Doo Wop - Rhythm & Blues - jcpiazza26@gmail.com

The Crescendos (2) aka The Casual Crescendos aka The Creschendos

Posted on June 2 2009 by dion1

The Crescendos (2) aka The Casual Crescendos aka The Creschendos
(L to R) Cynthia Badie, Wanda Burt, Ernie, George Banks and Odell Alford

The Crescendos (2) (Berkeley, CA.)
aka The Casual Crescendos
aka The Creschendos

Personnel :

Wanda Burt (Lead)

Cynthia Badie (Tenor)

Ernie (Tenor)

George Banks (Tenor/Baritone)

Odell Alford (Bass)

Discography :

The Creschendos
1960 - My Heart's Desire / Take My Heart (Music City 831)

The Crescendos (2)
1960 - My Heart's Desire / Take My Heart (Gone 5100)
1960 - I Don't Mind / Teenage Prayer (Music City 839)

Wanda Burt (bb The Crescendos)
1961 - Scheming / Your True Love Is Standing By (not them) (Music City 840)

The Casual Crescendos
1963 - Wish That You Were Here / Uncle Ben's Concentrated Blueberry Jam (MRC 12001)

Biography :

In 1950, Ray Dobard decided to open a record shop, Berkeley’s Music City in Adeline Street, San Francisco. Not long after that, Ray founded his first record label Delcro Records. Three years later, with his latest business expanding his record store, now called Music City Record Store moved to new premises. Music City Record Store’s new premises were at 1815 Alcatraz Avenue. Behind the shop, there was an empty space. Ray decided to build a small studio. This meant he could record artists, release their music on his own label and sell them in Music City Record Store. In 1960, Dobard signed a quintet composed of two young women and three men. The group had began at Willard Junior High several years before, with tenor/baritone George Banks and Bass Odell Alford . At Berkeley high, a tenor named Ernie, beauty queen alto Cynthia Badie and sweet-voiced lead singer Wanda Burt gravitated to the group, who now called themselves the Crescendos.

(L to R) George Banks, Cynthia Badie, Odell Alford, Wanda Burt and Ernie

Wanda Burt, of all Music City Artists should have achieved a measure of stardom. Born Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Berkeley, she worked at Dobard’s store on the Weekends. One day she gave Dotard a Crescendos’demo. Dobard decided he wanted to record this group. Tough all the members sang lead during their live shows, Wanda became the only Crescendo voice on Music City-and no wonder. The Crescendos first release, "My Heart's Desire" in October 1960, in fact inspired Goldner to lease the record for another one of his labels, Gone. The song made some noise on the East Coast but never broke out. Impressed with Burt Potential, Dobard made a concession to the white mass market on the Crescendos’ next records, "Teenage Prayer" by adding violins. The added expense must have gnawed on him. One thing is certain : Those strings did more harm than good to the ballad, which was in the first place not as interesting as it flipside "I Don't Mind".

The Crescendos (2) aka The Casual Crescendos aka The Creschendos
Wanda Burt (1961)

The Crescendos’ third release, "Scheming" must have disappointed the other members of the group, because their name was nowhere in sight. Instead Dobard put it out as the B-side "Your True Love Is Standing By", which Burt had cut with another group. and he featured Burt as solo on the label. Wanda Burt had also stepped out on her own as a live performer. In late 1961, she appeared on the bill at a huge concert at San Fransisco’ Cow Palace with Chubby Checker, Eugene Church and girl group the Marvelettes. Unfortunately, health and personal problems sidelined her before she could build any momentum, and bought her promising career to a premature close. The Crescendos replaced her with a sound alike, Anna Lois Jones, and recorded as The Casual Crescendos for the MRC label. Cynthia Badie left the group to go to College, and nowadays she’s the manager of a successful young pop group, The New edition.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

The Crescendos (2)

My Heart's Desire Take My Heart

Take My Heart / I Don't Mind

Wanda Burt (bb The Crescendos)

Scheming Your True Love Is Standing By

The Casual Crescendos

Wish That You Were Here Uncle Ben's Concentrated Blueberry Jam

…

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Betty & Dupree aka Etta & Harvey

Posted on June 2 2009 by dion1

Betty & Dupree (Chicago, Il.)
aka Etta & Harvey

Personnel :

Etta James

Harvey Fuqua

Discography :

Betty & Dupree
Single :
1959 - I Hope You're Satisfied / If It Ain't One Thing (Kent 318)
Unreleased :
1959 - We're In Love (Kent)

Etta & Harvey
1960 - If I Can't Have You / My Heart Cries (Chess 1760)
1960 - Spoonful / It's A Crying Shame (Chess 1771)

Biography :

The success of "Roll with Me Henry" on the Bihari brothers' Modern label prompted Etta James to split from the Peaches and pursue a solo career. She had a few more but minor hits, notably "Good Rockin' Daddy" (1955) and "Tough Lover" (1956 ). She also did some appealing duets with Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows as "Betty and Dupree," but by the late 1950s James had fallen into obscurity.

