He was a one-hit wonder, and best known for his Elvis sound-alike single "Suspicion," a Top Five smash at the height of Beatlemania in 1964. He was Terry Stafford, born in Hollis, OK, on November 22, 1941. He grew up in Amarillo, TX. and moved to Los Angeles after high school to pursue a singing career. He got the chance to record a demo and chose "Suspicion," an album track from Elvis Presley's Pot Luck LP (1962). A local DJ took the song to Crusader Records, which remastered it and released it nationally in 1964. It went all the way to number three on the pop charts and did so during a week when the Beatles held every other spot in the Top Five. Stafford was never able to duplicate its success, though he did reach the Top 30 with his follow-up single, "I'll Touch a Star." Stafford died of liver problems in Amarillo on March 17, 1996.
But his big hit "Suspicion" is largely forgotten today... until you hear it. It's one of those songs that always makes people say "oh, I remember that!!"
