Most casual music fans likely won't recognize the name Eddie Johns. Even in France, where he was based during his time as a disco singer, it's likely that the Liberian-born musician's name won't ring a bell. But it was the title track of his 1979 album "More Spell on You" that served as the inspiration for Daft Punk when they recorded "One More Time," the carrier single from their 2001 album "Discovery," as explained by the Los Angeles Times. Specifically, the duo sampled the horns from the original song and transformed them into brand-new hooks for the future million-seller.
Johns had a middle-class upbringing in Liberia, where he was one of seven children of an accountant father and a mother who worked as a nurse. In 1977, when he was around 26 years old, he moved to France in hopes of making it big as a singer, and one year later, he recorded his first single — a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 1950s classic "I Put a Spell on You." "I recorded it in one breath," Johns told the Times. "I thought, 'My mom is going to be so surprised.' I just wanted to make her proud and maybe get her some money."
After touring a bit to promote his single, Johns recorded the aptly titled "More Spell on You," which featured a mix of covers and originals, including the catchy, horn-laden title track.
