Rick & The Randells (L to R) Matty Ferrara, Pete Shultz, Bobby Brown and Rick Randell. 

Rick & The Randells  (Newark, NJ)
aka Rick & The Rockers (3)






Personnel :

Rocco Gaeta "Rick Randell" (Lead)

Pete Shultz

Bobby Brown

Matty Ferrara






Discography :

Rick & The Rockers (3)
1959 - That Day / I'm Hurt (Arc 4445)

Rick Randle & The Rockers (3)
1959 - That Day / I'm Hurt (Arc 4445)

Rick & The Randells
1960 - Let It Be You / Honey Doll (ABC 10055)

Biography :

Rick Randell's real name is Rocco Gaeta and he was born and raised in Newark, NJ, in the Ironbound neighborhood. Still a thriving, vibrant area of Newark. The radio in their home was always on. His mother loved Country/Western music. He loved the sound of the steel guitars. His parents bought him a guitar when he was 9 years old. In the 8th grade his family moved to the suburb of Bloomfield, NJ where he attended Jr. High and High School.


Rick & The Rockers (3) (L to R) Bobby Brown, Pete Shultz and Rick Randell.

In Jr. High He started a band called “The Rockers”. This group lasted into High School where they would play for the HS dances. They also did Rock n Roll Sock Hops at Daley’s Meadowbrook, Cedar Grove, NJ every Saturday for 2000 attending teens. The owners of ARC Records (Ed Danback/Joe DiMaggio) heard ,liked and signed The Group. They recorded “That Day” b/w “I’m Hurt” in 1959. They managed to be on the “Alan Freed” radio show, THE Rock n Roll number one show at that time. This is when “The Rockers’ became known as “Rick and the Rockers”.

  
Rick Randell                                                                                                          

 People from ABC Paramount were interested  from this first recording with ARC. So ARC let them out of the contract and wished them well as they signed with ABC Paramount. They recorded “Honey Doll” in 1959. That same year They recorded “Let It Be You” for ABC. Since they were still in HS, permission from Parents and school district had to be obtained for Rick and the Rockers to go on a 2 month leave in order to tour the US and Canada.

At this time they did an appearance on Dennis James’ Cerebral Palsy Telethon in NYC with such headliners as Connie Francis, Dwayne Eddie, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell etc… they were supposed to do 1-2 songs but the phones began to ring off the hook. They were the only performers to stay on live TV and continue playing for 45 minutes! The Rockers were Pete Schultz and Bobby Brown. They added Matty Ferrara and the four became “Rick and the Randells”. In 1960, ABC Paramount dropped the group, kept Rick Randell (Rocco Gaeta was too ethnic a name for the times) where He recorded for APT Records, a subsidiary of ABC Paramount. Rick Randell recorded for several other major labels: Decca, United Artists, Reprise.

Songs :

Rick & The Rockers (3)

   
That Day                             I'm Hurt


Rick & The Randells

   
Let It Be You                         Honey Doll


Rick Randell

   
Dining And Dancing               More Of The Same

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