James and Fuqua were also romantically involved, and Fuqua, who was becoming more immersed in A&R work for Chess, was thus the reason that James left Modern and joined Chess in 1959. James and Fuqua were quickly recorded together under the name of "Etta and Harvey," and came up with a fine double-sided hit, "My Heart Cries' and 'If I Can't Have You" (1960).

But the songs harked back to the 1950s and did not represent James' subsequent work on chess. There was another Etta & Harvey duet release in December 1960. This time it was "Spoonful"/"It's A Crying Shame."
Robert Pruter "Chicago Soul"

Songs :

I Hope You're Satisfied If It Ain't One Thing

We're in Love

...

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The Caslons

Posted on June 2 2009 by dion1

The Caslons (Brooklyn, New York)

Personnel :

Sal Mondeuri (Lead)

Lou Smith (Second Tenor)

Richie Smith (First Tenor)

Joe Carvelli (Baritone & sometimes Lead)

Bernie Belkin (Bass)

Discography :

The Caslons
1961- Anniversary Of Love / The Quiet One (Seeco 6078)
1962- For All We Know / Settle Me Down (Amy 836)

Lani Zee bb The Caslons
1961 - Funny, Funny, Funny / Sea Tides (Seeco 6074)

Biography :

Sal Mondeuri (Lead), Richie Smith (First Tenor) Lou Smith (2d tenor), Joe Carvelli (baritone), Bernie Belkin (bass) . The Caslons initially got together in 1960 in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn as students at Madison High School. They made many local appearances and rehearsed a great deal. It was their manager/promoter Lou Stallman who wrote "Anniversary of Love" and "The Quiet One." The Caslons recorded demo tapes and Stallman took them around to record companies for their review. The Label Seeco Recorded the Caslons and released the Single.

TThe Label will use the group to support Lani Zee (Lani Zarief) on "Funny, Funny, Funny" and "Sea Tides."Shortly after recording "Anniversary of Love" in Spring 1961, Bernie Belkin joined the Army, leaving the Caslons. Since most performances at the time werelip-synched, the group decided to remain a quartet. Late in 1961 , Amy Records released "For All We Know" b/w "Settle Me Down." Nothing happened with this release and Lou Smith decided to join the army. The Caslons' magic was gone and the group split.

Songs :

The Caslons


Anniversary Of Love    The Quiet One


For All We Know                                 Settle Me Down

Lani Zee bb The Caslons

Sea Tides Funny, Funny, Funny

...

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The Wanderers (1) aka The Singing Wanderers

Posted on May 29 2009 by dion1

The Wanderers (1) aka The Singing Wanderers (New-York)

Personnel :

Ray Pollard (Lead)

Frank Joyner (Second Tenor)

Robert Yarborough (Bariton)

Sheppard Grant (Bass)

Discography:

The Singing Wanderers
1954 - Say Hey, Willie Mays / Don't Drop It (Decca 29230)
1954 - Three Roses / The Wrong Party Again (Decca 29298)

The Wanderers (1)
1954 - Say Hey, Willie Mays / Don't Drop It (Decca 29230)  
1954 - Three Roses / The Wrong Party Again (Decca 29298)  
1953 - We Could Find Happiness / Hey Mae Ethel (Savoy 1109)  
1954 - You Gotta Be Good To Yourself / Love Can't Be Blind (Savoy 1121)  
N/A - Tell Me How (aka How Can I Get Along Without You) (Savoy) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Don't Do Nothing I Wouldn't Do (Savoy) (Unreleased) 
N/A - What Do I Do (Savoy) (Unreleased) 
N/A - My First, Last And Only Gal (Savoy) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Did You See That (Savoy) (Unreleased)

