Gil Garfield

The Cheers recorded a Top 10 single, Leiber & Stoller's "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots," in 1955. The trio -- Garfield, Sue Allen and Bert Convy (later an actor and game show host) -- hit the Billboard charts again with Leiber & Stoller's "Bazoom! I Need Your Lovin'," and they recorded several demos of other Leiber & Stoller tunes.

In the '60s, Garfield collaborated on words and music with Perry Botkin Jr. and others, including Harry Nilsson, on such recordings as "Wonderful Summer," "Paradise" by the Ronettes and "Passion Flower." He was completing a semi-autobiographical musical at the time of his death.

Garfield was a student at USC when he started singing in nightclubs. He was encouraged to record, and he eventually formed the Cheers with fellow singers Sue Allen and Bert Convy, who became known as an actor and game-show host.

They recorded several demos of tunes written by famed songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller whose long list of hits included "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley.

The Cheers' version of Leiber and Stoller's "Black Denim Trousers" reached Billboard magazine's Top 10 when it was released as a single in 1955.

The song was the tragic tale of a girl pleading with her boyfriend to stay off his motorcycle. Robert Hilburn, writing in The Times in 1975, said the song helped create a theatrical style of pop music he called "teardrop rock."

The Cheers' release of another Leiber and Stoller song, "Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')". reached the Billboard charts in 1954.

Tags