Frank "Gino" Amodeo

Gino & The Dells (2) (Eastern Suffolk County, Long Island)

Personnel :

Frank "Gino" Amodeo (Lead)

Peter Chacona

Louis Reyes

Augie Borgess

Discography :

Gino & The Dells (2)
1962 - Altar Of Dreams / Baby Don't Go Now (Golden Crest 567)

Gino
1963 - We'll Make It Someday / I'm A Boy In Love  (Golden Crest 576)
1963 - It's Only A Paper Moon / Home Sweet Home  (Golden Crest 581)
1964 -  Hand Clappin' Time / Gotta Travel On  (Golden Crest 588)

Darin D'Anna aka Darin D. Anna
1965 - We Were Lovers / Gunna Feel Alright  (World Artists  1045)
1965 - Bimbo / Your Love Is Strong (World Arists 1046)

Biography :

Frank "Gino" Amodeo was born on Dec. 16, 1938, in Brooklyn. Gino & Louis Reyes will be part of the group The Del-Quins with Morris Hopkins, Vinny Moraldo, Gerard Moraldo. Based in the Mastic & Bellport area, The Del-Quin's do not register records. Gino & Louis Reyes join Peter Chacona and Augie Borgess to Form Gino & The Dells. The group started in '62 on the Long Island streets of Eastern Suffolk County, NY.

  
Frank Amodeo (center) & Louis Reyes with the The Del-Quin's                                          Frank "Gino" Amodeo               

"Altar Of Dreams" became the title song  of Clark Galehouse's Shelley and Golden Crest Great Hits. By virtue of its location in Huntington Station, NY, Golden Crest was well placed to trawl talent from Long Island (including Queens and Brooklyn), also New York and New Jersey. But the label made its mark when ‘Tall Cool One’ by the Wailers, from the Northwest area, hit the Top 50 charts on Billboard and Cash Box in 1959 and then again in 1964. 

"Altar Of Dreams" never got any exposure and was a limited  pressing record so the value is higher than the group's other releases. This was the group's only actual release while Gino released other singles. Singers were just single names back then and Galehouse thought it might click better with just Gino! Gino had one record called "It's Only A Paper Moon" which got some play in cities and a few sales but never made it big. Gino went on to sing with the Royal-Aires on Gallo and toured with Gene Pitney's "Shower Of Stars" as the lead singer of the Reflections ("Just Like Romeo & Juliet) in the 60's.

Songs :

Gino & The Dells (2)

  
    Altar Of Dreams                              Baby Don't Go Now

Gino

  
    I'm A Boy In Love                            It's Only A Paper Moon

  
Home Sweet Home                        Gotta' Travel On

Darin D'Anna aka Darin D. Anna

  
Gunna Feel Alright                        Your Love Is Strong

...

The Cameos (3) (Spring Valley, New York)


Personnel :

Jeff Matles (Tenor)

Bill Marlin (Tenor)

Gary Itkin (Bass)

Diane Schultz (Soprano)


Discography :

The Cameos (3)
1959 - Please Love Me / Shanga-Langa-Ding-Dong (Flagship 115)
 

Walt And Joan bb The Cameos (3)
1959 - Darling I'm Hoping / I'm Sorry For You (My Friend) (Flagship 111/112)

Tiny Dean & The Cameos (3)
1960 - Now That Summer Is Over / That's All I Want (Flagship 117/118)


Biography :

Vocal group from Spring Valley, this quartet consists of Three Young men and a girl : Jeff Matles, Bill Marlin, Gary Itkin and Diane Schultz. The group recorded at Flagship Records of Ridgewood (New Jersey) two songs "Please Love Me" b/w "Shanga-Langa-Ding-Dong". In 1959, with The release of the Single, their popularity has grown considerably in New York. The Same year at Flagship , they backed Walt And Joan  "Darling I'm Hoping" b/w "I'm Sorry For You (My Friend)" and Tiny Dean  "Now That Summer Is Over" b/w "That's All I Want". Flagship was owned by Vincent and Julia Sardo and Julia's brother, Howard W. Brady, who also recorded for the label.

                                                                                                       Jeff Matles

Over The Summer 1959, They toured New York state. The stopovers included Rochester, Syracuse, Cornell & Utica. They were so well received in Utica that they were asked for a return engagement. This return show consisted of 30.000 people. They appeared with The Belmonts, The Mystics, Gary Stites and Frankie Ford. Despite some promises to record a new disc on the Flagship label, the band will split before recording their new songs.

Songs :

  
      Please Love Me                          Shanga-Langa-Ding-Dong

...

