The Claremonts (Bronx, New-York)
aka The Tonettes (1)

Personnel :

Diana Sanchez

Sylvia Sanchez

Josie Allen

Discography :

The Claremonts
1957 - Why keep Me Dreaming / Angel Of Romance (Apollo 3628)

The Tonettes (1)
Singles:
1958 - Oh What A Baby / Howie (Doe 101/ABC 9905)
1958 - Uh-Oh / He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me (Doe 103)
Unreleased :
1958 - Rockabye baby (Doe)

Vince Castro bb The Tonettes (1)
1958 - Bong Bong / You're My Girl (Doe 102/Apt 25007)
1958 - Too Proud To Cry / Cause I Love You (Apt 25025)
1960 - You're My Girl / Bongo Twist (Apt 25047)

Biography :

Near the East Tremont section of the Bronx, New York, is a street named Claremont Parkway. It begins at Crotona Park and ends about seven blocks away at Claremont Park. It is a little South of Belmont Avenue (which gave us Dion & The Belmonts) and a little North of Morrisania which gave us The Mellows, Lillian Leach, Dean Barlow, and others . So - this has been fertile ground for vocal group harmony throughout the years. In 1957 on Claremont Parkway were two sisters, Diana and Sylvia Sanchez, who liked to harmonize and blend their voices on tunes of the day. Their good friend Josephine (Josie) Allen often joined them as the threesome enjoyed making music and copying sounds they heard on the radio.

It was a day like many others that the two sisters were hitting some notes when they were heard by a television repair man named Lou Ezzo who was somewhat impressed and told them that they should pursue their talent further. Offering his services, he soon put them in touch with those at Apollo Records, one of New York's oldest and best known independent labels that for the last few years had built up an impressive roster of R & B performers.

The three girls showed their stuff to Apollo and including the song writing ability of Diana Sanchez soon found themselves getting ready to experience their very first recording date. Along with top session musicians such as Sammy Lowe, Sam "The Man" Taylor, Mickey Baker, and David "Panama" Francis, the girls worked out the songs for the very first record for them. The songs were "Keep Me Dreaming" and "Angel Of Romance" on Apollo # 517, which was released in November of 1957. An interesting sidelight is the fact that songwriting credit on the songs is also given to the TV repair man !

  The Claremonts were now managed by one Charles Merenstein who just happened to be the son in law of Bess Berman head of Apollo Records. At the beginning of 1958 he launched his own label called Doe Records and readied a new side by The Claremonts whom he now renamed The Tonettes. He reasoned that the new name had a "snappier" sound that teenagers would better relate to. That was also the reason that he recorded the group on his new label thinking that the Apollo Records label was too historically aligned with the basic sound of R & B. And so in February of 1958 came "Oh What A Baby" backed with "Howie" on Doe # 101.

It took off up and down the East Coast and had that certain something that made it a favorite at record hops and dances everywhere. Soon Doe Records realized the extent of the appeal of the record and leased the master to ABC-Paramount (released on # 9905) which gave the record access to nationwide distribution. "Oh What A Baby" was a good seller and a mainstay on radio playlists throughout the spring.

Vince Castro & The Tonettes

In the meantime there was another player in the musical history of the group. Across Claremont Parkway from the Sanchez sisters lived another young person with dreams of musical stardom. His name was Vince Castro and he sometimes shared notes with the sisters. And so he was given a shot to add his voice and style to the music of the day and Charles Merenstein set the session for May. The Tonettes backed up Castro  on the song "Bong Bong (I Love You Madly)" with "You're My Girl" on Doe Records # 102. Once again the 'A' side took off in sales and airplay and Doe leased the side to another ABC-Paramount subsidiary label Apt Records on # 25007. And so in the spring and summer of 1958 the joyous sounds of the neighbors on Claremont Parkway shook the city with two great records, and they both (together and as solo acts) performed at a number of shows and radio dances in the Northeast.

