From the Annals of the Chanteuses –  In 1967, Austin celebrated “Damito Jo Day.”  Damita Jo DeBlanc was born in Austin in 1930 but was raised mostly in Santa Barbara.  In 1949, LA Deejay Joe Adams began to promote her career getting her gigs at Club Oasis and other LA clubs. Adams later signed her to Discovery Records but she found little success as a solo artist and spent much of the 1950’s with R&B group Steve Gibson & the Red Caps.  She married Gibson but later divorced him as their marriage collapsed and the band’s fortunes waned.  Her solo breakthrough came with the R&B smash hit “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You” in 1960 (an answer to “Save the Last Dance for Me” and 1961’s “I’ll Be There” (an answer to “Stand by Me”).  DJ worked with a number of performers including Ray Charles, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton.  In 1984, she retired from R&B and devoted the remainder of her career to modern Gospel music.