FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 30, 2018

DEAR JERRY: Since I don't have internet access, I'm hoping you can solve this little musical mystery.

In Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," I have never been able to understand what is often said right before the title.

To me it sounds "Keep on with a post hole, don't stop 'til you get enough."

There are many other lyrics I can't understand in this song, but this "post hole" thing is especially annoying.
—Didi West, Waycross, Ga.

DEAR DIDI: Unless Michael was having a fence installed, chances are there was nothing on his mind regarding post holes.

It appears the lyrics in question are "Keep on with the force don't, don't stop 'til you get enough."

This was his first solo hit for Epic (#50742), and taken from his first Epic LP, "Off the Wall" (#35745).

For Epic, Michael Jackson would eventually have 11 No. 1 singles, and five No. 1 albums.

DEAR JERRY: Before Terry Stafford ("Suspicion") and Ronnie McDowell ("The King Is Gone"), there was a singer named Ral Donner who had a few hit songs performed in an Elvis style. Have you ever heard of him?
—Ken Bergstrom, Golden, Colo.

DEAR KEN: Not only have I heard of Mr. Donner, but he and I had a partnership in an album that I produced in 1978. His Elvis tribute, "The Day the Beat Stopped," was one of the tracks on my LP.

Ralph "Ral" Donner, was born in Chicago on February 10, 1943. He became an Elvis fan in 1956 and singing in an Elvis style came easy for him.

In 1959, at just 16, Ral made his first record, "That's All Right With Me" backed with "Tell Me Why" (Scottie 1310). Neither "That's All Right" (With Me), nor "Tell Me Why" were the same songs that Elvis recorded.

Ral's next record, "Girl of My Best Friend" (Gone 5102), was a track he discovered on the "Elvis Is Back" album. And it was Ral's first big hit, peaking at No. 19 on Billboard in early 1961.

Donner's follow-up was "You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)" (Gone 5108), on which he sounded so much like the king that even some Elvis fans were fooled. This tune reached No. 4, and Ral Donner became a pop star for more than just his ability to sing like Elvis.

On April 6, 1984, after several years of battling cancer, Ral Donner died at his home in Chicago.