Vince Castro followed up his solid hit with another session that produced two songs that he wrote himself - "Cause I Love You" and "Too Proud To Beg" released on Apt # 25025. This time out the record did not crack the charts. Not much more was heard from The Tonettes or Vince Castro, but in the early sixties to try and make something out of the Twist craze, Apt Records re-released # 25007 as "The Bongo Twist" and coupled with the original flip side released it on # 25047.
http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/tonettes.html

Songs :

The Claremonts

  
Why keep Me Dreaming                Angel Of Romance



The Tonettes (1)

     
Oh What A Baby                       Howie                              Uh-Oh

  
He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me         Rockabye baby



Vince Castro bb The Tonettes (1)

     
Too Proud To Cry           Cause I Love You               Bong Bong

  
You're My Girl                        Bongo Twist
…

The Four Dots : Marvin Brown, Fletcher Williams, Melvin Peters and Kenneth Miller

The Four Dots (1)  (Pittsburgh, PA)
aka The Four Troys

Personnel :

Kenny Jackson (First Tenor)

Melvin Peters (Second Tenor)

Manning Rosemont (Baritone)

Marvin Brown (Bass)



Discography :

The Four Dots (1)
1956 - Rita  / He Man Looking For A She Girl (Bullseye 103)

Fletcher Williams & The Four Dots (1)
1956 - Peace Of Mind / Kiss Me Sugar Plum (Bullseye 104)

The Four Troys
Singles :
1959 - In The Moonlight / Suddenly You Want To Dance (Freedom 44013)
Unreleased
1959 - Weeping Willow (Freedom)

Fletcher Williams
1957 - Mary Lou / Stop Look And Love Me (Bullseye 1001)

Biography :

They Started as the Mellows around 1950, in the Hill and Homewood sections of Pittsburgh, PA. The original group did not have Marvin Brown included in it......because they hadn't found him yet. When they did, it was Fletcher Williams, Edgar Lee, Melvin Peters, Kenneth Miller and Marvin Brown . They changed their name to the five Mellows, and sang much of the standard fare of the R+B groups in the early and mid 50's.

The Five Mellows : Edgar Lee, Melvin Peters, Fletcher Williams, Kenneth Miller and Marvin Brown

They changed their name again,this time to the Four Dots, Edgar Lee left (and some additional swapping of members), and had one recording session in early 1956 with Bullseye records. They recorded four songs,"Rita","He Man Looking For A She Girl","Peace Of Mind","Kiss Me Sugar Plum." The first two were released as Bullseye 103. It was played locally in the Pittsburgh area, but didn't get play nationally. The second release pair the last two, Peace Of Mind", and "Kiss Me Sugar Plum." Same result. The story has some twists.

A different group from California, called the Four Dots, was signed to a Liberty records subsidiary, Freedom, in 1959. This group had Jewel Akens, Jerry Stone and Eddie Cochran as members, and released two 45's. That label also signed the Marvin Brown based Four Dots. You can't have two of the same named artists on a label, so the "Original Four Dots" became the Four Troys. They issued "In The Moonlight" and "Suddenly You Want To Dance" on Freedom 44013 in 1959. Melvin Peters also worked with the Del Vikings and Marcels. In the early 1960's, he joined Chuck Jackson and the Motown group The Originals. Then it was back home as a Headliner. He spent the seventies working with Solid Gold, Flashback, and the Katch. Now he's with a Cleveland group called Mellow Class.

http://www.uncamarvy.com/4Dots/4dots.html
http://oldmonmusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/george-goodman-and-headliners.html

 

The Four Dots (1)

     
            Rita                        He Man Looking For A She Girl         Peace Of Mind     


Kiss Me Sugar Plum


The Four Troys

  
      In The Moonlight                       Suddenly You Want To Dance


Fletcher Williams

  
           Mary Lou                                Stop Look And Love Me



...

The Ramblers (Mount Vernon, NY)



Personnel :

Richie (Lead)

Pat Paloscio

Richard Paloscio

Jim Marino



Discography :

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