Oma Heard

The Darlings (2) (Los Angeles, CA)
aka The Sweethearts (2)
aka The Sa-Shays
aka The Utmosts
aka The Dynels
aka The Postalettes
aka The Delicates (2)

Personnel :

Oma Heard (Lead)

Carlotta "Cookie" Robertson (Lead)

Maxine Waters

Julia Waters

Discography :

The Sweethearts (2)
1961 - They Talk Too Much / Puppy Love (Hi-III 116)
1961 - Summer Days / What Is Love (Hi-III 117)

The Sa-Shays
1961 - You Got Love / Boo Hoo Hoo (Zen 101 / Alfi 1)
1963 - Here Comes The Love / I’ll Make You Love Me (Zen 109)

The Utmosts
1962 - I Need You / Big Man (Pan Or 1123)

The Dynels
1962 - Boy Friend / Let's Do It Again  (Dot 16382)
1964 - Just A Face In The Crowd / C'mon Little Darlin’ (Natural 7001)

The Postalettes
1963 - He Played One, Two, Three, Four / Like Chalypso (Instrumental) (Dore 662)

The Darlings (2)
1963 - To Know Him Is To Love Him / Train Out Of Memphis (Instrumental) (Dore 663)
1963 - He Played One, Two, Three, Four / My Pillow (Dore 677)
1966 - The Horn Goes Beep Beep Beep / Floatin' On Cotton Candy (Instrumental) (Dore 775)

The Delicates (2)
1963 - My Pillow / He Played One, Two, Three, Four (Dee Dee 677 / Celeste 676)

Biography :

The Darlings, a female quartet comprising Oma Heard, Carlotta "Cookie" Robertson (Gaynell Hodge’s niece who In 1960 with Joyce Chapel & Marie Love recorded as The Chiffons and The Unforgettables) and the sisters Maxine and Julia Waters, were managed and produced by a former artist named Bobby Sanders - real name: Jerome Lenoir. In 1963, Dore issued two consecutive singles by the group under different names, the first as the Postalettes singing 'He Played 1, 2, 3, 4' (a variation of 'The Paddiwack Song'), the second as the Darlings with their punchy revival of 'To Know Him Is To Love Him', heard here. Sanders produced all four at the same (with Grayson arranging) and assigned the masters over Dore on 23 January 1963.

    

Three of the four girls had previously sung in a Fremont High School group named the Sweethearts, who recorded for producer H.B. Barnum in 1961 and moonlighted on obscure one-off 45s as the Utmosts and the Sa-Shays.  Although amateur, they were already establishing career paths as versatile session vocalists and barely knew their identity from one release to the next - immediately prior to signing for Dore, they had recorded a one-off 45 for producer Steve Venet (himself a former Dore artist) as the Dynels on Dot.

                                                                                                   Oma Heard

Something about 'He Played 1, 2, 3, 4' piqued Lew Bedell interest because a few months later, he re-issued it with a new B-side ('My Pillow') on Dore 677 crediting the Darlings. Then again, in October 1963 on Dee Dee 677 as by the Delicates!. And he wasn't finished yet. Possibly frustrated by his inability to break the record, Bedell sold the master to a couple who ran a tiny R&B label, Celeste, out of their LA home, prompting a further re-issue with the revised title 'This Old Man' on Celeste 676. Oma Heard later sang with Ike Turner's Ikettes, did session work and recorded under her own name for Motown in the late 1960s, while the Water sisters worked as background singers on countless sessions by such diverse artists as Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Paul and Rod Stewart.

Songs :

The Sweethearts (2)

  
   They Talk Too Much                            Puppy Love         

  
Summer Days                                  What Is Love

The Sa-Shays

  
You Got Love                          Boo Hoo Hoo

  
Here Comes The Love                I’ll Make You Love Me

The Utmosts

  
I Need You                                    Big Man

The Dynels

  
     Boy Friend                                     Let's Do It Again

  
Just A Face In The Crowd                   C'mon Little Darlin’        

The Darlings (2)

  
To Know Him Is To Love Him                             My Pillow                   

The Delicates (2)


My Pillow


...

The Regals (From Top) Billy Adams, Aaron Cornelius, Albert Russell, Jerry Holeman & Harold Wright

The Regals (2) (Cleveland)
Ref The Orioles (2) 

Personnel :

Billy Adams (Lead)

Albert “ "Diz"” Russell (Bass/Baritone)

Jerry Holeman (Baritone/Tenor)

Aaron "“Tex" ” Cornelius (Baritone/Tenor)

Discography :

Singles :
1954 - Run Pretty Baby / May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You (Aladdin 3266)
1955 - Got The Water Boiling / I'm So Lonely (Atlantic 1062)

Unreleased :
1955 - Cha Cha (Atlantic)
1955 - Gotta Find My Baby (Atlantic)


Biography :

Albert “Diz” Russell first ran into Sonny Til around 1951 in St. Louis, where both were spending quality time with a young lady named Adell Chapelle. Russell was doing some gigs with his group, The Modern Sounds, a vocal quintet from his native Cleveland that leaned more toward jazz than pop. They met again two years later in New York City, after The Modern Sounds became The Four Jays and blew Cleveland in a rickety Buick belonging to Aaron “Tex” Cornelius.