1957 - Thinking Of You / Great Jumpin' Catfish (Onyx 518)  
1958 - A Teenage Quarrel/ My Shining Hour (Orbit K9003/Cub K9003)
1958 - Two Hearts On A Window Pan / Collecting Hearts (Cub K9019)  
1959 - Please / Shadrach, Meshack And Abednego (Cub K9023)  
1959 - I'm Not Ashamed / Only When You're Lonely (Cub K9035)
1959 - I Walked Through A Forest / I'm Waiting In Green Pastures (Cub K9035)  
1960 - I Could Make You Mine / I Need You More (Cub K9075)  
1961 - For Your Love / Sally Goodheart (Cub K9089)
1961 - I'll Never Smile Again / A Little Too Long (Cub K9094)  
1961 - Somebody Else's Sweetheart /She Wears My Ring (Cub K9099)  
1962 - As Time Goes By / There Is No Greater Love(Cub K9109/MGM K13082)  

N/A - Special One (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Gonna Live Till I Die (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Mam'selle (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Daybreak (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Makin' Whoopie (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Where Can I Go (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Sweet Sweet Love (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Count On Me (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Miss Fine (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Mr. Satan (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - I Cried For You (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Baby Don't You Cry (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Blue Prelude (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Thinking Of You (Cub/MGM) (Unreleased) 
1963 - After He Breaks Your Heart / Run Run Senorita (United Artists 570)  
1963 - I'll Know / You Can't Run Away From me (United Artists 648)

Biography :

This group began their career in the early fifties known as The Barons. The members were Ray Pollard on lead, Frank Joyner on tenor, the baritone voice was Robert Yarbrough and the bass was Shep Grant. In early 1953 they came to the attention of Newark based label Savoy Records and were signed to a recording contract in mid October. The first release by the group was soon out on Savoy #1109 - "Hey Mae Ethel" and "We Could Find Happiness". The record got enough airplay in the New York area to allow the group to start making in person appearances. Their first big gig came in December of that year when they appeared at Harlem's Club Baby Grand as the opening act for Big Maybelle. After the new year The Wanderers had a chance to hit the road and make personal appearances in other parts of the country.

They appeared with Galdys (Glad Rags) Patrick at Detroit's famous Flame Show Bar in February, and the next month toured with Tiny Grimes and his band through Ohio and Indiana. One last release for Savoy was in the role of backup vocals for Dolly Cooper on #1121 - "Love Can Be Blind" / "Be Good To Yourself".
By the middle of 1954 the group had left Savoy and were now on Decca Records. Their stay with the old major label did not bring much success. Decca #29230 was "Say Hey Willie Mays" and "Don't Drop It", which was an obvious try at the topical novelty category. The follow up on Decca #29298 returned them to their strong suit of the ballad - "Three Roses" and "The Wrong Party Again".

They played pop music venues and appeared with non R & B acts to try and broaden their appeal. Even an appearance on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town TV show in 1955 did not do the trick for the group. In 1957 the group now called simply The Wanderers appeared on one of New York's great indie labels, Onyx Records. They recorded a pop tune called "Thinking Of You" which was familiar to New Yorkers as the theme song to Brad Phillips radio show "Battle Royal" (in a version by smooth pop vocal group The Honeydreamers) and the response to the Wanderers version was good. It was their best known record and gave their career some direction.

Soon after "Thinking Of You"ran its course on the pop charts and dropped from the radio playlist, Onyx Records was taken over by a major label, in this case MGM. They moved the group to the short lived Orbit Records label run by Onyx head Jerry Winston. The label soon changed names a month later (in April of 1958) because of the proliferation of small labels using that name. The new label was called Cub, and the first release by The Wanderers on the new label was the withdrawn Orbit 9003 release "Teenaged Quarrel" / "My Shining Hour" and now on Cub 9003. In the late 50s a number of records on the Cub label were released but all met with little or no success. There was "Two Hearts on a Windowpane" (#9019), "Please" (#9023), "I'm Not Ashamed" / "Only When You're Lonely" (9035), "I Walked Through A Forest" (9054), and "I Need You More" / "I Could Make You Mine" (9075).

By 1961 it had been just about a decade in the business for The Wanderers without too much success on records for the group.Just about the time they were ready to call it a career as the music moved away from the standard R & B group sound, they met with critical and commercial success with a version of Ed Townsend's 1957 classic ballad "For Your Love" on Cub #9089. It made the national pop charts in the summer of 1961 and was a favorite of the East Coast vocal group fans. The followup on #9094 was a group ballad rendition of Sinatra's early forties tune "I'll Never Smile Again". The last record by the group in 1961 was called "Somebody Else's Sweetheart" coupled with another pop standard ballad "As Time Goes By". The original ballad did well and as it moved up in the national charts the Cub label record was switched to the parent MGM label. It was the best pop chart performer the group had ever recorded. Because it came at the end of the R & B vocal group era, the group was dropped by MGM in 1962.

