David Burgess was an American singer-songwriter, producer, and frontman for the rock band The Champs. Born in Los Angeles, California, Burgess began his music career as a solo artist and DJ until he formed the rock band The Champs after enlisting a number of other musicians to help on his B-side single Train to Nowhere/ Tequila.

The single was one of the first to be released under The Champs and quickly became the band’s biggest song, reaching the number one spot on Billboard’s Pop and R&B charts and selling over a million copies. The song went on to be a staple in pop culture, featuring in notable films including Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, American Graffiti, and The Sandlot.

Burgess produced many songs for The Champs and other popular artists in the scene at the time, including Don McLean, Darlene Love and The Blossoms, and Marty Balin. His songwriting continued even after the band disbanded in the mid-60s for artists including Dean Martin, Lou Rawls, Don Gibson, The Lettermen, Marty Robbins, Anne Murray, Eddy Arnold, Engelbert Humperdinck, Ray Price, Bing Crosby and much more.

In his overall career, Burgess has over 700 music copyrights with Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI)