At first glance, Kiss and Wayne Cochran don’t have much in common. But both must’ve realized before they got on the road to stardom that they weren’t exactly pin-up material. So they decided to stand out by manufacturing a look that caused jaws to drop and their bank accounts to rise. In Kiss’ case, they added layers of make-up which today is officially licensed by the band so you too can look like Gene Simmons for $29.99. Wayne caused double takes by sporting a bloated white pompadour that looked like a white barn owl sleeping on his head. It earned him the moniker, the “White Knight of Soul,” since his schtick consisted of wearing capes and mimicking the Godfather of Soul’s moves and vocal stylings.
Wayne acknowledged liberally borrowing from Brown in a 2017 interview with Mohairslim.com: “I did a pompadour of my own and that was sort of the white version of James Brown’s pompadour because at that time James Brown was sort of my idol. I remember he had so many clothes, one of his things he would do, he took a tractor-trailer truck around with his wardrobe in it and he’d charge a dollar for people to go in and go through the truck, look at his wardrobe. And my first clothes that I designed were very similar to his. He was my idol so I did a lot of things that he did.”
But before Wayne copped his look from Brown, he was also inspired by Edgar and Johnny Winter, after watching them perform in a club. In a 1982 appearance on The Late Show, Wayne told David Letterman: “There was a great thing about their hair. Every time the lights over their heads changed colors, their hair changed colors. And I said, ‘Now there’s the color–if I could figure out how to get it.”
Perhaps Wayne was too blinded by the Winter lights to be smart in business: he sold the publishing rights to a future hit song by fellow Georgian, Otis Redding, for $149. Wayne, who played bass in Redding’s first band, Johnny Jenkins and The Pinetoppers, recalled: “Otis wrote a song called ‘These Arms Are Mine’ and we were friends, so I published it at Cochran Music Company, and course none of us had no money back then, and I needed a reverb system to run my microphone through, and it cost $149, so I sold Cochran Music, ‘These Arms Are Mine’ for $149. Boy, don’t I wish I hadn’t of done that.”
His business smarts were bad, but Wayne’s talent for causing public scenes was nearly unmatched. On one occasion, Cochran and members of his fourteen-piece band, which included two female backup singers (the Sheer Delights) and the legendary bassist, Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report, Joni Mitchell), entered an upscale restaurant. Cochran was sparkling in an emerald-green jumpsuit. As his hairdresser tasted his boss’ food for quality, Wayne remembered, “You could hear forks dropping all over the place.”
One of those forks may have been held by Jackie Gleason. Gleason witnessed Cochran play at the Barn Club in Miami and even wrote the liner notes for Wayne’s 1967 album Wayne Cochran! which included “He doesn’t just sing — he explodes! He doesn’t perform—he happens!”
Gleason wasn’t the only celebrity who took notice of Wayne’s act. The Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) dedicated their second album to Wayne and the C.C. (Cochran Circuit) Riders. They covered Wayne’s “Goin’ Back to Miami,” and gave Cochran a shout-out in their debut film when booking agent Maury Sline (Steve Lawrence) asks them: “Don’t you boys ever wear blue jeans, or jumpsuits like Wayne Cochran and the C. C. Riders?”
But as the years flew by, fans stopped turning out for Wayne’s act. He turned to drugs and booze and later in life, the Lord, creating the Voice for Jesus Ministries based near Miami.
His unexpected residuals from a 1960s song he co-wrote helped him comfortably make his career shift. Like the Beatles, Pearl Jam used to cut records just for their fan club. In 1998, the band sent out their version of Wayne’s “Last Kiss” which came from a sound check at Washington’s Constitution Hall. Six months, later it became their biggest-selling single; reaching #2 on Billboard. Singer Eddie Vedder recalled: “I was on an island in Hawaii away from everything when (manager) Kelly Curtis called and asked if I’d heard what was happening with ‘Last Kiss.’ It seemed surreal to me.”
The over-the-top, teen tragedy tune is about a couple whose car collides with a parked car. Thirty-four years earlier, the song was recorded by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers and similarly was a #2 hit. Ironically, J. Frank was nearly killed when his manager, Sonley Roush, drove himself and the band into a truck. The impact killed Sonley and physically and professionally damaged J. Frank.
Wayne’s song of death lives on, with Post Malone recording a version of it in 2022. Maybe Malone will adapt Cochran’s pompadour and comb the white hair over his face to conceal the tattoo under his eyes that reads “Always Tired.”
-Mark Daponte
Photo: Wayne Cochran, 1969 (public domain)
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