The Plurals (Elizabeth, New Jersey)

Personnel :

Pasquale “Pat” Mazzillo (Lead / Second Tenor)

Richard “Rip” Wagner (First Tenor)

Carl Anderson (Second Tenor)

Theodore “Teddy” Bennett (Baritone)

Bob Black (Bass)

Discography:

1958 - Donna My Dear / Miss Annie (Wanger  186/187 - Bergen 186/187)
1959 - Goodnight / I'm Sold (Wanger 188)

Biography :

Carl Anderson and a group of friends, Pat Mazzillo, Ted Bennett, Richard Wagner and Robert Black, sang in the school’s glee club. The school sponsored a talent show and Anderson and his friends, who were popular because of their ability to harmonize, were asked to enter the contest.

Plurals on WLBR with Henry Homan

They did that under the name of The Plurals, and won the second place prize for their rendition of the then-popular “Memories Of You,” a classic doo wop number. Their popularity increased and they continued to sing in the glee club, but were also given solo spots in which they represented their school.

Additionally, they worked at teen dances, and actually performed as a warm-up group for such rock and roll stars as Frankie Avalon, Bo Diddley, The Shirelles, and many more.They got their first break when a record producer, Frankie Freid, heard them sign. He offered them an opportunity to record for his company, C&M Records, which was based in Elizabeth.

Anderson, who loved to listen to the local black singing groups, became fascinated with a tune called “Miss Fannie.” The song is up tempo and Anderson improvised with it and created a different version and called it “Miss Annie.” The record made it to Billboard’s Top 40 along with it’s flip side, “Donna My Dear.” The group came out with a follow-up tune, also a collaboration between Anderson and his friends.

With Lead singer Mike Benz

Pat Mazzillo was working one day, He was underneath a car, arc welding a gas tank and somehow a spark caught the garage on fire.He was rushed to East Orange Hospital in critical condition. Pat died ten days later, on Sunday February 8, 1959. Frankie Freid suggested that they look for another lead singer and continue.

The Plurals held their first rehearsal with Mike Benz on lead at the Roseville Methodist Parish Hall. They recorded “Goodnight” and “I’m Sold” in April 1959. The songs “Goodnight” again advanced into the Billboard charts, this time cracking the Top 100.

http://www.classicurbanharmony.net/Plurals%20for%20web.pdf


Songs :


   
I'm Sold                                Miss Annie

   
Goodnight                             Donna My Dear

  ...

The Downbeats (4) (Detroit, Michigan)


Personnel :

Cleo Duke Miller

Robert Fleming

Johnny Dawson


Discography :

1962 - Request of a fool / Your Baby's Back (Talma 54056)
1965 - Darling Baby / Put Yourself In My Place (Vip 25029)

Biography :

The obscure Motown act known as the Downbeats included Johnny Dawson, Cleo Miller, and Robert Fleming. They sometimes accompanied Marv Johnson before he hit on United Artists Records, and cut tracks for the Lupine family of labels. (Although nothing emerged, there are gaping blanks in Lupine's discography which may account for the omission.)  The flip of the Downbeats' first Tamla single, "Request of a Fool," was published by Lupine Music, and written by Dawson. The A-side, "Your Baby's Back," is a '50s throwback that dropped early in 1962, the next Downbeats' release didn't surface until December 31, 1965. At Lupine they accompanied Marv Johnson, uncredited, on "Once Upon a Time," a beautiful but neglected doo wop release.

  
                           Marv Johnson                                                                                        The Elgins

Motown issued "Darling Baby" a Holland-Dozier-Holland production on their VIP label, and credited it to the Downbeats. Sandra Mallett joined Dawson, Miller, and Fleming and sung lead on both sides. Mallett had the single "It's Going to Be Hard Times" b/w "Camel Walk" on Tamla as Sandra Mallett & the Vandellas in 1962. Before Motown shipped "Darling Baby," they slapped new labels on the 45s effectively changing the groups' name from the Downbeats to the Elgins.  It was a strange choice, since another group of Elgins recorded for Congress Records ("Ritha Mae") and a '50s group from Southern California also used the name.

http://www.answers.com/topic/the-downbeats-2#ixzz1EqCYP0ln
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/the%20elgins.html
http://motownforever.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=classic&action=display&thread=1406


Songs :

The Downbeats(4)

   
Your Baby's Back                          Request of a fool


Marv Johnson bb The Downbeats(4) (Uncredited)


Once upon a time

...

