The Pharoes aha The Fantastics (1) The Keynoters (2)

The Pharoes  (Brooklyn, New-York)
aka The Fantastics (1)   aka The Keynoters (2)



Personnel :

William "Sonny" Forrest（Lead）

Bill Medley（First Tenor）

JW（Second Tenor）

Freddy Warner（Baritone）

Wilbert “Larry” Lawrence, Jr.（Bass）



Discography :

1956 - Bye Byre Baby (Melba) (Unreleased)
1956 - Rocket 88 (Melba) (Unreleased)



Biography :

The Pharoes consisted of William “Sonny” Forrest (lead), Bill Medley (first tenor), someone remembered only as JW (second tenor), Fred Warner (baritone) and Wilbert “Larry” Lawrence, Jr. (bass). The Pharoes recorded “Rocket 88” and “Bye Bye Baby” for Melba Records on September 7, 1956 but it was not released. The Pharaohs underwent some personnel changes. JW left the group and was replaced by James “Billy” Sutton &  Billy Medley started missing rehearsals so Sammy Strain took Billy’s place.

The Fantastics

In addition to personnel changes, the group toyed with different names. They were the Holidays for a short time and then became the Passions. The Passions auditioned for a number of record companies.Auditioning for RCA-Victor producer Charlie Grean, the Passions eventually signed with RCA- Victor Records around May, 1959. The group went into the studio and recorded four songs on May 21, 1959: “Drum Beat”, “There Goes My Love”,“This Is My Wedding Day” and “Millionaire Hobo” .  Just prior to the release of “There Goes My Love,” RCA-Victor got wind of another group called the Passions, and forced their group to find a new name, the Fantastics.

Songs :

  
Rocket 88                            Bye Bye Baby

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