This still was not the end of The Wanderers. They were signed to the United Artists label in 1962 and had two releases for UA. "After He Breaks Your Heart" was released in late 1962 on #570, and the following year "You Can't Run Away From Me" on #648. Neither record was a factor in the sales or airplay categories. From then on The Wanderers performed sporadically in the Northeast. Ray Pollard, the lead voice for all those years landed a role in the Broadway musical "Purlie" and began to make club appearances as a solo performer doing a wide variety of styles and songs.

The history of The Wanderers (and Singing Wanderers) lasted for two decades, and in that time fame and fortune certainly bypassed the group for most of that period of time. They may be known only for one hit in each decade of the era("Thinking Of You" in the fifties, and "Somebody Else's Sweetheart" in the sixties), but in their longevity they remained a classic vocal group that defined an era.
From : http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/wanderers.html

http://home.att.net/~marvart/Wanderers/wanderers.html

Videos :

CD :

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The Ovations (3) aka Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)

Posted on May 29 2009 by dion1

The Ovations (3) aka Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)

The Ovations (3) (Queens, New York)
aka Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)

Personnel :

Sammy Cantos (Lead)

Gary Willet (First Tenor)

Ron Buchter (Second Tenor)

Greg Malmeth (Baritone/Bass)

Discography :

The Ovations (3)
1964 - Who Needs Love / Remembering (Josie 916)

Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)
1965 - That's How Girls Get Boys / Remember Lori (Ascot 2192)

Biography :

The Ovations are another you white vocal group who made their way to the Josie label in the 1960's. The Group consisted of Sammy Cantos (Lead), Gary Willet (First Tenor),Ron Buchter (Second Tenor) and Greg Malmeth (Baritone/Bass). They hailed from Flushing and Bayside in the New York city borough of Queens.They were all still in high school when they recorded two sides for writers and producer Neil Levenson and Steve Duboff. Levenson had already been successful writing "Denise" for Randy & The Raimbows (Rust 5059) in 1963.

The Ovations (3) aka Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)

Jubilee then bought the Masters and released "Who Needs Love" / "Remembering" as Josie 916 on January10,1964. "Who Needs Love" was picked as the 'Boss Record of the Week" on the popular Murray the K radio show in New York City. However, with no promotion and changing musical tastes, record sales and applause for the Ovations was mostly confined to their local Queens neighborhood. The Group stayed together long enough to release another favorite "That's How Girls Get Boys" / "Remember Lori" as Little Romeo & The Casanovas (Ascot 2192) in 1965

Songs :

The Ovations (3)


Who Needs Love                       Remembering

Little Romeo & The Casanovas (3)


That's How Girls Get Boys           Remember Lori

...

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The Van Dykes (4)

Posted on May 26 2009 by dion1

The Van Dykes (4) (New Heaven,Connecticut)

Personnel :

Frank Ruggiero

Joe Tiberia

Art DeNicholas

Tom Juliano

Discography :

1965 - Rich Girl / Again And Again (Green-Sea 101)
1966 - Miracle After Miracle / How Can I Forget Her (Green-Sea 108)
1967 - Rich Girl / Miracle After Miracle (Co-Op 515)
1967 - Rock-A-Bye Girl / I'll Be By (Co-Op 516)

Biography :

The Catalinas were started in 1957, by Art Denicholas and Tommy Juliana, were school chums at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven.

The Catalinas

Their first record was on Little Records in NYC.... " Give Me Your Love" backed with "Castle of Love", both written by Art and Tommy .They did many live shows and tours, til art had to go into the Army in 1961, where he entertained with the USO in Germany for two years.

When his tour of duty was over, he arrived home to New Haven, to find that his parent's house was decorated with a big sign, made by his old friend Tommy, who let Art know.....we gotta start up a new group , thus the Van Dykes were born in 1963.

1965 Harvard (Frankie, Tommy, Art) 1966 Van Dykes (Art, Bobby, Russell, Tommy, Frankie)

The Van Dykes were the only band in New Haven to have three #1 singles in a row. WAVZ 1300am and WNHC 1340am , both am stationsand the general public loved the Van Dykes! ....yes New Haven was home to the Five Satins, but they only had one #1....plus a string of singles, but no other number ones.

By Bobby Roche

Songs :


Rich Girl                              Again And Again                    I'll Be Bye


Rock-A-Bye Girl               Miracle After Miracle    How Can I Forget Her

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The Larados

Posted on May 24 2009 by dion1

The Larados (Dearborn,Mich.)

