John was born in
Brooklyn, New York, on January 3, 1946. Under the name of Bobby Pedrick, Jr., he first hit the pop
chart in 1958 when he was only 12 years old with "White Bucks and Saddle Shoes", written by
Doc Pomus and
Mort Shuman. John also wrote the track "I Can't Move No Mountains" for jazz rock band
Blood, Sweat and Tears, released on their 1972 album
New Blood. The song was eventually released as a single but did not chart. Several years later, while working in construction in
Long Branch, New Jersey, John was approached by George Tobin, a record producer and songwriter based in California, who wanted to produce a record for John. Tobin recalled in Fred Bronson's The Billboard Book of #1 Hits: "I had him come out and he lived in my house. He was actually a laborer in New Jersey at the time, carrying bricks on a construction job. I was looking for material for him and I heard a song called "
My Angel Baby" (by
Toby Beau) and said, 'That's the kind of song Robert should be doing.' So we used that as a frame of reference. Robert wrote 'Sad Eyes' and rewrote it for about three months. Every time he'd write it I'd go, 'Nah, change this and change that.' " Eventually signing with
EMI America Records, John hit number one with "Sad Eyes", ==Select discography==