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

The Uniques (11)

Posted on July 18 2007 by dion1

(L to R) Denny Naughton, George Arnold, Elden Landolt, Tim Cox, Rick Wind

The Uniques (11) (Livermore, Iowa)

Personnel :

Denny Naughton (Bass,Vocals)

George Arnold (Keyboards,Vocals)

Elden Landolt (Guitar,Vocals)

Tim Cox (Guitar Vocals)

Rick Wind (Drums)

Discography :

1964 - Baby Don't Cry / Little Angel (Bangar 609)

Biography :

The idea for starting the Fabulous Uniques was conceived by Elden Landolt one evening during the summer of 1962 at the Pocahontas drive-in theater. Over the next five years the band entertained rock and roll fans throughout Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska. They performed at most ballrooms, several fairs, including the Iowa State Fair, as well as playing many high school proms and homecoming dances. The Uniques appeared regularly at the Cobblestone Ballroom in Storm Lake, the Roof Garden at Arnolds Park, The Star in Dakota City, Guys and Dolls in Gilmore City and the Laramar at Fort Dodge.

The Uniques (11)
(L to R) George Arnold, Tim Cox, Rick Wind, Elden Landolt, Dennis J Naughton

In 1963 the band opened for the Everly Brothers at the Laramar Ballroom and again in 1964 at the Starline Ballroom in Carroll. The same year, they backed the Rip Chords at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. In 1964, the band recorded “Baby Don’t Cry” and “Little Angel” on the Bangar record label. Initial members of the Uniques were Elden Landolt and Tim Cox from Gilmore City on guitars and vocals, Denny Naughton (bass and vocals) and Rick Wind (drums) from Pocahontas. Within a year Rick Wind from Humboldt took over drums from Box and George Arnold from Mallard joined the band on keyboards and vocals. In September of 1964 Harold Powell from Fort Dodge replaced Naughton on bass. The band cut back to a quartet in late May of 1965 when Landolt enlisted in the Air Force. The original version of the band broke up that September when Wind and Arnold left for college.

Songs :

Little Angel

…

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The Counts (2) aka The Five Dots

Posted on July 18 2007 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 Jones Boys aka The Pretenders (1) aka The Savoys (3)

Posted on July 16 2007 by dion1

The Jones Boys (New York)
aka The Pretenders (1) aka The Savoys (3)

Personnel :

Jimmy Jones（Lead）

William Walker（Tenor）

Bobby Moore（Tenor）

Melvin Walton（Baritone）

Kerry Saxton（Bass）

Discography :

The Savoys (3)
Singles :
1956 - You / Say You're Mine（Savoy 1188）
1960 - With All My Heart / Please Say You're Mine（Savoy 1586）
Unreleased :
1956 - We Made A Vow (Savoy)

The Pretenders (1)
1956 - Possessive Love / I've Got To Have You Baby（Rama 198）
1956 - Lover / Plain Old Love（Rama 207）
1957 - Close Your Eyes (Sleep And Dream) / Part Time Sweetheart（Whirlin' Disc 106）
1958 - Tonight / I Love You So（Holiday 2610）
1958 - Blue And Lonely / Daddy Needs Baby（Central 2605/Apt 25026）

Jimmy Jones & The Pretenders (1)
1956 - Lover / Plain Old Love（Rama 210/Roulette 4243）
1960 - Blue And Lonely / Daddy Needs Baby（ABC Paramount 10094）
1964 - Close Your Eyes (Sleep And Dream) / Part Time Sweethear（Port 70040）

Barbara Gorman And Sister Viv bb The Jones Boys
1957 - Was It Just For Fun / 8 O'Clock（Arrow 714）

Jimmy Jones & The Jones Boys
1957 - The Whistlin' Man / Heaven In Your Eyes（Arrow 717）

Biography :

Jimmy Jones, who had spent a long apprenticeship singing in R&B vocal harmony groups, became a rock 'n' roll star in the early 1960s singing "Handy Man" and other hits with a dramatic and piercingly high falsetto. When Jimmy was around twelve years old he moved from his native Birmingham, Alabama, to New York City.

The Sparks of Rhythm

At that time he was already an accomplished tap dancer, but singing was equally important to him. Role models were Louis Jordan and the Ink Spots and later especially Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson. Early in 1955 he joined a vocal group, the Sparks of Rhythm (originally the Berliners), who landed a recording contract with Apollo Records in July 1955.