Personnel :

Ron Morris (Lead)

Tom Hust (Tenor)

Bob Broderick (Second Tenor)

Bernie Turnbull (Baritone)

Don Davenport (Bass)

Discography :

The Larados
1957 - Now the parting begins / Bad Bad guitar man (fox 963) 
1957 - Rock'n roll mama (Unreleased) 
1957 - Angels in heaven (Unreleased) 
1980 - N/A - Will you love me tomorrow / You didn't care (Madog 801)
1980 - Will You Love Me Tomorrow / You Didn't Care / Afterthoughts / Big Boss Man (Larado EP)

Danny Zella & the Larados
1957 - You made me blue / Sapphire (Dial 100)
1959 - Wicked Ruby / Black Sax (Fox 10056)

Biography :

The original Larados were high school friends in detroit in the mid-1950s. the first group sustained many personnel changes.

they were friends of the Diablos, coming from the same locale. When the group visited the fortune records facility in Detroit, they met with jack Brown, who owned Fortune Records with wife Devora. By pointing his finger arbitraly at a map, he named the group the Larados by pointing at Laredo, Texas. This was early in 1955.

Phil Waddell became their manager. He also managed the Five Scalders on Drummond. Waddell became interested in the Larados because they had such a tight black sound. Prevoiously Waddell had handled only black vocal groups, and the white but black-sounding Larados presented a challenge to Waddell.

Early in 1956 the original group broke up, but one member, Gary Banovetz, met several other singers from another group that had recently split up. These singers teamed up and practiced a great deal. but later in 1956 Banovetz left and was replaced by Don Davenport, Bass from the Romeos on Fox.

The Larados were then asked to record for Fox Recors. This was 1957 and they recorded four tunes for Fox, but only two were released and met with limited local success.
They then went to New York looking for someone to assist them. They went to the Apollo Theater, but Apollo Management would not accept them because they were white!

They appeared on Arthur Godfrey's talent scouts show, but neither Godfrey nor his audience cared for them and they returned to Detroit.
They made many live appearances in trade for radio airplay.

Danny Zella

Broderick left and Banovetz returned to perform with the group doing backup for a female Artist at Fox.
The Larados later became the Reflections on Golden World.

Mitch Rosalsky (Encyclopedia of R&B and Doo-wop Vocal group)

http://www.answers.com/topic/the-larados
http://www.reflections-music.com/larref.html

CD :

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The Tune Weavers

Posted on May 23 2009 by dion1

The Tune Weavers (Boston)

Personnel :

Margo Sylvia（Lead)

Gilbert Lopez（Tenor）

Johnnie Sylvia（Bass）

Margo Lopez（Tenor）

Discography :

The Tune Weavers
1957 - Happy, happy birthday baby / Ol' man river（Checker 672/Casa Grande 4037）
1957 - Pamela jean / I remember Dear（Casa Grande-4038）
1957 - Happy, happy birthday baby / Yo yo walk (Instrumental)（Checker 872） 
1957 - Ol' man river / Tough enough (Instrumental)（Checker 880） 
1958 - Little boy / Please baby please（Casa Grande 101）
1958 - There stands my love / I'm cold（Casa Grande 4040）
1960 - My congratulations baby / This can't be love（Casa Grande-3038） 
1962 - Your skies og blue / Congraturations on your wedding（Checker-1007）
N/A - I hear mission bells （Casa Grande) (Unreleased) 
N/A - Think and cry （Casa Grande) (Unreleased)

Margo Sylvia & The Tune Weavers
1988 - Come back to me / I've tried (Classic artists 104)
1988 - Merry merry christmas baby / What are you doing new years Eve (Classic artists 107)

Biography :

The Tune Weavers were a vocal group that originally did not sing R & B tunes, or even rock & roll tunes, or were even called The Tune Weavers. They began as a jazz-pop duo consisting of brother and sister Gilbert and Margo Lopez who favored tunes by Mel Torme, Jackie and Roy, and of course Frank Sinatra.

In 1956 the duo added two more voices - Margo's husband John Sylvia and her cousin Charlotte Davis. The newly formed quartet were called The Tone Weavers and now did versions of songs in the style of The Four Freshmen and Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. By now the four members had started to add some R & B tunes to their performances. They soon came to the attention of a local record man named Frank Paul who owned a small local label called Casa Grande Records.

