• The Dovells aka The Brooktones (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
    (By Hans-Joachim)


    Personnel :


    Len Borisoff (Len Barry) (Lead and Tenor)

    Jerry Gross (Jerry Summers) (First Tenor)

    Mark Gordesky (Mark Stevens) (Tenor)

    Mike Freda (Mike Dennis) (Second Tenor)

    Arnie Silver (Arnie Satin) (Baritone)

    Jim Mealey (Danny Brooks) (Bass)



    Discography :


    -Singles

    1961 - No No No / Letters Of Love (Parkway 819)
    1961 - Bristol Stomp / Out In The Cold Again (Parkway 827)
    1961 - Bristol Stomp / Letters Of Love (Parkway 827)
    1962 - Do The New Continental / Mope-Itty Mope Stomp (Parkway 833)
    1962 - Bristol Twistin' Annie / The Actor (Parkway 833 )
    1962 - Hully Gully Baby / Your Last Chance (Parkway 845)
    1962 - The Jitterbug / Kissin' In The Kitchen (Parkway 855)
    1963 - Save Me, Baby / You Can't Run Away From Yourself (Parkway 861)
    1963 - Wildwood days / You Can't Sit Down (Parkway 867)
    1963 - You Can't Sit Down / Stompin' Everywhere (Parkway 867)
    1963 - Betty In Bermudas / Dance The Froog (Parkway 882)
    1963 - Stop Monkeyin' Aroun' / No No No (Parkway 889)
    1964 - Be My Girl / Dragster On The Prowl (Parkway 901)
    1964 - Happy Birthday Just The Same / One Potato Two Potato Three Potato Four (Parkway 911)
    1964 - What In The World Has Come Over You / Watusi With Lucy (Parkway 925)
    1965 - Happy / Alright (Swan 4231)
    1964 - Our Winter Love / Blue (Jamie 1369)
    1966 - Happy summer days / Long after (Diamond 198)
    1966 - There's A Girl / Love Is Everywhere (MGM 13628)
    1968 - Her comes the judge / Girl (by the magistrales) (MGM 13946)
    1969 - One winter love / Blue (Jamie 1369)
    1970 - Kiss the hurt away / He cries like a baby (Decca 32919)
    1970 - Roll Over Beethoven / Something About You Boy (Event 3310)
    1972 - Mary's Magic Show / Don't Vote For Luke McAbe (MGM 14568)
    1972 - Sometimes / Far Away (Verve 10701)
    1974 - Dancing In The Streets / Back On The Road Again (Event 216)
    1983 - Baby work out / Hully gully baby (Abkco 4029)
    N/A - L-O-V-E, love / We're all in this together (Paramount 0134)


    -Albums

    1961 - Bristol Stomp / Out In The Cold Again / Little Girl Of Mine / Desirie / Foot Stompin' / Three Coins In The Fountain / Mope-Itty Mope / I Really Love You / Change / No No No / Let's Twist Again (Parkway LP 7006)

    1962 - In The Still Of The Night / There Goes My Baby / Your Last Chance / Trickle Trickle / The Clock / Two People In The World / Bristol Twistin' Annie / Why Do Fools Fall In Love / To Make A Long Story Short / Little Bitty Pretty One / I Want You To Be My Girl / Oh What A Night (Parkway LP 7010)

    1962 - Hully Gully Baby / Jitterbug / Kissin' In The Kitchen / Stompin' Everywhere / Time For The Madison / Hully Gully Square Dance / Country Club Hully Gully / Cheat/Do The New Continental / Why Not You / Hully Gully / Stop Look And Listen (Parkway LP 7021)

    1963 - You Can't Sit Down / Short Fat Fanny / 36-22-36 / Maybellene / Miss Daisy De Lite / Hey Beautiful / Baby Workout / Wildwood Days / If You Wanna Be Happy / Lockin' Up My Heart / Summer Job / Havin' A Good Time (Parkway LP 7025)

    1963 - You Can't Sit Down / Bristol Stomp / Hully Gully Baby / Baby Workout / If You Wanna Be Happy / Trickle Trickle (Cameo LP 1067)

