Thornton ‘Pookie’ Hudson, 72; lead singer, songwriter of the Spaniels

Thornton James “Pookie” Hudson, 72, lead singer and songwriter for the Spaniels, a doo-wop group best known for the 1954 hit “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight,” died Tuesday of complications from cancer of the thymus at his home in Capitol Heights, Md., publicist Bill Carpenter said.

Hudson, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, who grew up in Gary, Ind., formed an R&B; vocal harmony group in the early 1950s with high school classmates, including the late bass singer Gerald Gregory. The Spaniels’ first hit was “Baby It’s You” in 1953 for Vee-Jay, an early black-owned recording label.

Hudson, a tenor, wrote “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight,” which reached No. 5 on the R&B; chart in 1954, No. 24 on the pop chart.

“I was going with this girl, and I used to walk home from her house late at night,” Hudson recalled years later. “As I walked, I put the song together in my head because that’s what her mother was always telling me -- ‘Well, it’s 3 in the morning, and it’s time for you to go.’ ”

The McGuire Singers, a white vocal group, covered the tune and took it to No. 7 on the Billboard pop chart. The Spaniels’ version was heard on the soundtrack of the 1973 film “American Graffiti.”

The group changed lineups several times before disbanding in the early ‘60s. Hudson reformed the Spaniels in the early ‘70s and performed at oldies concerts until last fall, when his cancer returned after remission.