Dave "Baby" Cortez (86) (David Cortez Clowney) is a pop and R&B
organist and pianist, best known for his 1959 hit, "The Happy
Organ.” He is the oldest living performer to have a solo #1 hit
on the Billboard Hot 100.
Cortez had another Top Ten hit in 1962 with "Rinky Dink" on Chess Records. This record became well known in the UK as the signature
tune of the Saturday afternoon program Professional Wrestling.
In 2011, after a 38-year hiatus from recording, Cortez
returned with a album on Norton Records backed by
Lonnie Youngblood and His Bloodhounds, including underground luminary Mick Collins of the Dirtbombs
and the Gories.