He agreed to hear the group and was not too impressed until he heard them vocalize on an original tune written by Margo called "Happy Happy Birthday Baby". She had penned the tune a few years before and nothing had become of this song until now. A recording session was set up and in March of 1957 "Happy Happy Birthday Baby" was recorded along with the Broadway show tune standard "Ol Man River" and soon released on Casa Grande # 4037.

The record was a dud and went nowhere. This was the problem with so many records put out by small independent labels due to the lack of distribution added to inexperience in promotion. Three months went by as the group went back into the small clubs in the Boston area and thought about the failure of their first effort on record. Seemingly from out of nowhere, two Philadelphia jocks - Joe Niagara and Hy Lit on WIBG, started playing "Birthday", the record that had lain dormant all this time.

Listeners ears perked up as the unique song was a grabber, and soon that titan of pop in that city, Dick Clark, was also all ears. He was ready to lead his local teenage dance television show "American Bandstand", onto the national scene and here was a record that was about to break wide open. In mid August Chess Records from Chicago bought the distribution rights to the record from Casa Grande and released it on Checker # 872, and gave it the national "push" that was needed.

The record was well received by a varied cross section of listeners hooked by the melancholy lyrics and Margo's delivery with a resemblance to Patti Page. (There was one difference in the Casa Grande and Checker versions of the song. The original has a four note coda [ending] played by the tenor sax, but the Checker version cuts this off after the last note of the vocal).

By September the record was a national smash heading up to the top of the pop music charts. The group appears at Alan Freed's labor Day show at the Brooklyn Paramount headlined by Little Richard. The next month The Tune Weavers go out on their first national tour as part of a package show featuring Roy Hamilton, The Clovers, Doc Bagby, Little Joe, and others. They will tour the Southern states in a series of one nighters.

In November Al Silver, head of Herald Records in New York, announces that his label has bought the rights to Casa Grande masters by the group from Frank Paul. The exclusive distribution deal will be done by Silver's Ember label. Later that month "I Remember Dear" and "Pamela Jean" are released on Casa Grande # 4038, making that label in effect, a subsidiary of Herald-Ember.

The Tune Weavers are part of the bill for George "Hound Dog" Lorenz Eighth Anniversary Show of Stars which broke all box office records for the State Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. In December as the group remains a top attraction, they sign on for a tour of major cities in January along with The Everly Brothers, The Rays, Paul Anka, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Danny & The Juniors, Eddie Cochrane, The Mello-Kings, and others.

"I Remember Dear" sells initially but soon falters and dies not dent the national pop charts. In January of 1958 "There Stands My Love" and "I'm Cold" are released on Casa Grande # 4040 but goes nowhere. In March "Look Down That Lonesome Road" and "Little Boy" are issued by Casa Grande on # 101, but this too is a failure in both sales and airplay. At this time Charlotte Davis left the group and was replaced by Bill Morris Jr. Credits on all the Casa Grande releases are given to the Frank Paul band and to Preston Sandiford as musical arranger and director.

There were two other record releases for the group in the early nineteen sixties. "My Congratulations Baby" was another attempt to mine the same ground as "Birthday" and was paired with "This Can't Be Love" on Casa Grande # 3038 in 1960, and again with "Congratulations On Your Wedding" and "Your Skies of Blue" on Checker # 1007 in 1962. .

http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/tweavers.html
http://www.cvmuseum.org/2007halloffame.html#tune
http://color-radio.com/Tuneweavers.htm

Songs :


Happy, Happy Birthday Baby                 I remember dear


Little Boy                                      Come Back To Me


What Are You Doing New Year's Eve                   I've Tried


Congratulations On Your Wedding                         Pamela Jean

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The Safaris aka The Angels (5)

Posted on May 22 2009 by dion1

The Safaris (Los Angeles)
aka The Angels (5)

Ref : The Enchanters (5) aka The Dories (1)
Ref : The Suddens aka The Four Evers (3)

Personnel :

Jim Stephens (Lead)

Marv Rosenberg

Richard Clasky

Sheldom Briar

Discography:

The Enchanters (5)
1959 - Touch of love / Cafe Bohemian (Orbit 532)

The Dories (1)
1959 - I Love Him So / Tragedy Of Love (Dore 528)

The Angels (5)
1959 - A lover's Poem (to her) / A lover's Poem (to him) (Tawny 101)