The Daydreamers (Detroit)



Personnel :

William “Bill” Amolsch

Clive “Skip” Caverly

Reginald “Reg” Caverly

Daniel “Danny” August



Discography :

?



Biography :

These are the Daydreamers, who recorded for quite a few major labels.one of the members, Ken Fraseur, even sang with The Pharaohs / Four Imperials for quite awhile.
Marilyn Bond,S. R. Boland "The birth of the Detroit sound: 1940-1964"

...

The Playmates (1) (Waterbury, Connecticut)



Personnel :


Chic Hetti "Carl Cicchett" (Lead & Pianist)

Donny Conn "Donald Claps" (Vocal & Drummer)

Morey Car (Vocal & Bass)




Discography :


Singles :

1957 - Pretty Woman / Barefoot Girl (Roulette 4003)
1957 - Darling it's wonderful / Island Girl (Roulette 4022)
1958 - Jo-Ann / You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming (Roulette 4037)
1958 - Give Me Another Chance / Let’s Be Lovers (Roulette 4056)
1958 - Don't Go Home / Can't You Get It Through Your Head (Roulette 4072)
1958 - The Day I Died / While The Record Goes Around (Roulette 4100)
1958 - Beep-Beep / Your Love (Roulette 4115)
1959 - Star Love / The Thing-A-Ma-Jig  (Roulette 4136)
1959 - What Is Love / I Am (Roulette 4160)
1959 - A Ciu-E / First Love (Roulette 4200)
1959 - On The Beach / The Song Everybody's Singing  (Roulette 4211)
1960 - Second Chance / These Things I Offer You  (Roulette 4227)
1960 - Our Wedding Day / Parade Of Pretty Girls  (Roulette 4252)
1960 - Wait For Me / Eyes Of An Angel (Roulette 4276)
1961 - Little Miss Stuck-Up / Real Life (Roulette 4322)
1961 - Cowboys Never Cry / Tell Me What She Said (Roulette 4370)
1961 - Wimoweh / One Little Kiss (Roulette 4393)
1962 - A Rose And A Star / Bachelor Flat  (Roulette 4417)
1962 - Keep You Hands In Your Pockets / The Cop On The Beat (Roulette 4432)
1963 - What A Funny Way To Shoe It / Pettycoats Fly (Roulette 4464)
1963 - "A" My Name Is Alice / Just A Little Bit  (ABC 10422)
1963 - She Never Looked Better / But Not Through Tears (ABC 10468)
1963 - I Cross My Fingers / I’ll Never Get Over You  (ABC 10492)
1964 - Guy Behind The Wheel / One Guy Left On The Corner  (ABC 10522)
1964 - Fiddler On The Roof / Piece Of The Sky (Colpix 760)
1965 - One By One The Roses Died / Spanish Perfume (Colpix 769)
1965 - Ballad of Stanley The Lifeguard/Should I ask (Colpix 245)



Lps :

1958 - At Play with the Playmates (Roulette SR-25043)
Jo-Ann / Your Love / Darling It's Wonderful / Substitute For Love / Magic Shoes / When The Record Goes Around / Beep Beep / The Day I Died / Give Me Another Chance / Lovable / Intimate / Don't Go Home

1958 - Cuttin' Capers (Roulette SR-25068)
Let's Have A Party / The Macaroni Song / Worry / Our Friend / The Lady Or The Tiger / The Thing-A-Ma-Jig / What A Dream I Had / Women Drivers / Egypt / Modern Science / Bag Of Sand

1959 - Broadway Show Stoppers (Roulette SR-25084)
Get Me to the Church On Time / Hernando's Hideaway / You're Just In Love / Jubilation T. Cornpone / Once In Love With Amy / There Is Nothin' Like A Dame / Luck Be A Lady / Seventy-Six Trombones / Heart / Standin' On the Corner / I Whistle A Happy Tune / You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!

