Note: I’m aware there’s a version by a late 90s artist, also known as a shock rocker, but that cover was intentionally not included on this list. It became a small hit in the United States, reaching number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of that year.

Accounts of what happened next vary — Hawkins’ most frequent version was that he ended up punching Ertegun, though other people just say that the two got into a screaming row. John Kay (1) John Lennon (19) John Leyton (1) John Lomax (3) John Marascalco (3) John Mayall (3) John McLaughlin (2) John McVie (3) Johnnie Johnson (3) Johnnie Ray (2) Johnny Ace (3) Johnny Bernero (2) Johnny Burnette (4) Johnny Cash (11) Johnny Echols (3) Johnny Gentle (3) Johnny Guitar Watson (2) Johnny Hallyday (2) Johnny Kidd and the Pirates (3) Johnny Otis (20) Johnny Rivers (2) John Paul Jones (5) John Peel (1) John Phillips (1) John Sebastian (2) John Simon (2) John Sinclair (1) John Stewart (2) Jonathan Miller (1) Joni Mitchell (1) Jorma Kaukonen (1) Judee Sill (1) Jud Phillips (2) jump bands (4) Junior Parker (2) k. I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written and composed by Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, whose own recording of it was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Thirty-three have been traced, so this seems to be one of those rare occasions where he was telling the truth. Hawkins was already starting to play up his stage persona even more — wearing capes and bones through his nose, and trying to portray a voodoo image.When he’d got back to Cleveland, he’d heard Freed on the radio and been amazed that they let a black man have his own show, so he’d gone down to the radio station to meet him, and been even more amazed to find out that the man who sounded black, and was playing black music, was in fact white. It not only provides an excellent rendition of Nina Simone’s timeless music but also establishes a connection between the listeners and the artist in a way that’s hard to put into words. Given that World War II ended in September 1945, that would tend to suggest that his story about having been a Japanese prisoner of war was, perhaps, not one hundred percent truthful.

It fared similarly well on the other British charts, reaching number 12 in Melody Maker, New Musical Express and Disc. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins song ‘I Put a Spell on You’, as it turns out, was the perfect song to cover – with 100 acclaimed artists coming up with their own versions of it. The original release failed to make any impact on charts until it was included on the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey; after the inclusion, the song did chart in the US, UK and France. He always claimed, for example, that in his time in the army he had been captured by the Japanese and tortured for eighteen months.

After a couple more singles, Hawkins was once again dropped by his label — but once again, he moved on to a slightly bigger label, this time to OKeh, which was a subsidiary of Columbia, one of the biggest labels in the country. Christian from Paris, La FranceI put a spell on you a été il y a quelques années un support pur la boisson française "Perrier" elle Était magnifique.