The Blends (1) (Brockton, Massachusetts)
aka The Fabulous Blends

Personnel :

Big John Croft (Lead)

Richie Harris

Charlie Garner

Richie Solomon

Discography:

The Blends (1)
1960 - Someone To Care / Now It's Your Turn (Casa Grande 3037)
1960 - A Thousand Miles Away / Music, Maestro, Please (Casa Grande 5000

Big John & The Fabulous Blends
1960 - Hey! Little Fool / Baby You're Wrong  (Casa Grande 5001)

The Fabulous Blends
1989 - Graduation Time / Starlight, Starbright (Casa Grande 3039)

Unreleased :
1960 - Everybody's Got A Home (But Me) (Casa Grande)

 Biography :

This fine group was from the Brockton/New Bedford area and landed a contract with Casa Grande after winning a WBZ radio contest held at Fort Devens. The group was led by Big John Croft, who sang lead and played guitar. He was backed by three singers, a drummer and electric bass.

They were famous for their tight harmony and exciting stage routines, including exceptional choreography. Billboard picked them as an outstanding up-and-coming group in 1960, but after touring the East Coast and Europe, the group split up and disappeared. The group was also known as the Fabulous Blends. They cut nine sides for Casa Grande in 1960 and 1961.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

    
Someone To Care             Now It's Your Turn             A Thousand Miles Away

   
 Music, Maestro, Please           Hey! Little Fool            Baby You're Wrong

     
        Starlight, Starbright               Graduation Time         Everybody's Got A Home (But Me)

...

Beverly, Victoria & Debra

The Bow Ribbons (Los Angeles)
ref : The Shadows (4)

 

Personnel :

Victoria Peace

Beverly ?

Debra ?


Discography :

The Bow Ribbons
1959 - Hey Diddle Diddle / Quick Like (Elroy Peace & Bow Ribbons) (Trans-Continental 3001)
1959 - Mr. Spoon / Our Father (Motif ZM-018)

The Shadows (4) (Elroy Peace and Paul White)
1958 - You Make My Heart Sing Ah! / Pretty Window (Dick Garrett & The Shadows ) (Fraternity 795)


Biography :

Vocal group The Bow Ribbons, comprised of three young lasses : Beverly, Victoria & Debra between 6 and 8 years old. The Bow Ribbons were Elroy Peace's little daughter Victoria, age 6, and two nieces, Beverly and Debra age 7 and 8. The Young Trio recorded for Transcontinental Records owned by Brad Atwood the sides "Hey Diddle Diddle" and "Quick Like" where the girls backed  Elroy  with Eddie Cochran on guitar. Some months later, they recorded two new songs "Mr. Spoon" and "Our Father" released by Milton Vedder's label Motif. the four songs recorded by the trio were all composed by Ray Stanley.

  
Elroy Peace                                                                                                                               

Ray Stanley was born Stanley Nussbaum in Dermott, Arkansas in 1924. Songwriter and vocalist Stanley teamed up with Jack Lewis at American Music and were responsible for the Crest label's first four releases. In May 1956, 'Glendora' a Ray Stanley song was covered by Perry Como whose version made the top ten on RCA. Lewis then left American and founded Sherman Music with Billy Sherman. Ray played piano on Eddie Cochran's early sessions in Gold Star Studio in mid 1956 including 'Skinny Jim', 'Half Loved' and 'My Love To Remember'.

In late 1956 Ray made a couple of demos of songs he composed. These demos are now mostly famous as Eddie Cochran sat in on guitar and provided some of his best recorded guitar licks. Songs include: 'Market Place', 'Pushin', 'Love Charms', My Lovin' Baby' and 'Kiss & Make Up'.  In 1958, Elroy Peace and Paul White are The Shadows. One of the most memorable songs of bandleader Ted Lewis  was "Me and My Shadow" with which he frequently closed his act.  Around 1928, he started to use a shadow mimicking his movements during his act.   Several Afro-American played the Shadow.  Elroy Peace and Paul White were two of them in the forties.

