No. 27, No. 24, into the Top 20 at No. 19, then to No. 16. And on July 18, 1981, "The Boy From New York City" became a Top 10 hit all over again when it jumped from No. 16 to No. 10, giving the Manhattan Transfer its first Top 10 smash.
From there, "The Boy From New York City" moved up a notch each week, from No. 10 to No. 9 to No. 8, then to No. 7 on August 8, 1981, where it held for three straight weeks before falling to No. 12 on August 29, 1981, ending a six-week run in the Top 10.
"The Boy From New York City" worked for a second time, this time in that early '80s style jazz vocal piece. It gave the Manhattan Transfer a broader audience. The quartet would have one more Top 40 hit -- 1983's "Spice Of Life" only got as high as No. 40.
Turns out, though, that 1981 was a really good year for the Transfer -- it won three Grammy Awards, one for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Boy From New York City, one for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Vocals for "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square," and one for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group, for "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)." By winning Grammys in both the jazz and pop categories, the Manhattan Transfer became the first group in history to achieve those accomplishments.
Though they haven't had a Hot 100 chart entry since "Baby Come Back To Me (The Morse Code Of Love)" hit No. 83 in 1984 and haven't had a CD/album out since 2009's "The Chick Corea Songbook," the Manhattan Transfer continue to tour and perform for their fans, 47 years after starting. Bentyne, Paul and Siegel continue to fly the flag proud for all the Transfer fans, even after the death of Hauser at 72 years old from cardiac arrest on October 16, 2014. He was replaced in the group by Trist Curless of the a cappella group m-pact.
Adam & The Ants, meanwhile, would part ways by 1982 and Adam Ant began a fairly decent solo career with hits such as "Goody Two Shoes," "Room At The Top" and "Wonderful."
"The Boy From New York City" became a big part of the musical summer of 1981, even if fans had a hard time warming up to the tune at the start.
Especially in the city for which the "boy" was from.
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