Four songs were recorded at their first session, three of them led by Jimmy. When the two resulting singles went nowhere, Jones left the Sparks of Rhythm to form his own group, the Savoys, soon renamed the Pretenders. Their first session was for Herman Lubinsky's Savoy label (for which they were named), on February 2, 1956 and yielded the single "Say You're Mine"/"You" (Savoy 1188).

Jimmy Jones - Bottom LtoR : Lee"Moe" Gail, William Walker, Bobby Moore & Melvin Walton

By coincidence, this was one day after the Sparks Of Rhythm, now without Jimmy, recorded four - then unissued - songs for Apollo, among them Jones's composition "Handy Man" (with bass Andrew Barksdale on lead). In 1957, the Pretenders hooked up with Arrow Records and for some reason, though, there were no records by the "Pretenders"; they were called the "Jones Boys."

Their first task at Arrow was doing the backup on "Was It Just For Fun"/"Eight O'Clock Date" by "Barbara Gorman and Sister Viv. The Jones Boys themselves recorded "The Whistlin' Man" and "Heaven In Your Eyes," which were released in September 1957. "Whistlin' Man".

Jimmy Jones Gorman Sisters

Jimmy led the Pretenders on a series of doowop sides for a number of New York based labels : Savoy, Rama, Whirlin' Disc, Arrow, Holiday, Central and Apt, but nothing came close to denting the charts. In 1959 he was getting tired of groups ("too much responsibility") and decided to go it alone.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/JimmyJones/jimmyjones.html

Songs :
pdated by Hans-Joachim

The Savoys (3)

Say You're Mine With All My Heart You

Please Say You're Mine We Made A Vow

The Pretenders (1)

I've Got To Have You Baby / Possessive Love         Lover / Plain Old Love


Close Your Eyes / Part Time Sweetheart             Blue And Lonely / Daddy Needs Baby


Tonight                               Lover / Plain Old Love             I Love You So

The Jones Boys


Heaven In Your Eyes               The Whistlin' Man

Barbara Gorman And Sister Viv (bb The Jones Boys)

8 O'Clock / Was It Just For Fun

...

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The Trend-Tones aka The Paradons

Posted on July 16 2007 by dion1

The Paradons (Bakersfield, California.)
aka The Trend-Tones

Personnel :

West Tyler (Lead)

William Powers (Baritone)

Bill Meyers (Bass)

Chuck Weldon (Tenor)

Discography :

The Paradons
1960 - Diamonds And Pearls / I Want Love (Milestone 2003)
1960 - Bells Ring / Please Tell Me (Milestone 2005)
1961 - I Had A Dream / Never, Never, Never (Milestone 2015)
1961 - Never Again / This Is Love (Tuffest 102)
1961 - Take All Of Me / So Fine, So Fine, So Fine (Warner Bros. 5186)

The Trend-Tones
1961 - This Is Love / Never Again (Superb 100)

Biography :

The Paradons are know best for the beautiful "Diamonds and Pearls," which reached number 18 on the pop chart in 1960, nine rungs higher than it registered on the R&B chart. The quartet, comprised of friends William Powers and Bill Meyers plus Chuck Weldon and West Tyler, gigged at school dances and local clubs around Bakersfield, CA, singing what the audience requested until a chance to record came about with Milestone Records. Their first session, one night of work, yielded eight sides, including the hit "Diamonds and Pearls" and the B-side "I Want Love."

"Diamonds and Pearls" became a favorite on radio stations and generated appearances on American Bandstand, the Apollo, the Howard, and other top venues for R&B artists. Money problems put a monkey wrench in the mix, however, and the group disbanded after disenchantment set in.

The Paradons aka The Trend-Tones

The follow-up "Bells Ring" failed to do anything, and neither did "Take All of Me" nor "I Had a Dream." The group stayed together less than a year, but Milestone kept issuing Paradons sides until they exhausted the supply. Making rock & roll records, even good ones, didn't prove fruitful for the Bakersfield lads.

The final Milestone's Paradons, “Never Again” b/w “I Had A Dream” also showed up on Tufffest (102). The a-side, “Never Againz” b/w a new b-side, “This Is Love” was also issued as the Trend-Tones on Superb (100) in 1961. After this failure to properly cash in on an important hit, the Paradons moved on to the Warner Bros.
http://rockinsteve.wordpress.com/page/2/
http://stormyweather.de/index.php?id=161&L=2

Songs :

Diamonds And Pearls (First Pressing with Guitar Intro!)

       I Want Love                    Bells Ring          Never Again


       Please Tell Me              I Had A Dream          So Fine, So Fine, So Fine


   This Is Love                     Take All Of Me

....

