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

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