Young Elroy Peace and Paul White (The Shadows)

Elroy Peace's first record was probably "Onion Breath Baby" for the Swing Time label in 1953. Followed a duet with Willie Mae Thornton on Peacock. After the Fraternity single as the Shadows, he was heard on West Coast labels such as Keen, Romeo, or Helga. In the early sixties, during a tour in Australia & New-Zealand, Elroy recorded at least two singles which were issued on local labels.




Songs :

The Bow Ribbons

  
Our Father                                                 Mr. Spoon

Elroy Peace & The Bow Ribbons


Quick Like


The Shadows (4)


You Make My Heart Sing Ah!


...

The Princetones (New Jersey)

Personnel :

Peter Prince (Lead)

Larry Williams

Tom Ruggeri

Mike Paladino

Discography :

1958 - Guardian Angel (Allegro)
1961 - My Life (Rome)
1961 - My Madonna (Rome)

Biography :

Mike Paladino was in a number of groups as a kid including the Princetones. A product of St. Joseph's High School, West New York. Mike and a friend Pete Prince formed the Princetones - Pete Prince - wrote the classic tune Guardian Angel outside of Leone's pizza parlor in West New York. The group was the first to record a demo of the song in 1958.  The song was basically stolen from the group after they performed it at St. Celicia's high school in Englewood, NJ. It was subsequently done by no less than five groups but the Princetones were never given recognition for it.  After the departure of Mike Paladino for the Bon-Aires, Peter Prince & Tom Ruggeri formed a new group and cut two Unreleased sides for Rome Records "My Life" b/w "My Madonna".

Songs :

     
Guardian Angel                   My Madonna                               My Life

 ...

The Dell-O's (Bahamas)
aka The Sensational Dellos

Personnel :

?

Discography :

John Shaw & Dell-O's
1958 -  Why Did You Leave Me / Why Does It Have To Be Her (no group) (U-C 5002)

Donel Austin & The Sensational Dellos
1959 - So Shy / That's Why I'm Dreamin' (Donel Austin & Impallas) (Mida 106)

The Sensational Dellos
1959 - Lost Love / So Don't Go (Mida 109)

Biography :

Vocal group from the Bahamas originally (at least their first record was recorded in Nassau, Bahamas) They backed John Shaw on " Why Did You Leave Me " .

The group moved to Henry Stone label Mida Records , which also was based in Miami where they backed Donel Austin on "So Shy" as he Sensational Dellos. The group finally recorded his own record on Mida with "Lost Love" b/w "So Don't Go".
Thanks to Marv Goldberg


Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

John Shaw & Dell-O's

Why Did You Leave Me

Donel Austin & The Sensational Dellos

So Shy

The Sensational Dellos

  
Lost Love                                   So Don't Go

...

      Bob Deloney, Plinio Ruiz, Ralph Darden, Fred Miller and Tony Jones — Alan Watson not pictured

The Universals (3) (Amityville, New-York)

Personnel :

Freddie Miller (Lead)

Plinio Ruiz (First Tenor)

Robert DeLoney (Falsetto)

Ralph Darden

Anthony Jones (Bass)

Allen Watson


Discography :

Singles :
1961 - Dreaming / Love Bound (Festival 1601)

Unreleased:
1961 - Kisses In My Dreams

Biography :

Beginning in the early '60s, the Copiague-Amityville community made its share of contributions to popular music, including The Universals , enthusiastically adopted by Copiague High students as favorite sons. The Group consisted of six mens cut one single for festival in 1961 "Dreaming" & "Love Bound" and had an unreleased side "Kisses In My Dreams".

 In 1964, Freddie Miller, Tony Jones and Plinio Ruiz with Butch Poveromo from the Locomotions recorded  two songs  "Speak Words Of Love"  and "Before I Walk Out The Door" as The Fiats.
http://www.venturemusicgroup.com/pmp/chs.htm



Songs :

     
 Love Bound                         Dreaming                         Kisses In My Dreams

.....