    1964 - Dance The Froog / The Jitterbug / Stop Monkeying Around / Bristol Stomp / Time For The Madison / Swimmin' USA / Stompin' Everywhere / Hully Gully Baby / Betty In Bermudas / Do The New Continental (Wyncote LP 9052)

    1965 - Hearts Are Trump (Len BARRY) / Don't Come Back (Len BARRY) / Havin' A Good Time / Lockin' Up My Heart / Save Me Baby / Miss Daisy DeLite / Little White House (Len BARRY) / Jim Dandy (Len BARRY) / Bristol Stomp / You Can't Sit Down / Betty In Bermudas / 36-22-36 (Cameo LP 1082)

    1965 - Bristol Stomp / Hully Gully Baby / The Jitterbug / Letters Of Love / You Can't Run Away From Yourself / You Can't Sit Down / No No No / Country Club Hully Gully / Dragster On The Prowl / Be My Girl (Wyncote LP 9114)


    Biography :

    The Dovells are best known for a handful of early-'60s dance hits, including their biggest one -- "The Bristol Stomp" -- number one (according to Cash Box) and number two (Billboard) on the pop charts in 1961, climbing its way to number seven on the R&B charts as well. They went on to have four more dance hits, three of which charted in the Top 40, giving them five different charters to five different dances in a little over a year during 1962, including "Do the New Continental" (number 37), "Bristol Twistin' Annie" (number 27), "Hully Gully Baby" (number 25), and a Top 100 charter, "The Jitterbug" (number 82).

    the Brooktones

    The Dovells originally formed in 1957 as the Brooktones, taking their name from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, where each of the original members -- Jerry Gross (aka Jerry Summers), lead and first tenor, Len Borisoff (aka Len Barry), lead and tenor, Mike Freda (aka Mike Dennis), second tenor, Arnie Silver (aka Arnie Satin), baritone, Jim Mealey, bass, and part-timer Mark Gordesky (aka Mark Stevens), tenor -- attended classes. They began singing at local school functions and occasionally at John Madara's record store, located at 60th and Market Streets in Philly. (Madara had co-written "At the Hop" for Danny & the Juniors, in addition to other classics).

       
    Inspired by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers -- they would even record "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and "I Want You to Be My Girl" -- the Brooktones performed for the next few years and even though their "No, No, No" gained some recognition in Philadelphia, the group had little success outside the immediate area and disbanded. Summers and Dennis left to form a new group called the Gems with Mark Stevens and Alan Horowitz in the summer of 1960. In the meantime, Barry and the other Brooktones were negotiating to sign with Bob Marcucci's Chancellor Records (home to teen idols Fabian and Frankie Avalon), adding William Shunkwiler and Jerry Sirlin.

      
    In December of 1960, after a live audition was arranged for the quintet with Cameo/Parkway, they were quickly signed to the label. Barry later asked Summers to come back and help out on the harmonies and at Summer's suggestion, Mike Dennis also joined the group as well. They were now back to the core group. Cameo exec Bernie Lowe suggested the Brooktones change their name to the Deauvilles (after the Deuville Hotel in Miami Beach), but the group thought it was too hard to spell and changed it instead to the Dovells.

       

    The Dovells' first single, released in March 1961, was a re-recorded version of "No, No, No" which fared little better the second time it was released. In May, the Dovells recorded "Out in the Cold Again" (a remake of the Teenagers' ballad) and a new song based on a dance that Parkway promotion man Billy Harper had witnessed kids doing at the Goodwin Fire Hall in Bristol, PA, just outside Philadelphia. It was called "The Stomp," so the Dovells' decided to give it a more formal name on their recording: "The Bristol Stomp." The song didn't chart during the summer of 1961, but in September, just as school was once again in session, the song broke out of the Midwest and began to get airplay, gaining enough momentum to go national by September 11. By mid-October, it was climbing the charts, making it all the way to number one

          
    Parkway followed up the Dovells' "Bristol" with several dance-related Top 40 tunes. During 1962, the Dovells were immortalizing every dance Dave Appell and Kal Mann (who wrote many of the Dovells' songs) could think of, but didn't have another hit until "You Can't Sit Down," their version of Phil Upchurch's "break" song. In 1964, the Dovells recorded one of the first covers of "She Loves You" by a new English group called the Beatles, but Parkway delayed its release, and when the original shot to number one, it seemed like a bad idea to release the Dovells version (which continues to sit in a vault somewhere).


