Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Bonds was living in Norfolk, Virginia in the 1950s when he began singing publicly in church, and with a group called The Turks. He joined record producer Frank Guida's small Legrand record label and Guida changed Andersons name to U.S. Bonds in hope that it would be confused with a public service announcement advertising the sale of government bonds and thus get more airplay.
Bonds' first hit was the song "New Orleans", which was followed by "Not Me", a flop for Bonds, but later a hit for The Orlons, and then by his only Number One hit, "Quarter To Three" (June 1961)
Subsequent hits, under the name Gary U.S. Bonds, included: "Seven Day Weekend"
(chart # 27 - 1962)