The Safaris
Singles :
1960 - Image Of A Girl / Four Steps To Love (Eldo 101)
1960 - Girl With The story In Her Eyes / Summer Night (Eldo 105)
1960 - In The still Off The Night / Shadows (Eldo 110)
1961 - Soldier Of Fortune / Garden Of Love (Eldo 113)
1989 - My Image Of A Girl Is You / C'mon Everybody (Dee Jay 203)
Unreleased :
1961 - Legion Of The Lost
196? - Dream Girl
196? -Baby Give
196? -Road Of Love
196? -Spare Time
196? -Beach Comber
196? -Crying In The Chapel (Demo)

Jimmy Stevens bb The Safaris
1963 - A Funny Thing Happened / That's Where The Difference Lies (Valiant 6033)

The Suddens
1961 - Childish Way / Garden Of Love (Sudden 103)

The Four Evers (3)
1963 - Come Up In The World / Colors (Chattahoochee 630)

Biography :

A soft pop group from Los Angeles, The Safaris trekked through four names and three labels before reaching their one hit-status. The Original group was formed in 1959 and called themselves the mystics. When the East Coast Mystics hit that spring, Sandy Weisman, Marv Rosenberg and Richard Clasky became the Enchanters (5). Marv was a student at Fairfax High School and Richard was from Hamilton high. They met at a party and launched the Enchanters as a vehicule for their mutual interest in songwriting. After one single on Orbit Record that sounded like an early Cathy Young andthe Innocents, The Trio added Faiffax high student Sheldon Briar and became The Dories on Dore. Their Solo single, "II Love Him So" stood still.

Sandy, The Dories' female lead, decided marriage was more fun than singing, so the boys replaced her with San Fernando vocalist Jim Stephens, who had graduated Van Nuys High School. Jim's innocent-sounding lead fit right into the group's quiet style of vocalizing. In Late 1959 the Dories met a trumpet player who was starting his own label with a friend, at which point the Dories became the Angels (5).

The Label was Tawny Records and the friends was soon-to-be-legendary producer Lou Adler. The Trumpet player was named Herb Albert. While all were looking for material for the Angels to record, Marv was lying on his girlfriend's bed suffering an anxiety attack brought on by her ultimatum of "me or our music". Lying alone in the room, listening the loud ticking of her clock and water dripping in the bathroom, he began to formulate the song 'Image Of A Girl".

Herp Albert didn't like the song and opted instead for "A lover's Poem (to her)", which wasrecorded with Darlene Love & the Blossoms backing the Angels, with Albert on trumpet. The record never left the gate, but Adler and Alpert salvaged the instrumental track and in 1959 had the Untouchables record "Poor Boys Nedds A Preacher" over it (Madison records). The Angels managed to do a variety of san Bernardino records hop and came the attention of Eldo Records.

In April 1960 "Image Of A Girl", with its clock intro sound (made by hitting two ends of wooden block),was released by the newly christened Safaris and on June 6th charted on Billboard's hot 100. Whenit reached number six on August 1st, the California quartet became an "overnight" sensation. In Australia, "Image" made it to number 26, and in Japan, to number One. The group performed mostly in California and played with the Drifters, the Turbans, the Medaillons, the Olympics, the Penguins and the Platters, and appeared on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" when it was done in California.

Even with a big hit the Safaris found themselves playing schlock shows like the one at the notorious El Monte Legion Stadium, Where fights were a constant and many ot the teens carried razor blades. Sheldon was so terrified he bought a gun. "Girl With The story In Her Eyes" was their secod Safaris Single, and it managed to reach number 85 before falling off the charts. When their manager tried to send the group out on a three-week promo tour with no pay, all but Jim retourned to college, while he and three friends did the tour and recorded the last single as the Safaris, the Five Satins classic "In The Still Of The Night". Jim moved on to a folk group. Later in 1961 Briar, Rosenberg and Clasky joined with Lee Forester for one single as the Suddens on Sudden ("China Love") and one on Chattahoochee in 1963 as The Four Evers.
Jay Warner (American Singing group)

Songs :

The Enchanters (5) 

Touch Of Love Cafe Bohemian

The Dories (1) 

Tragedy Of Love I Love Him So

The Angels (5) 

A lover's Poem (To her) A lover's Poem (to him)

The Safaris 

Image Of A Girl                Four Steps To Love       Girl With The story In Her Eyes


Summer Night                In The Still Off The Night                   Shadows 

Soldier Of Fortune               Garden Of Love                    Legion Of The Lost


Dream Girl                        Baby Give                             Road Of Love


My Image Of A Girl Is You            C'mon Everybody 

Jimmy Stevens bb The Safaris

A Funny Thing Happened That's Where The Difference Lies

The Suddens

Childish Way / Garden Of Love

The Four Evers (3)

Come Up In The World

....

