Floyd Arthur Dakil (June 16, 1945 – April 24, 2010) was a Texas musician best known for his often compiled song "Dance Franny Dance". He later went on to play guitar in Louis Prima's band.
Dakil was born in Childress County, Texas. He started out as an adolescent wildman, forming his Floyd Dakil Combo with five other high school
sophomores in 1963. In 1964, the combo recorded their first and
best-known single for the Jetstar label, the regional hit “Dance,
Franny, Dance,” live in front of a crowd at the Pit Club, where they were the house band. They were clean-cut teens in sharp suits who played savage, crazy and loose dance music that still stands out today as one of the hottest sounds to come out of the happening Dallas-Fort Worth ‘60s garage scene.
"Dance Franny Dance", reached the sixtieth slot on a "top sixty"
chart compiled by a San Francisco radio station. It was re-issued nationally on the Guyden label. Its inclusion in compilations on Texas rock has become essential. Floyd Dakil went on to record three 45s on the Earth label as the Floyd Dakil Four.
chart compiled by a San Francisco radio station. It was re-issued nationally on the Guyden label. Its inclusion in compilations on Texas rock has become essential. Floyd Dakil went on to record three 45s on the Earth label as the Floyd Dakil Four.
After the Earth 45s, Floyd kept the band together while earning a B.A. from Texas Tech. In 1968 he had a solo 45 “Merry Christmas Baby” / “One Day” on Pompeii. Sometime after that Floyd became
the guitarist for one of his idols, Louis Prima, and remained for several years until Prima’s ill health curtailed his touring. Dakil stayed in Las Vegas, where he played the lounges and opened for the likes of Bill Cosby and Phyllis Diller. During July 1972 he married Jolene Nunn.
In 1975 he released a LP with his own group, Live! in which he runs through 42 songs in as many minutes. It’s definitely an odd mix, if you can imagine “Everyday People” segueing to a chorus of
“Yummy Yummy Yummy” then straight into “Whiskey River”! Also about 1975 Floyd turned down a two LP contract with CBS, feeling that the contract was unfair in charging promotional costs back to the artist.
In the late ’80s he started a band with Larry Randall, and this group’s songs were featured in a 1991movie, Love Hurts with a brief cameo by the group.He was working in real estate, and teaching guitar lessons at the Grapevine Antique Mall inGrapevine, Texas, but occasionally appeared with reunited members of his original band under thename The Pitmen. . In 2009 Floyd was one of the featured acts at the Ponderosa Stomp at SXSW in Austin.
Recently, the economic downturn put a halt at his real estate business and put him in financial troubles. Tragically Floyd committed suicide 24 April 2010, age 64.
(Info edited from various sources)