    The Dovells backed up Fabian, Chubby Checker, and Jackie Wilson at the Brooklyn Fox and often recorded as an uncredited vocal group behind Checker (that's them on the hit "Let's Twist Again"). They toured continuously too, until the inevitable tensions arose and ultimately exploded at a Christmas show performance in Miami Beach in December 1963. Len Barry quit the group. (He later signed with Decca as a solo act and is today remembered best for his hit single "One, Two, Three," which charted at number two on the pop charts in November 1965.) Now down to a trio, the remaining Dovells recorded three Parkway singles in 1964 and toward the end of 1965, they appeared in the film Don't Knock the Twist, appearing alongside Dion, Chubby Checker, and the Marcels.

     
    In the spring of 1968, Summers came up with an idea for a song based on a skit he saw on TV's "Laugh-In" comedy show. The song -- -- like the repeated phrase from the skit -- was "Here Come the Judge." It was recorded with a female lead, Jean Hillery, and was later released on MGM Records under the name "The Magistrates". The other Dovells later heard the song and were clearly miffed. That summer, "Judge" became East Coast smash (#54 on Billboard's Pop charts), and the Dovells toured behind it with Hillery; when she came out they'd become the Magistrates (despite the hit, they'd never record again). Later, Dennis was replaced by part-time Dovell Mark Stevens.

     
    In 1974, the Dovells recorded a cover of "Dancin' in the Street," which had been a huge hit for Martha and the Vandellas ten years before in 1964, but their version -- for the Event label -- barely charted at number 105. They continued to perform until Satin gave notice that he, too, would be leaving the group. Stevens and Summers decided to continue, having band members filling in on vocals and developing a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis-styled stage act to go with their million-selling hits. This approach enabled them to work for another 16 weeks a year in Las Vegas.

      

    In 1991, Len Barry rejoined for two reunion performances. Summer and Stevens continue to perform nationally and internationally and have performed for former president Bill Clinton twice at inaugural balls. Summers also produces corporate events and runs an advertising agency when not performing with the Dovells.

    Bryan Thomas, All Music Guide


    http://www.classicbands.com/dovells.html
    http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/dovells.htm
    http://thedovells.com


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  • The Rocketones (Brooklyn, New York)

     

    Personnel :

    Bill Witt (Lead Tenor)

    Ronald Johnson (Tenor)

    Allan Days (Tenor)

    Harold Chapman (Baritone)

    Arthur Blackman (Bass)

     

    Discography :

    1957 - Mexico / Dee I (Melba 113)

     

    Biography :

    Once upon a time there was a vocal group made up of five Brooklyn teenagers who called themselves The Avalons. They were Bill Witt, Allen Days, Harold Chapman, Ron Johnson, and Arthur Blackman. After many hours harmonizing in the school halls and on the streetcorners of their neighborhood. When the boys felt that they were ready for an attempt to put out a record they headed over to Manhattan and made the rounds of the independent record companies. The most encouragement the group received was from record man Morty Craft who at the time was the head of Melba Records.  When the arrived for rehearsals for their time in the recording studio, they ran through two songs that Bill Witt had written for the group. The songs were "Mexico" and "Dee I". Although the group had recorded the sides, the actual record was not released for a number of months. Finally in 1957, the record was released on Melba # 113. The Avalons were surprised that they had become The Rocketones, due to other groups using their original name. Also their version of "Mexico" had been given some added 'atmosphere' with the obvious spliced in intro of the tyraditional  pasodoble - the authentic call to order at bull fights in Spain. It may have been a surprise to the group that made the record, but to listeners it was a rock classic. It had an irresistable "hook" that never seemed to leave your mind for any length of time, and it was a hummable tune that made you snap your fingers and smile. "Mexico" was a favorite on radio in the Northeast and gave a lot of promise of things to come from the group.  But unbelievably, that was the entire history of the group known as The Rocketones. In a year Bill Witt went on to join The Paragons and other groups in future years. The others drifted away, some to the military and the group never recorded again. So we have the archetype example of the "one hit wonders" so prevalent in the age of the rock 'n roll single records. But what a one hit it was. One of the greatest jump tunes by a vocal group in the fifities, "Mexico" is the perfect example of the glory of the times.

