First came to the front in '65 as a member of The McCoys with the huge #1 hit "Hang on Sloopy."
Little known fact. Even though Derringer wrote it, the band Sweathog was the first to release Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo in 1970. I saw Sweathog along with Black Oak Arkansas and King Crimson. Sweathogs version was much slower tempo. While not top billing, BOA stole the show.
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Hang on Sloopy is also the only official Rock Song of a state, Ohio. [EDIT] I'm mistaken...apparently Oklahoma also has made an official state Rock Song, Do You Realize? by the Flaming Lips. Gross. Really Gross. People actually consider that a Rock song?
I saw Derringer perform at an Oldies Fest in Cincinnati sometime in the mid 2000s. Not one of the better acts, not the worst, they had several free concerts in Cinci around that time. Derringer was okay. Three Dog Night was great. Turtles were decent. Young Rascals were great. The best performer I saw at those concerts: Tony Orlando, absolutely killed it. Wouldn't have guessed that based on some of the others over the years. He wasn't even the headliner that year.
I only remember Derringer playing three songs: Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo, Hang on Sloopy (Which of course got a big reaction from the Ohio crowd), and Hulk Hogan's theme song which was also one of his: