Johnny Corley (born April 28, 1943), better known as The Fantastic Johnny C, is an American soul singer who had four US Hot 100 hits, including the 1967 top ten hit "Boogaloo Down Broadway".
Born in Greenwood, South Carolina, United States, he studied at Brewer High School but left to join the armed services before graduating. He moved to Norristown, Pennsylvania, a small city 18 miles from Philadelphia after his military duties ended and began work as a heavy equipment operator. He joined a local gospel vocal group associated with the Macedonia Baptist Church, and while rehearsing was heard by a fellow churchgoer and nearby neighbour, the record producer and songwriter Jesse James. James persuaded Corley to start singing secular music and became his manager.
Corley began performing in Philadelphia, on bills with Sam Cooke and Joe Simon among others, and James wrote the song "Boogaloo Down Broadway" for him. Arranged by Leon Mitchell and recorded in Philadelphia, the song used some of the musicians who would later form the band MFSB, including drummer Earl Young. His stage name came about when some acquaintances of both James and Corley stated almost in unison, "That's fantastic -- what are you going to call him?" after hearing "Boogaloo Down Broadway." Hearing their response, James first came up with the Fantastic Johnny Corley before shortening it to the Fantastic Johnny C.
The record rose to number 5 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 23, 1967. Johnny C followed up the record's success with three further US chart hits in 1968 – "Got What You Need" (number 32 R&B, number 56 pop); "Hitch It to the Horse" (number 25 R&B, number 34 pop), which drew on the success of James' other writing and production success, "The Horse" by Cliff Nobles; and "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful" (number 87 pop), a song previously recorded by Soul Brothers Six and later by Grand Funk Railroad.
His first gig was at the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia, sharing a bill with Sam & Dave, the Vibrations, and Joe Simon. Phil La of Soul released his only album, Boogaloo Down Broadway, a mini-masterpiece of gritty soul containing the deep soul cuts "Warm and Tender Love,""Shout Bamalama," and many dance tunes: "Cool Broadway,""Barefootin',""The Bounce," and "Land of a Thousand Dances.
Corley continued to sing in church while recording secular music..He remained on the Phil-L.A. of Soul label until 1970 before joining Kama Sutra Records. Still working with Jesse James and the same studio musicians, he released two further singles, credited simply as Johnny C, but failed to find further commercial success. He then left the music business, only undertaking occasional performances in later years.
When he scored his first hit, he stated that his goal was to be the "number one soul brother," and, while he failed to achieve that lofty title, he did land among the stars for brief period courtesy of his explosive recordings.
(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)