     

    Songs :

      
    Mexico                                                    Dee I

     

    ...


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  • The El Dorados (1) (Chicago)



    Personnel :

    Pirkie Lee Moses(Lead)

    Arthur Basset(Tenor)

    Jewell Jones(Tenor)

    Louis Bradley(Tenor)

    James Maddox(Baritone)

    Richard Nichens(Bass)



    Discography :


    The El Dorados (1)
    1954 - Baby I need you / My loving baby(VeeJay 115)
    1954 - Annie's answer / Living with Vivian(VeeJay 118 )
    1954 - One more chance / Little miss love(VeeJay 127)
    1955 - At my front door / What's buggin' you baby(VeeJay 147)
    1955 - I'll be forever loving you / I began to realize(VeeJay 165)
    1955 - Now that you've gone / Rock'n' roll's for me(VeeJay 180)
    1956 - A fallen tear / Chop ling soon(VeeJay 197)
    1956 - Bim bam boom / There in the night(VeeJay 211)
    1957 - Tears on my pillow / A rose for my darling(VeeJay 250)
    1957 - Three reasons why / Boom diddle boom(VeeJay 263)
    1958 - Lights are row / Oh what a girl(VeeJay 302)
    1970 - In over my head / You make my heart sing (Torrid 100)
    1981 - She don't run around (Charly LP 1022)
    1981 - Trouble trouble (Charly LP 1022)
    1984 - Love my own (Solid Smoke LP 8025)
    N/A - She Don’t Run Around
    N/A - It’s No Wonder
    N/A - Love Of My Own
    N/A - Make Me A Sweetie
    N/A - Trouble, Trouble
    N/A - Language Of Love
    N/A - Always My Love
    N/A - Why Must I
    N/A - Lord Knows I Tried

    The El Dorados (1) with Hazel McCollum
    1954 - Annie's answer / living with vivian (Vee Jay 118)

    The Four El Dorados
    1958 - A Lonely boy / Go! Little Susie (Academy 8138)

     


    Biography :

    One of the leading R&B vocal groups on Vee Jay, the El Dorados had a relatively short career with their first lineup, during which they scored a massive crossover hit, 1955's "At My Front Door" (number 17 on the pop charts and number one R&B, where it remained for 18 weeks). They managed only one other charting record -- 1956's "I'll Be Forever Loving You" -- before their initial breakup in 1959. Subsequent lineups and name changes (and alterations) brought no further success, but they continued performing well into the '80s.

       
    The original group featured five members -- Pirkle Lee Moses Jr. (lead), Louis Bradley (tenor), Jewel Jones (second tenor and baritone), James Maddox (baritone and bass), and Robert Glasper (bass) -- when they formed in the Englewood section of Chicago's south side in 1952 while still attending Englewood High School (the same school that the Moroccos attended). They were calling themselves the Five Stars. Johnny Moore, their high school custodian, liked the group so much and thought they showed so much promise, that he became their manager.