1960 - The Playmates Visit West Of The Indies (Forum SF-16001)
Goombay / Tonight My Heart She is Crying / Island Girl / Evolution / Old Donkey-O / Sing Bahama Mama / Pretty Woman / Similau / Women Drivers / The Trouble With Man / Barefoot Girl / Lot Of Money, Lot Of Woman

1961 - Wait For Me (Roulette SR-25139)
Wait For Me / Parade Of Pretty Girls / A Ciu-E / It's Amour / The Song Everybody's Singing / I Am / What Is Love / These Things I Offer You / First Love / Second Chance / Eyes Of An Angel / On The Beach

Biography :

The Playmates -- best known for "Beep Beep," one of several Top 40 hits -- were one of the first rock & roll groups signed to the New York-based Roulette Records, formed and co-owned by music industry leaders Morris Levy, Joe Kolsky, and George Goldner.

Originally known as the Nitwits (probably a better name for them in the long run), the Playmates had been performing in the area around Waterbury, CT, for five years before signing to Roulette in 1958. The label had already scored a few rock & roll hits by the time they signed the group; unfortunately, the Playmates' specialty was not rock & roll, but novelty music.

Despite the oft-corny lyrical content of their upbeat pop fare, they earned two hits right away with "Jo Ann" and "Beep Beep," the latter with a chorus that featured the group repeating a phrase of car beeps ("beep beep, beep beep, this car goes beep, beep beep").

   
            Beep Beep                                                                                            What is love                

Despite its silliness, "Beep Beep" -- written by group members Carl Cicchetti and Donald Claps -- climbed to number four in the nation in December 1958 and earned the Playmates the right to record an album, At Play With the Playmates, which followed soon after.

In 1959, they scored again with "What Is Love?" (number 15) and followed suit the next year with "Wait for Me" (number 37).

The group subsequently recorded three additional albums for the label: Cuttin' Capers, Wait for Me, and Broadway Showstoppers. Another album, The Playmates Visit West of the Indies, was issued on an early- to mid-'60s budget reissue label called Forum Records, which was a division of Roulette Records.The group disbanded in 1964.
~ Bryan Thomas, Rovi

http://www.answers.com/topic/the-playmates
http://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursp/playmates.htm

Songs :

   
I Cross My Fingers                    One Little Kiss

   
"A" My Name Is Alice                      Jo-Ann

   
What is Love                             First Love

...

(November 1959) L-R: Eddie Griffin, Arthur Stewart, Yusef Khan, Eddie Albino and Al Heitzer 

The Sinclairs (New York)


Personnel:

Arthur 'Party Artie' Stewart (Lead)

Eddie Albino (Lead)

Al Heitzer (Tenor/Falsetto)

Yusef 'Joe' Khan (Second Tenor/Baritone)

Eddie Griffin (Baritone/Bass)

Discography :

Unreleased :
1963 - My Guardian Angel

Biography :

The Sinclairs were strictly an amateur doowop quintet back in the day although quite a visual one as they danced in sync while the main two lead voices, Arthur 'Party Artie' Stewart and Eddie Albino, leaped off the stages landing in split position. Looking back to that era of the late 1950's-early 1960's when they really couldn't have cared less about money as they sang and danced everywhere and anywhere they could get an audience to listen and enjoy them.

(Early 1960) L-R: Jimmy Clarke, Jimmy Jarosz, Al Heitzer, Sam Garcia and Eddie Horta

They sang at paid gigs in Westchester and Nassau Counties where the competition wasn't as great as it was in New York City where it seems that every block had a doowop group entertaining the masses. They sang in churches, YMCA/YMHA's, Audubon Ballroom, P.S. 189, P.S. 152, the Dyckman Projects' Building 1 Community Room, high school assemblies, building courtyards, parks, building basements, subway arcades, subway station platforms and subway trains. But they didn't write their own music preferring to sing others' hit tunes. When Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records over near Columbus Circle at the time, and Bob Crewe of XYZ Records in the Brill Building told them in no uncertain terms: "Come back when you have original material". The Sinclairs broke up in early 1962 after after a lot of personal change.


Song:

My Guardian Angel

…