Lionel Cormier, the founder of the Sundown Playboys, formed his band in 1945. When Swallow Records released the first record he made with the Sundown Playboys in 1972, Pat Savant sent the 45 and a fan letter to Apple Records, London, England." The song, “The Saturday Night Special”, was a hit and started getting a lot of air play on local radio stations.Two weeks later sending the record and the letter, the outcome was worthy of a bad movie script: Apple contacted with them for the master asking about the band's availability to sign a contract. They agreed to press and distribute the song worldwide on their label. This was a landmark not only for the Sundown Playboys, but also Cajun music.
In the summer of '72 Apple released the same recordings that Swallow had already pressed The Saturday Night Special and La Valse de Soleil Coucher (The Sundown Waltz) in both the U.S. and Europe. Though Apple bought a full back page ad in Billboard, the record did not receive the wide airplay that it reportedly has in Europe.