    In 1954, just after graduation, Moses and Glasper took advantage of the Air Force's 90-day active duty program, but while Moses returned, Glasper remained with the Air Force. By then, Arthur Bassett (tenor) had temporarily replaced Moses, and Richard Nickens came in for Glasper. The Five Stars were now six, and a name change was inevitable. They were about to become the Cardinals (apparently, they had no knowledge of Atlantic's New York-based group) when the craze for naming your group after a popular car model hit, and since they couldn't call themselves the Cadillacs, the settled for Cadillacs' luxurious two-door model, the El Dorado, for inspiration. The El Dorados came to the attention of local Chicago WWCA disc jockey Al Benson, who witnessed first-hand how their gorgeous blend of harmonies and talent made for an exciting new group that he could support. They had already won first prize at a local talent show at the Club De Lisa. Benson arranged for the group to audition at a contest hosted by Vee Jay Records at the Park City Skating Rink. Amateur groups were challenged to compete against Vee Jay's Spaniels. The El Dorados rose to the challenge, winning the contest and a recording contract with the label.

       
    The El Dorados' first single, a bluesy ballad called "My Loving Baby," was issued in September 1954, and was a popular regional seller. Their next effort had the group backing up Hazel McCollum on "Annie's Answer," which was Vee Jay's contribution to the ongoing "Annie" saga begun by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. Perhaps tiring of all the Annie nonsense, Arthur Bassett ankled the El Dorados (he also joined the Air Force), and the sextet slimmed down to a quintet. During the third week of September 1955, Vee Jay released the group's "At My Front Door," which stormed the Billboard R&B charts on September 24th and the Top 100 on October 15th. The song featured Al Duricati's pounding drum rhythm and a rousing sax solo. The so-called "baby talk" pre-finale by Moses Jr. made the record soar even further, and the lyrics about that "crazy little mama" became as legendary as the Annie saga. By the end of the year it had climbed to number 17 on the pop charts and number one R&B, where it remained for 18 weeks. (Pat Boone later did a cover version that charted at number seven pop).


    Their follow-up, "I'll Be Forever Lovin' You" (originally recorded by the Rip Chords but never released), was issued during the second week of December. It was a rocker that exuded jazz, pop, and R&B overtones, but although it made it to number eight R&B in February 1956, it never charted on the pop lists. Soon after the release of the follow-up, Nickens left and the El Dorados soldiered on as a quartet. A few additional singles performed well in certain U.S. cities, but didn't measure up to their prior hit status. Their next single, "Tears on My Pillow" (a different song from Little Anthony and the Imperials' hit record), was the last by all of the original El Dorados; soon after its release, the group and Pirkle Moses Jr. separated over a disagreement on new management.

      
    Moses Jr. soon joined another Vee Jay act, the Kool Gents, who had been left without a singer when their frontman, Dee Clark, departed for a solo career. John McCall (tenor), Douglas Brown (second tenor), Teddy Long (second tenor and baritone), and Johnny Carter (bass) of the Kool Gents joined with Moses Jr., to become the New El Dorados. They released two singles in 1958 for Vee Jay, but when neither sold, they eventually left Vee Jay in a money dispute and subsequently disbanded altogether.

     

    During this same time, the remaining El Dorados -- Jones, Bradley, and Maddox -- joined up with new lead singer Marvin Smith. Smith had moved with his family to the west side of Chicago in the late '40s, where he attended Crane High and sang on street corners and in church choirs, before joining the group as their new lead vocalist. To avoid legal problems with Vee Jay, the group's name was changed to Those Four El Dorados for 1958's "A Lonely Boy," Academy Records of Chicago. Jewel Jones' name on the label was spelled J-u-e-l-l (each member's name was listed). Those Four El Dorados' later traveled to the West Coast, and connected with a former NBA basketball star Don Barksdale, who had formed his Rhythm Record Company in Oakland, CA. The group changed monikers again, this time calling themselves the Tempos, but the group faltered again, and returned to Chicago, splitting up in 1961.
    Bryan Thomas

    http://www.destinationdoowop.com/eldorados.htm
    http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/eldos.html
    http://home.att.net/~marvart/Eldorados/eldorados.html


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  • The Todds  aka The Countdowns (1) aka The F. J. Babies  

    Bobby Russell & Buzz Cason

    The Todds  (Nashville, T.N.)
    aka The Countdowns (1) aka The F. J. Babies

     

    Personnel :

    Buzz Cason

    Bobby Russell

    Tony Moon

     