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The Stereos (2) aka The Buckeyes

Posted on May 22 2009 by dion1

The Stereos (2) aka The Buckeyes

The Stereos (2) (Steubenville, Ohio)
Ref The Buckeyes

 Personnel :

Bruce Robinson (Lead)

Leroy Swearingen (Tenor)

Nathaniel Hicks (Tenor)

Ronnie Collins (Bass)

Sam Profit (Second Tenor)

George Otis (Baritone)

 Discography :

The Buckeyes
1957 - Since I Fell For You / By Only You (Deluxe 6110)
1957 - Dottie Baby / Begging You Please (Deluxe 6126)

The Stereos (2)
Singles:
1959 - A Love For Only You / Sweetpea's In Love (Gibraltar 105)
1961 - I Really Love You / Please Come Back To Me (Cub 9095/Astra 1032)
1961 - The Big Knock / Sweet Water (Cub 9103)
1962 - Unless You Mean It / Do You Love Me (Cub 9106)
1962 - Echo In My Heart / Tick Tack Toe (Columbia 4-42626 )
1963 - Good News / Mumbling Word (World Artists 1012)
1965 - Sweet Pea's In Love / Life (Ideal 1110)
1965 - Don't Let It Happen To You / The Best Thing To Be Is A Person (Val 2)
1967 - Stereo Freeze, Part 1 / Part 2 (Hyde 101/Cadet 5577)
1968 - I Can't Stop These Tears / I Feel Soul A'Coming (Cadet 5626)
Unreleased :
1959 - Dragstrip (Gibraltar)
1962 - A Long Time From Never (Cub)
1962 - Walkin' Along (Cub)

 Biography :  

This R&B vocal group can trace its roots to Steubenville, Ohio, circa 1954. The harmony group began as the Montereys, but soon found out about another group from New York that was using the name and recording for the Teenage Records label. They then scored a contract with Atlantic Records as the Hi-Fis, but nothing ever came of this relationship, and another name change was in order. They were from Ohio (the Buckeye State); thus they became the Buckeyes and drove several hundred miles to New York to meet with the New York offices of King/Federal/Deluxe Records. They auditioned and were quickly signed to the Deluxe imprint and released two singles in 1957—“Since I Fell for You” backed with “By Only You” (Deluxe #6110) and “Dottie Baby” backed with "Begging You Please" (Deluxe #6126) with Howard Alsbrooks supplying the lead vocals. He also composed “Begging You Please.” Neither single garnered much attention, and Alsbrooks was soon gone from the group. It took until 1959 for the group to get another shot—this time from composer/producer Otis Blackwell for the tiny Gibraltar label. Once again, they experienced a name change (not by choice), and the Stereos were born. The Stereos first recorded in 1959 with Leroy Swearingen (first tenor and ex-Buckeyes) joining Robinson, Collins, Sam Profit and George Otis for their Gibraltar debut.

The Stereos (2) aka The Buckeyes
Bruce Robinson, Ronnie Collins, Nathaniel Hicks, Sam Profit & George Otis

Their release on Gibraltar (#105)—“A Love for Only You” backed with “Sweetpea's in Love”—scored well in some pockets of the country, especially Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, although it didn't chart nationally. Its failure caused Swearingen to leave and be replaced by Nathaniel Hicks. There would likely have been a follow-up single on Gibraltar, but the label went out of business and Otis Blackwell jumped to Cub Records—an MGM imprint. He took the Stereos with him, and a song written by group member Leroy Swearingen, “I Really Love You” (Cub #9095), became their first release in 1961, and their all-time biggest hit. Ronnie Collins performed the lead vocals on this very catchy tune with a walking bass singer throughout. It became a Top Twenty R&B hit and a Top Thirty pop hit (but much bigger in the major urban radio markets). The song was remade years later by George Harrison on his Gone Troppo album (Dark Horse #23734). Fame, however, was fleeting for the Stereos and they never again penetrated the Pop or R&B charts. They even made a recording for Columbia Records, very much in the Shep and the Limelites vein (“Echo in My Heart” backed with “Tic-Tac-Toe”—Columbia # 42626) in 1962, but less than 100 copies were pressed up and the project was quickly abandoned. Needless to say, the record is quite a collector's treasure today. Other quality releases for the Cadet, Hyde, Ideal, Val, and World Artists labels failed to sell well , and by 1968, the Stereos called it a career and went their separate ways.

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