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The Five Dots aka The Counts (2)

Posted on by dion1

The Five Dots aka The Counts (2)
(top) Bernard Harris, Jimmy Pierson and Jimmy Scruggs (bottom) Harry Blackwell & Dwayne Harris 

The Five Dots (Indianapolis)
aka The Counts (2)

 

Personnel :

Bernard Harris

Harry Blackwell

Dwayne Harris

Jimmy Scruggs

Jimmy Pierson

 

Discography :

The Five Dots
1954 - The Other Night / Each Night (Dot 1204)
1955 - I Just Love The Thing She Do / Well, Little Baby (Note 10003)

The Counts (2)
1956 - Sweet Names / I Guess I Brought It All On Myself (Note 2000)

 

Biography :

Harry Blackwell, Bernard Harris, Dwane Harris, Jimmy Pierson, and Jimmy Scruggs had formerly been known as the 5 Dots. The Five Dots formed in early 1954 and recorded one single for Dot Records: "The Other Night" b/w "Each Night". In 1955, they sign a recording contract with Note records. Note was a local Indianapolis label owned by Mel Herman. Mel Herman was a veteran in record retailing and one-time manager of The 5 Diamonds (soon after to become the Counts of "Darling Dear"). From the early 50s onwards, he operated record distribution branches in Indianapolis and Cincinnati, which later became part of his "Mel Herman Enterprises".

The Five Dots aka The Counts (2)

The Five Dots recorded "I Just Love The Thing She Do" b/w "Well, Little Baby" for Mel Herman and in 1956 "Sweet Names" b/w "I Guess I Brought It All On Myself" released as The Counts. The Five Dots made many appearances at the local area clubs, at the Rhythm and Blues Show at the Walker casino, in Evansville, Ind., for a dance engagement at Club Paradise. They weren't the Counts (1) on Dot (also managed by Mel Herman.

 

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

The Five Dots

  
     Well, Little Baby                       I Just Love The Thing She Do

  
The Other Night                                    Each Night

The Counts (2)

  
              Sweet Names                     I Guess I Brought It All On Myself

...

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The Reflections (4) aka The Illusions (3)

Posted on by dion1

The Reflections (4) aka The Illusions (3)
1963 - Chuck Tunnah, David Dunn, Pat Baldwin, & Larry Dunlap


The Reflections (4) (Indianapolis, IN)
aka The Illusions (3)




Personnel :

Dave Dunn (Lead)

Pat Baldwin

Larry Dunlap

Chuck Tunnah (Bass)




Discography :

The Reflections (4)
Single :
1963 - Tic Toc / In The Still Of The Night (Tigre 602)
Unreleased :
1963 - Don't Worry Baby

Rick Fortune bb The Reflections (4)
1963 - Running Wild / Sand In My Hair (Ran-Dee 108)

Mona Thomas bb The Reflections (4)
1964 - There He Goes / Just In Between (USA 776)

The Illusions (3)
1964 - In The Beginning / Maybe (I May Be Wrong) (Laurie LR 3245)






Biography :


Larry Dunlap met Chuck Tunnah near the beginning of his Junior year at Shortridge, Indianapolis. Chuck, Hastings Smith, and Pat Baldwin, freshmen at SHS, formed a vocal group with Larry called the Aristocats. Chuck Tunnah and Hastings Smith were already accomplished vocalists and they went on to sing together in the Acappella Choir and Madrigal Singers and the North Methodist Church Choir. After Their school years, Chuck, Pat, and Larry, joined by David Dunn from Broad Ripple continued singing. As the Reflections, They recorded "In The Still Of The Night" & "Tic Toc" released on Tigre Records owned by Jan Hutchins. Hutchins was one of three producers of "Stay" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs and before that, he had been a popular DJ in Florida.

The Reflections (4) aka The Illusions (3)     The Reflections (4) aka The Illusions (3)

 "In The Still Of The Night" were a version much different from the way it was originally recorded by the Five Satins. Chuck would start it off with a bass run of "De dun-de-dun, dun-de-dun-dun, and etc." and then Dave would sing the lead against the rhythm as Pat and Larry would join into the mix. The record started to break, oddly enough not in Indianapolis but back east and then in the south. Then it started to really take off on the big 50,000 watter, KLS in Chicago, so Jan Hutchins sent the Reflections up to do a sock hop in support of the local DJ's there. By then it was number 5 on their charts with a bullet!