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The Teen-Clefs - ref : The Avalons (3), The Clickettes (2) & Shirley & Willie

Posted on July 16 2007 by dion1

The Teen-Clefs (Bronx, New York)
ref : The Avalons (3), The Clickettes (2) & Shirley & Willie

Personnel :

Shirley Bryant-Ford

Tracey Brost

Mickey

Loretta

Jamie

Discography :

The Teen-Clefs
1958 - Hiding My Tears / There Goes Sputnik (Dice 98 / 99)

The Avalons (3)
1958 - Louella / You Broke Our Hearts (Dice 90 / 91)

Shirley & Willie
1958 - Calling You (Dice)

The Clickettes (2) (The Teen-Clefs)
1960 - Tonight And Forever (Unreleased)

Biography :

The Teen-Clefs met around 1957, Tracey Brost, Mickey, Loretta, Janie and Shirley Bryant-Ford all attended the same Burger Jr. High School (PS 139 ) in the Bronx, New York. They were discovered and originally managed by Morris Bailey (former postal worker and actor), he lived in the Bronx and also managed the Fascinations. Bailey than put The Teen-Clefs in touch with Zell Sanders (J&S records) and she later took over group from Mr. Bailey.

Zell Sanders The Clickettes with Shirley Bryant-Ford

The Teen-Clefs performed at dances in Harlem, they made the song Sputnik during that time. The group wrote most of their songs. ZelL Sanders managed The Clickettes from Harlem & Shirley Bryant-Ford was an alternate for the group when an original member was not available to perform. Shirley had to fill in for the Clickettes when they performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

The Teen-Clefs (L to R) Loretta, Janie, Mickey, Shirley Ford and Tracey Brost

The Clickettes left the Dice label in 1960 but the record company continued to release singles by the Clickettes even when they were sang by other groups. ‘Tonight And Forever’ was credited to the Clickettes but it was likely sung by the Teen Clefs. The The Teen-Clefs broke up around 1960. Shirley Bryant-Ford with sisters Willie Bryant and another girl cut one single as the Avalons. The Two sisters cut another single as Shirley & Willie.
Thanks to Jennifer Noble & Shirley Ford.

Songs :

The Teen-Clefs

Hiding My Tears There Goes Sputnik

The Avalons (3)

Louella You Broke Our Hearts

Shirley & Willie

Calling You

The Clickettes (2) (The Teen-Clefs)

Tonight And Forever

….

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The Harbor Lights aka The Harbor Lites

Posted on July 16 2007 by dion1

The Harbor Lights aka The Harbor Lites
Sandy Yaguda, Sydelle Sherman and Kenny Vance

The Harbor Lights (New York)
aka The Harbor Lites

Personnel :

Sandy Deane "Yaguda"

Sidell Sherman

Kenny Rosenberg "Vance"

Discography:

The Harbor Lites 
1960 - What Would I Do Without You / Is That Too Much To Ask (Jaro 77020) 

The Harbor Lights 
1960 - Angel Of Love / Tick A Tick A Tock (Mala 422)

Anastasia bb The Harbor Lights
1960 - Time Bomb / That's My Kind Of Love (Laurie 3066)

Biography :

In 1959, Kenny Vance and Sandy Yaguda were part of a vocal group called the Harbor lites; so called because they lived in Belle Harbor, New York. The other members were Sydell Sherman, Gail Sherman, Linda Kahn and Richie Graff. They all attended the same school. One of the owners of IVY Records, Stan Feldman, also lived in that neighborhood and the Harbor lites went to his home to audition for his label. He thought that the group was terrible and told them to go home and do a lot of practicing. Linda, Gail and Richie left the group at this point and the three remaining members practiced constantly : Sandy Yaguda, Sidell Sherman and Kenny Vance .

When they thought that they were good enough they went back to his office to audition again. This time they were signed to a contract and their first record was "Is That Too Much To Ask"- originally on Ivy but Jaro Records purchased the master. Jaro stood for The J. Arthur Rank Organization. In 1960, the groups other single "Tick-a Tick-a Toc," which may have been released briefly by Jaro, came out on Mala label, a struggling, medium size New York company.The group backed Anastasia (aka Dean Parrish) on his first single for Laurie Records. Kenny Vance & Sandy Yaguda then formed another group with Howie Kane and Jay Traynor. The new group auditioned for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who signed them to United Artists Records, and named the group Jay and the Americans.

Songs :

The Harbor Lites

What Would I Do Without You Is That Too Much To Ask

The Harbor Lights

Tick A Tick A Tock Angel Of Love

Anastasia bb The Harbor Lights

That's My Kind Of Love

...