    Discography :

    The Todds
    1961 - Tennessee / May We Always (Todd 1064)
    1962 - Popsicle / Sugar Hill (Todd 1076)

    The Countdowns (1)
    1961 - Watermelon / The Writing On The Wall (Image 5002)

    The F. J. Babies
    1962 - She Has    / And The Moon Came Down (Apt 25068)  

     

    Biography :

    By 1957, The Casuals had become a touring act, replacing The Everly Brothers on a tour of 60 fair dates. Later, legendary manager, Dub Albritton heard the group and The Casuals became Brenda Lee's backing band. The original Casuals were Buzz Cason, Richard Williams, Billy Smith, Chester Power and Johnny McCreery. During this same period, Buzz Cason met Bobby Russell, an aspiring writer at the old Globe Recording Studio in Nashville located above Mom's Tavern (now Tootsie's Orchid Lounge) and the two began to co-write.  Gary Paxton became a publisher for Lowery Music of Atlanta and published their "ba- ba-ba" Jan and Dean-type song, "Tennessee." They made another Todds single on the tune "Popsicle," which, like "Tennessee," was later covered by Jan and Dean  on Liberty. The Todds' session was produced by their new production company, Tri-Arts, which Bobby Russel and Buzz Cason formed with Tony Moon (From Dante & The Evergreens). They opened an office together on 16th Avenue, but soon realized they had no viable way to pay rent.

    The Todds  aka The Countdowns (1) aka The F. J. Babies

    The Casuals with Tonny Moon (Harmonica)

    They managed to raise money to do "Popsicle" as The Todds and "Watermelon," using the name The Countdowns, on Kenny's Image label and "She Has" by the F.J. Babies. The records featured  Buzz Cason, Bobby Russell & Tony Moon on vocals and many of the instruments. The "F.J" on the "She Has" disc stood for Felton Jarvis, the personable head of the ABC record label in Nashville and the record came out on the APT label, a subsidiary of ABC. In 1963 and for two years, Buzz Cason & Bobby Russell sang under pseudonyms for Hit Records and Giant Records. Hit Records of Nashville was a 1960s budget label who recorded and released "sound-alike" recordings of hit singles by artists who often recorded under pseudonyms.

    The Todds  aka The Countdowns (1) aka The F. J. Babies     The Todds  aka The Countdowns (1) aka The F. J. Babies 

                                                                                                            Tony Moon

     These were in most cases as good as or better than the originals, and sometimes even outsold the original releases. Bobby Russell and Buzz Cason were in charge of the Pop and Rock & Roll recordings of which Bobby would go on to become one of the most successful songwriters of the 1960s with titles like "Honey" and "Little Green Apples" to his credit. Buzz Cason & Bobby Russell sang under the name of The Chellows on Many Four Seasons' Songs like "Walk Like A Man", "Big Girls Don't Cry" on Hit Records . They are the Shaw Brothers on "That's old fashioned" on Hit Records and they are the Belles on "Ain't that A Shame" b/w "If You Wanna' Be Happy" on Giant.

     

    Songs :
    (updated by Hans-Joachim) 

     The Todds

      
    May We Always                                       Popsicle        

      
    ‪Sugar Hill‬                                         Tennessee

    The F. J. Babies

      
    And The Moon Came Down                          She Has                 


    ...


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  •  The Bob Knight Four

    The Bob Knight Four (Brooklyn, New York)


    Personnel :

    Bobby Bovino (Lead)

    Paul Ferrigno (First Tenor)

    Ralph Garone (Second Tenor)

    John Ropers (Bass)

     

    Discography :

    Singles :

    The Bob Knight Four
    1961 - So So Long (Good Goodbye) / You Tease Me (Taurus 100)
    1961 - Good Goodby / How Old Must I Be (Laurel 1020)
    1961 - For Sale / You Gotta Know (Laurel 1023)
    1961 - Well I'm Glad (Laurel 1025)
    1962 - I'm Selling My Heart / The Lazy Piano (by The Lazy four) (Taurus 356)
    1962 - Memories / Somewhere (Josie 899)
    1963 - Two Friends / Crazy Love (Jubilee 5451)

