he signed with nasco records and released his first single, "little baby" b/w "you are my everything". the single received no attention, and facenda headed to new york city, where he met frank guida, the head of legrand records. guida asked him to record a novelty song entitled "high school u.s.a.", in which facenda listed names of high schools in his home state of virginia. atlantic records picked up the song for national distribution and had him record 28 different versions of the tune, using regional high school names across the country. the song became a nationwide hit, reaching no. 30 on the rhythm and blues chart and no. 28 on the "billboard" hot 100 in 1959. all 28 regional versions were combined into one chart listing.