Dwight Twilley (June 6, 1951 – October 18, 2023) was an American pop/rock singer and songwriter, best known for the top 20 hit singles "I'm on Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984).
Twilley and Phil Seymour met in Tulsa in 1967 at a theater where they had gone to see The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, and soon began writing songs and recording together.
[4] Cordell promptly changed the group's name from Oister to the Dwight Twilley Band, which sowed the seeds for future problems arising from Seymour's anonymity in the partnership.
That song became their debut single and reached #16 on the Billboard charts in 1975 with relatively little promotion,[1] largely because the band was in England recording its first album, tentatively called Fire, with producer Robin Cable at Trident Studios.
During an appearance on American Bandstand, the band played what was to be its follow-up single, "Shark (in the Dark)", produced by Twilley, Seymour and Russell.
The success of the film Jaws, however, caused Cordell and Shelter to reject the single, apparently to keep the group from being perceived as a cash-in novelty act.
During this time, Seymour and Twilley befriended labelmate Tom Petty and Phil sang backing vocals on "Breakdown" and "American Girl", creating a long-lasting friendship.
[citation needed] In 1977, the Dwight Twilley Band performed on the short-lived CBS Saturday morning kids show Wacko!.
Seymour left the band the following year, pursuing a solo career with some success until he developed what proved to be terminal cancer.
[4] The Dwight Twilley Band albums were reissued in CD form with bonus tracks by the audiophile DCC Compact Classics label in 1989 and 1990.
Instead, the album was quietly released by Epic's CBS Associated label, where it went largely unnoticed, despite the appearance of the last Twilley/Seymour song, "Shooting Stars".
After the failure of Wild Dogs, Twilley found himself without a label (or a lead guitarist, as Bill Pitcock IV had quit).
Twilley wrote a parenting book based on his long-distance relationship with his daughter Dionne, entitled Questions From Dad.
However, in 1998, Pitcock rejoined Twilley, and the rise of digital audio meant that placing a record on a major label became less of a priority.
The 12-song LP featured an array of appearances from power-pop and rock and roll musicians such as Ken Stringfellow, Timm Buechler and Mitch Easter.