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The Hippies aka The Tams (1) aka The Stereos (1)

Posted on July 16 2007 by dion1

The Stereos (1) (Philadelhia)
aka The Tams (1) aka The Hippies

Personnel :

Carole "Devine" Varletta (Lead)

Howard "Bogey" Boggess (Baritone)

Nancy Orts (Alto)

Jack Felker (Tenor)

Discography :

The Stereos (1)
1959 - Memory Lane / Teenage Kids (Mink 27)

The Tams (1)
1959 - Memory Lane / Teenage Kids (Mink 27)
1960 - Sorry / Valley Of Love (Swan 1960)
1961 - Vacation Time / If Love Were Like Rivers (Heritage 101)
1962 - Memory Lane* / Teenage Kids (Parkway 863)

The Hippies
1963 - Memory Lane* / A Lonely Piano** (Parkway 863)

*Alternate Version
** Reggie Harrisson

Biography :

This group came from The Roxborough high Schoolin Philadelhia in 1957. They were Carole "Devine" Varletta, Howard Boggess, Nancy Orts and Jack Felker. Together they dreamt up the name Impalas; it wasn't long before they entered the requisite talent show at Roxborough High. Amazingly they won. Howard Boggess changed the name to The Stereos and Disk Jockey Bud Bress decided to manage the group.

The Impalas - Howard "Bogey" Boggess, Nancy Orts, Jack Felker & Carole "Devine" Varletta

In 1959, The Stereos came in the Allegro Studio for Mink Records with "Memory Lane" and "Teenage Kids". Mink launched the two-sider in mid-1959. But there was in fact a Stereos group from Ohio, so the label repressed the same versions under the aegis of the Tams. Not long thereafter, Bogey and Brees arranged an audition with Bernie Bennick's Swan complex… Both cuts, "Sorry" , a weeper composed by Bogey, was coupled with Bress' "Valley of Love", were assembled.

Carole "Devine" Varletta

In 1961, Bogey and the group, perhaps augmented by another singer, issue a nifty platter for Heritage Records "Vacation Time" b/w "If Love Were Like Rivers" was fobbed off to a juke warm public. Bernie Lowe owner of Cameo, released "Memory Lane" b/w "Teenage Kids" on his Parkway subsidiary, bust must have been alerted during the first month or so that Joe South's Tams out of Virginia objected the name "Tams".

The Tams/Hippies, with new Members

ABC's Tams had already issued a clutch of recordings on Arlen and General American soon to score a major triumph in "What Kind Of Fool" during the Fall of 1963. Lowe changed the name to Hippies, and switched out the flip to "A Lonely Piano".

Songs :


Memory Lane                         Teenage Kids                            Sorry


Valley Of Love                  If Love Were Like Rivers            Vacation Time

...

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The Wonders (7) - ref : The Satans Four

Posted on July 16 2007 by dion1

The Wonders (7) - ref : The Satans Four
The Satans Four

The Wonders (7) (New York)
ref : The Satans Four

Personnel :

Frankie (Spinale) Paris (First Tenor)

Chuck Howard (Baritone)

Glen Hockaday

Al Vega

Discography :

The Wonders (7)
1963 - Say There / Marilyn (Colpix 699)

The Satans Four
1965 - I Can't Find The Girl On My Mind / Oh Kathy (B.T. Puppy 515)

Biography :

Frankie Spinale was born in 1941 in Boston. In 1958, he found a bunch of guys who felt the same way: the Crescents. That was his first vocal group and they were together for three years. They did a lot of record hops. Frankie took the name Paris from another singer he saw in Boston who was working in the clubs, he had the name Bobby Paris. Frankie need a name that is gonna be easy, Americanized. So he changed it up. Most Italian American artists, like Frankie Avalon, Fabian, they all changed their names becauseit made it easy for the public to remember.

The Wonders (7) - ref : The Satans Four
The Crescents L to R : Nelson Caruso, Jack Carroll, Frankie (Spinale) Paris, Butch Russo.

Then in 1962, Frankie Paris ventured into New York with eighty bucks in his pocket on a Greyhound bus, with one suitcase. He met this guy, who was also in a singing group. His name was Al Vega. They went to Broadway a week later, and met two other guys. The first was Glen Hockaday playing a guitar. He came from Washington, D.C.. So they started singing. And the harmonies sounded great. So then the three walked farther up towards the Ed Sullivan Theater. And a guy comes down the street, his name is Chuck Howard, he hears the harmonies and join the group. An interracial group, Frankie Paris was Italian American, Al Vega was Spanish, the other two guys were black. They started singing in the streets. Later on they got the name the Wonders.

