My name is Sonny Threatt. I am a songwriter. The music and lyrics I am posting on this website are new songs, never heard before. I am the exclusive holder of the copyright of these songs, and any request for licensing or other use should be made to me at email(sonnythreatt1@gmail.com). For a sample of my cafe/restaurant background music (to say goodbye to BMI, Ascap, & Sesac fees), click "play" above and listen to "come back to rio" or "designated lover". These are a good example of the the smooth easy tracks now available to restaurants and hotels for a very low fee (as little as $100.00 per year for your total music cost!). Do not hesitate to contact me if you have a passion for any of these songs. Let's make some great music!

Latest News

4/23/2009 "Designated Lover" is still #1 on the Contemporary jazz top 10 today!

3/31/2009-
"Designated Lover is #1 on the Contemporary jazz chart today!

A Brief History of Sonny Threatt

1966 -(Greenville High)-The Swinging Tangents- Sonny (soul) Threatt, Murray (the bass) Judy, Lang (el saxo) Ligon, Ross Boland (drums), Andy (guitar) Mckinney, Tommy Compton (rhythm guitar), Carrol Cox (organ). Winner talent show with help from Kathy Hood, Vickie Burgess, and Martha Bringhurst singing backup on "Land of 1,000 dances". First release on Mastertone records "Why Today"/"I'm No Fool". First taste of stardom- knocked 'em dead in Atlanta (at least the girls at that girl's school where we played)

1967-68 (Mars Hill College) The Nomads: Sonny Threatt-lead singer, Darrel McClenden-bass, Hugh Martin-drums, Tony Waldrop-organ, Baker Scott-guitar. Second release on Mo-Groove records "Somethin's Bad"/"Tell Her No Lies". Big in the Northern Scene (England) and still is.

1969-71 (Clemson) The Sunny & Phyllis & the Danes years- Sonny Threatt, lead singer- Phyllis Brown, lead singer, Darrel McClenden, bass- Hugh Martin, drums- Andy Mckinney, guitar, Carrol Cox, piano/organ. First national releases on UNI records "I've Been Lost"/"Love,Love,Love" ("I've Been Lost" #1 at WTGR-am Myrtle Beach 6 weeks in a row the summer of 1969), "If We Had to Do it All Over"/"When I Look Into Your Eyes". Other records of note from the next few years were "Run Billy Run", "Attica", "The Sands of Malibu", "I've Got Something On My Mind", "Moments Like These", "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Memories" and a lot more. I am busy compiling the original versions of these songs to offer for sale as downloads from my song page.

1971-2004 Built Houses, Raised family (Brantley and Liza)

2005 Started writing again


There's a lot more to the story and maybe one day I'll write it all down, but for now I'd like to mention a few great people who influenced me- Joe Huffman of Mark V Studios, now in Nashville; the late Buddy Killen of Tree Music Publishing, Nashville; the late James Brown, who hung out with me in the studio one night for a couple of hours (2 hours with James Brown was worth a year with anyone else in R&B); and most of all the late Moses Dillard, the role model for a lot of us in the music business in South Carolina (Peabo Bryson started out with Mose).