Burroughs was born in
Grovetown, Georgia, but grew up in
California. In the early 1950s, he moved to
New York City, where he worked as an
MC at the Baby Grand Theatre. He began writing songs, one of his earliest being "
Fujiyama Mama", recorded by
Annisteen Allen,
Eileen Barton, and a few years later by
Wanda Jackson. After starting to use the pseudonym Jack Hammer, he also wrote "Rock 'n' Roll Call", recorded by
the Treniers and
Louis Jordan. He also recorded several singles in the mid-1950s, including "Football Rock" on
Decca, and "Girl Girl Girl" on
Roulette. Hammer wrote a song, "Great Balls of Fire", and submitted it to songwriter Paul Case, who liked the title but not the song itself. His song "Plain Gold Ring" appeared on
Nina Simone's 1958 debut album
Little Girl Blue, and was later recorded by
Nick Cave,
Kimbra and others. In 1960, he recorded an LP,
Rebellion - Jack Hammer Sings and Reads Songs and Poems of the Beat Generation, for the Warwick label. The following year he moved to Paris, where he performed impersonations of
Sammy Davis Jr. and
Chuck Berry in cabaret, and then to
Belgium. There, he recorded a series of
twist songs, including "Kissin' Twist", which became a big hit in Belgium, Germany, France and Sweden. A good dancer, Hammer became known in Europe as "The Twistin' King", and released an LP under that title. In Britain, its title was changed to
Hammer + Beat = Twist, released by
Oriole Records. He then moved to Germany, and performed on US military bases. He later lived in
Hollywood. He died on April 8, 2016, at home in
Oakland, California. Hammer's youngest daughter, Amelia Hammer Harris, appeared on
season 16 of
American Idol in 2018. In addition to revealing to the show's judges,
Luke Bryan,
Katy Perry, and
Lionel Richie, that her father wrote "Great Balls of Fire", she also claimed that he wrote "
Yakety Yak". However, Hammer actually wrote a song with a similar title, "Yakkity Yak", which was issued as a B-side by the Markeys (not to be confused with
The Mar-Keys). ==References==