The Wonders (7) - ref : The Satans Four
The Tokens - Hank Medress, Mitch Margo, Phil Margo et Jay Siegel.

There was this rehearsal studio at 1697 Broadway, at 53 rd Street. They rented a hall, for like a buck and a half. And we started rehearsing, singing different songs and next room over was a production company. Independent producers were the thing at that time. They meet the Independent producers, there's four of them, and they’re The Tokens. The Tokens tell them - "The sound is interesting. Go write some songs. Come back on Monday." So The Wonders went to Glen Hockaday 's house in Brooklyn, wrote two songs, came back on Monday. They heard one song, they loved it and signed the Wonders to a two-year contract. Two months later they had a record out, "Say There." The B-side was "Marilyn," written by the Tokens themselves.

The Wonders (7) - ref : The Satans Four
The Satans Four

They got a lot of airplay, although the "Say There" side failed to crack either the Billboard or Cash Box "Top 100" it was a "Top 40" hit in several markets between August and October, 1963...Springfield, MA, Baltimore, MD, Bakersfield, CA, Detroit, MI, Pittsburgh, PA and Columbus, OH. ..also "Top 50" in Buffalo, NY . In 1965 Frankie Paris took off for Vegas with one of the members of the original Wonders, and they put a band together. They were called Satan's Four and did a Motown repertoire, rhythm-and-blues stuff. They were at a club called the Pussycat A Go- Go. The Satans Four recorded "I Can't Find The Girl On My Mind" and "Oh Kathy" released on the B.T. Puppy a company established by The Tokens.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

The Wonders (7)

Say There Marilyn

The Satans Four

I Can't Find The Girl On My Mind Oh Kathy

…

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The Quills aka The Incinerators

Posted on July 15 2007 by dion1

The Quills aka The Incinerators The Quills (Chester, PA)
aka The Incinerators

Personnel :

Rick Berry

Fred Cox

Otis Freeman

Gus Rainey

Tim Speed

Discography :

The Quills
1959 - Who's Love But Yours / Going To The Moon (Casino 106)

The Incinerators
1961 - You Think You're Cute / I Want To Know (Sound Dex 100)

Biography :

Members of The Quills were Rick Berry, Fred Cox, Otis Freeman, Gus Rainey, & Tim Speed. The group started singing in their early teens. After a few years they got quite good t it became the first group in Chester to start using dance choreography in their act. They sang live on the two most popular radio stations in Philadelphia. and although they sang Rhythm and Blues, or Rock and Roll as some people called it, they also sang in church on one occasion.

The Quills aka The Incinerators

They even sang at the Apollo Theatre in New York city on the Famous Wednesday night talent show. They also happened to make their first professional recording in New York City. The record never made any money for them, but the Quills had fun doing and promoting it. About two years later, the band will record two new songs, this time in Philadelphia. "You Think You're Cute" and "I Want To Know" will be released under the strange name of Incinerators on the Sound-Dex label.

Songs :

(updated by Hans-Joachim)

The Quills

Who's Love But Yours Going To The Moon

The Incinerators

You Think You're Cute I Want To Know

...

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The Dynamics (1) aka The Lanes

Posted on July 14 2007 by dion1

The Lanes (Brooklyn, NY)
aka The Dynamics (1)

Personnel :

Pat Flugieri (Lead Tenor)

Sonny "Augie" Pirillo (Tenor)

Jerry Giamonco (Bass)

Ben Lanzarone (Piano)

Discography :

The Lanes

Singles :
1956 - You Alone / Open Up Your Heart (Gee 1023)
Unreleased :
1956 - I Wonder (Gee)
1956 - Please Be My Love (Gee)

The Dynamics (1)
1957 - Ka Joom / A Hundred Million Lies (Warner 1016)

Biography :

Vocal group from Brooklyn, The Lanes sign a recording contract with George Goldner, owner of Gee records, the house of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. The group cut "You Alone" b/w "Open Up Your Heart". On the strength of the record, the Lanes were booked into the Apollo Theater, with an Alan Freed show, for the week beginning November 23, 1956.

Also on the bill were several other acts on Goldner's labels: the Harptones, the Cleftones, the Pretenders, the Rhythm Jesters, and the Joytones... In 1957, the group cut "Ka Joom " b/w "A Hundred Million Lies" for Warner under the name of the Dynamics and broke up.

Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim)

The Lanes

You Alone / Open Up Your Heart Please Be My Love I Wonder

The Dynamics (1)

Ka Joom / A Hundred Million Lies

..

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