William S. Levise Jr was born in February of 1945, in Michigan. His father was a musician and, by his teenage years, William was following this same path.
Bob Crewe, a prevalent songwriter and producer of records, bestowed the name of Mitch Ryder upon William and also renamed his band The Detroit Wheels. This newly named outfit recorded the single, “Jenny Take A Ride!”, in 1965 and saw it enter the American Top Ten. The medley was a combination of two hits from the past: “C.C. Rider” and “Jenny, Jenny”.
A cover version of The Righteous Brothers’ “Little Latin Lupe Lu” peaked in the Top 20 and “Break Out” perhaps deserved better than to cease to rise beyond No.62. Still, with Mitch’s voice bearing the influence of that possessed by the early rocker, Little Richard, the medley of “Devil With A Blue Dress On and Good Golly Miss Molly” just had to be a hit and, towards the end of 1966, the single duly ascended to No.4.
“Sock It To Me-Baby!” marked the group’s last visit to the Top Ten, as well as being its penultimate entry to the charts.
Mitch Ryder embarked upon a career as a solo recording artist, however, his success in this endeavour proved to be moderate. Nonetheless, video clips bear testimony to the fact that Mitch continued to perform live for years to come.