    Eddie Delmar & The Bob Knight Four
    1961 - Blanche / Love Bells (Madison 168)
    1965 - Garden In The Rain / My Heart Beckons You (Vegas 628)

    Eps :

    Acappella - Bob Knight Four (Nemo 009)
    1983 - Crazy For You / Mexico / When I'm With You / Shadrack

     The Bob Knight Four  

     

    Biography :

    The Bob Knight Four were one of thousands of doo wop groups whose sounds illuminated the street corners, teen clubs, and local dances of New York and dozens of other American cities from the late '50s through the mid-'60s -- a handful, such as the Belmonts, achieved national fame and even international recognition, while most never got heard outside of their own neighborhoods; the Bob Knight Four were somewhere in between, a Brooklyn-based act from Bedford-Stuyvesant, no less (when Bed-Stuy still had a significant white population), who got their work recorded and released by a major label, but never ascended higher than the lowest region of the Billboard Hot 100. The group's origins go back to an amateur outfit called the Dolphins, based at Franklin K. Lane High School in East New York, formed by Ralph Garrone, Louie Martino, and siblings John Nappier and Joe Nappier.

     The Bob Knight Four

    They got to record an original song of John Nappier's called "Hymn of Love," which didn't do much apart from showing its author and Ralph Garrone some potential for music, though not with that lineup. Soon they were looking for serious local talent to work with and eventually put together a group with Bob Bovino -- already a kind of local celebrity from his stint on a pre-teen talent showcase called Star Time -- on lead and Paul Ferrigno as first tenor, while Garrone took second tenor and baritone and Nappier sang bass, and a fifth member, Charlie Licata, filling the gaps between them; they also took on a new name, the Bobby Dells. They began performing regularly in their neighborhood and building a reputation, and also recording demos, going after a coveted recording deal. There was one major change along the way, with Licata getting drafted and leaving the group in 1959, leaving the Bobby Dells a quartet. With help from a local manager and a local promoter, they were introduced to Tony Sepe, the owner of Laurel Records, who was willing to record them but wanted a new name for the quartet.

     The Bob Knight Four

    Thus was spawned the Bob Knight Four, the name under which they released their debut single, "Good Good Bye," which turned into a regional hit, charting in New York (where it made the local Top Ten on some listings), Philadelphia, and parts of California. Their next two records failed to perform to expectations, in part -- in the case of the initial follow-up -- because of a split in the airplay between the A- and the B-sides. But biggest opportunities were beckoning for the group -- an old friend, Michael Eichner (later a vice president at Columbia Records), who worked for Jubilee Records, got them a recording contract with his label, and in April of 1962 their fourth single, "Memories" b/w "Somewhere," was released. Amid their activity for Jubilee over the next few months, the group suddenly found themselves competing with their older sides as Laurel started licensing their older songs, often with re-recorded backings and unrelated B-sides, to other small labels.

     The Bob Knight Four     The Bob Knight Four

    They also kept busy recording demos for various songwriters and artists associated with Jubilee, most notably the song "Cara Mia," written by Bob Nemser, which was later turned into a hit by Jay & the Americans. Nemser became the manager of the Bob Knight Four during the mid-'60s, a period in which the original group splintered amid the burgeoning British Invasion and the accompanying decline of interest in harmony vocal music. Former Bobby Dells member Charlie Licata joined Garrone and Nappier in a new version of the Bob Knight Four, with Eddie Delmar and Frank Iovino on lead. They endured into 1966, crossing paths with the Tokens at the time. They hoped to record for the latter's B. T. Puppy label, but that never worked out -- yet a version of the group survived into the early '70s, in time to cash in on the oldies revival. They even got a greatest-hits LP out, issued on the Kape label. The group was still performing on the oldies circuit in the 1990s at the time that Garrone lost his battle with cancer, and they continued performing into the middle of the decade with his younger brother filling his spot.
    Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

     

    ...


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