The 4 Jays (Top) Jerry Holeman  & James Brunson (Bottom) Aaron Cornelius & Albert Russell

After breaking down in Pennsylvania, borrowing money in Atlantic City, and living for days off of stale donuts in the Lower West Side of New York, Russell and The Four Jays abandoned their car by the Hudson River, tossed the tags, and headed up to Birdland, the famous Broadway jazz club, to find work. What they found was scat-cat Eddie Jefferson, an old singing buddy from their days of rehearsing at the Cleveland YMCA, who took them immediately for an audition with none other than Duke Ellington himself, in his office in the Brill Building.

At The Apollo Theater

Ellington was so impressed that he set them up with a gig at Snookie’s, a midtown Mafia-owned Italian joint at 47th Street and Broadway. From there, The Four Jays moved up to amateur shows at the Apollo, where they scored a management contract with Bobby Shiffman, son of the nightclub’s owner. 

The Regals (L to R) Jerry Holeman, Billy Adams, Harold Wright, Albert Russell &  Aaron Cornelius

The Four Jays became The Regals after deciding there were too many groups with the names of birds, such as the Orioles. The name Regals was taken from a shoe store. The Regals began performing regularly. The Regals began recording for Aladin Records, where Atlantic’s Jesse Stone was moonlighting. Specialists in modern harmony, the group signed with Atlantic Records in February 1955.

   
                                                                    At The Apollo Theater

Albert “Diz” Russell and Aaron Cornelius of the group wrote the song “Got the Water Boiling” and presented it to delighted audiences at the famous Apollo Theater, complete with choreography by Cholly Atkins. Members of the Cadillacs were in the audience, and admit later that this performance inspired their smash hit “Speedo”. Sonny Wright was a member of The Regals, but never recorded with them. He had been lead singer of The Diamonds on Atlantic (1952-53) and would later become the lead of The Metronomes on Cadence (1957).

Sonny Til & The New Orioles (Top) Sonny Til & Albert Russell (Bottom) Aaron Cornelius, Billy Adams &  Jerry Holeman

Left without the Orioles, Sonny Til picked up  the Regals  and pianist Paul Griffin. This group became the New Orioles. Til liked the Regals' modern harmony style, and the existing tunes were rearranged to match the Regals' style (in many cases, sounding rather different than they formerly had). During this time, they were often billed as "Sonny Til and his New Orioles". They left Jubilee and signed with Vee-Jay Records.


Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

  
       Run Pretty Baby                            Got The Water Boiling
 
  
            I'm So Lonely                 May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You

…

1962 (L to R) Marshall, Sal, Franky, Tisziji and Augie

The Arrogants (2) (Brooklyn, New York)


Personnel :



Franky Ayala (Lead)

Sal Giarraffa

Augie Miuzzo

Tisziji Munoz

Marshall Rivera



Discography :


Single:
1963 - Mirror Mirror / Canadian Sunset (Lute 6226 / Candlelite 425)


Demos:
1962 - My Heart Stood Still
1962 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me



Biography :


In 1959, Tisziji Munoz and his guitar join a local band called Quartet in Four, which consisted of Augie Miuzzo on saxophone and percussion, Sal Giarraffa on drums or timbales, and Marshall Rivera on congas. They performed on street corners and at show clubs and dances in New York City. As was typical in those ‘doo-wop’ days in New York, there were many street corner singing groups. It was a great time for doo-wop singing, which was very easy to sing . They found it to be a beautiful experience to be singing with his friends and experimenting with complex harmonic patterns other than the usual ‘1, 4, 5’ blues or rock structures.

1959 (Quarter In Four) Tisziji, Sal, Augie and Marshall

With Lead Singer Franky Ayala the new quintet recorded two demos in Brooklyn (“My Heart Stood Still” and “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”).  They ventured to California with the demos.  The group went out there for a few weeks, toured Hollywood and visited many famous recording companies. Group was now called The Arrogants, a name given to them by their manager, who may have found the group to be a little too outspoken, honest and real for his purposes which were totally materialistic.

At the time, The Arrogants were seeking exposure and they playing at the same event as The Beach Boys, at the Peppermint Lounge. They recorded two songs for Lute Records:  “Canadian Sunset” and “Mirror, Mirror”. The producer of the Lute sessions was Marshall Lieb, who had a hit in 1960 as a singer with the Hollywood Argyles on the song “Alley Oop”, and the Mar-Keys provided instrumental accompaniment.

Lute released a promotional single of “Canadian Sunset” with “Mirror, Mirror” as the B-side. “Canadian Sunset” was picked up by a number of radio stations, and began receiving considerable promotional play on some New York stations; the band returned to Brooklyn and performed until approximately 1965. In 1967, at the front side of a resurgence of interest in Doo-wop music, Candlelite Records acquired and re-released the single with “Canadian Sunset” and “Mirror, Mirror”.

Songs :

  
           Mirror Mirror                                  Canadian Sunset       


My Heart Stood Still

...