The Reflections (4) aka The Illusions (3)
1965 - Mac Brown, Chuck Tunnah, Larry Dunlap, David Dunn, & Les Silvey

Despite the fact that they were heading up the charts in several major markets and were rising into the top 5 on the hit parade with a bullet in Chicago, they were a "turntable" hit, they weren't selling any records. The distributor rep said the reason was that no records had been pressed because somebody the master recording had been lost and Jan Hutchins hadn't made a backup!. By the time it was pressed, the Reflections who recorded (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet) had hit with their song. They sang backup on Mona Thomas and Rick Fortune’s singles  and changed to the Illusions and recorded  "In The Beginning " and  "Maybe (I May Be Wrong)" released on Laurie Records in 1964. They become Stark Naked & The Car Thieves during the San Francisco-era ones.
http://www.stark-naked.com/gallery.htm






Songs :

The Reflections (4)

  
In The Still Of The Night                            Tic Toc             



Don't Worry Baby



The Illusions (3)


In The Beginning



Rick Fortune bb The Reflections (4)

  
Sand In My Hair                                   Running Wild



Mona Thomas bb The Reflections (4)

  
There He Goes                           Just In Between

 

 



…

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The Keystoners

Posted on by dion1

The Keystoners 

The Keystoners (Philadelphia, PA)




Personnel :

Norman Smith (Lead)

Nathaniel "Mitch" Jackson (First Tenor)

Al Singleton (Baritone)

Goliath James (Bass)





Discography :

1956 – The Magic Kiss / After I Propose (Epic 9187/ Okeh 7210)
1956 – Magic kiss / I’d Write About The Blues (G&M 102)
1961 – Sleep & Dream / T.V. Girl (Riff 202)
1984 – I’ll Allways Remenber / I Don’t Know Why (Starbound 501)
1984 – That’s Why I Dream / Say Always (Starbound 502)
1988 – It’s Too Soon To Know / Hey Girl (I'm Really Over You) (Starbound 509)
1991 – It’s Never Too Soon / Little Darlin’ (Starbound 512)
1991 – My Heart Beats Again / You’re All I Want For Christmas (Starbound 514)
1992 – Therm There Eyes / Sweet Was The Wine (Starbound 516)
1992 – Gossip / Call My name (Starbound 515)





Biography :

The Keystoners’ Norman Smith and Mitch Jackson were singing on Philadelphia street corners before doo-wop began. Smith and Jackson were teenagers singing spirituals and silky pop songs from the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots. Then they heard Sonny Til and the Orioles, the Baltimore group that started the vocal-harmony craze with a 1948 song, “Too Soon to Know.” Til had taken the traditional four-part gospel harmony and added a lead tenor and a bluesy feel.

The Keystoners   The Keystoners

Smith, Jackson and three other guys copied the Orioles’ R&B style in a group they called the Ford Brothers, after two of their members. The Ford Brothers appeared each Sunday night on The Parisian Taylor Kiddie Hour radio show, broadcast live from the old Royal Theater at 16th and South Streets. Their biggest moment was playing Harlem’s Apollo Theater one amateur night. The Korean War broke up the group. After the war, the group got Alfred Singleton, dropped other guys, and became the Paragons. Around 1955, in honor of their native state, they took the name the Keystoners.

The Keystoners

They made “The Magic Kiss” for a local record producer, Herman Gillespie. Epic Records bought the rights for national distribution, and the quartet – Smith, Jackson, Singleton and a bass singer named Goliath James – went to New York to rerecord the song. Their voices were stronger then:  Jackson, the high tenor, had to stand in another room while singing because he was too piercing for the studio microphone. By 1958, they decided to quit music. For reasons they never understood, their record suddenly quit getting airplay. Their follow-up record, “After I Propose,” never got started. For 25 years, the Keystoners turned their attention to families and jobs. Smith was a meat inspector with the Department of Agriculture. Jackson was a machinist. Singleton is a former postal worker. Then they all met and started playing as a tribute to the golden days.


 



Songs :


  
The Magic Kiss                       After I Propose

  
I’d Write About The Blues                      Sleep & Dream     

  
I’ll Allways Remenber                          Gossip




Videos :


Therm There Eyes




…


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