The Coasters grew out of The Robins, an L.A.-based vocal group
formed in 1947 as The Four Bluebirds. As The Robins, they scored
three Top 10 R&B hits: “If It’s So Baby” (1950), “Double Crossing Blues”
(with Johnny Otis and Little Esther; 1950) and “Smokey Joe’s Café” (1955).

The success of “Smokey Joe’s Café” inspired Atco Records to offer
its composers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, an independent
contract to write and produce additional Robins sessions. However,
only two of the six members, Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn, agreed
to the deal. For that reason, a new group was built around Gardner
and Nunn by adding Billy Guy, Leon Hughes and guitarist Adolph Jacobs.
As all were from the West Coast, they decided to
call themselves The Coasters.

Their debut hit, “Down in Mexico,” reached #8 on the R&B charts in
April 1956. Five months later they were back with “One Kiss Led
To Another,”which peaked at #11 R&B. Then came a two-sided smash
that entered both the pop and R&B Top 10: “Searchin’” backed
with “Young Blood.” Both sides topped the R&B hit parade, making
it the biggest R&B single of 1957.

In 1958, The Coasters reached #1 pop and R&B with “Yakety Yak,”
a comical ode to the frustration between teens and their parents.
King Curtis played tenor sax on it and their next single,
“Charlie Brown” (the first of several hits by different acts that
were inspired by the Peanuts comic strip). “Charlie Brown,” which
reached #2 pop and R&B in 1959, was The Coasters’ third
million-seller in a row.

Three more pop and R&B hits followed that year: the TV western
parody “Along Came Jones,” the itch-inducing “Poison Ivy,” the
tongue-in-cheek “I’m A Hog For You” and the epic tale of a gun-totin’
monkey, “Run Red Run.” As a matter of fact, nearly every Coasters
hit -- all written and produced by Leiber & Stoller – was a
good-natured, fast-paced comic story song.

The personnel of The Coasters evolved over time. Hughes was
replaced by Young Jessie for a while. Bobby Nunn left in 1957;
Jacobs in 1959. New members Cornelius Gunter and Will “Dub”
Jones took their places. Later Ronnie Bright, Jimmy Norman and
Earl “Speedo” Carroll checked in – and out.

The hits continued into the early ‘60s: “What About Us” (1960),
“Wake Me Shake Me” (1960), “Little Egypt” (1961) and “T’ain’t
Nothin’ To Me” (1964). The group moved over to Columbia in 1966
and King in 1971, but without further success. By then, it really
didn’t matter, as The Coasters had become an in-demand oldies act.
Actually, several -- as various ex-members fronted their own sets
of touring Coasters. The group name was actually owned by
founder Carl Gardner, who retired in 2005.

The Coasters were inducted into The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame
in 1987. Two years later they also entered The Vocal Group Hall of Fame.