1976 - The Mystery Of The Night / Hot Rod (Monogram 111)
Joey & The Flips (4)
1964 - The Beachcomber / Fool Fool Fool (Cameo 327)
Biography :
This
group began in 1959 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, harmonizing in the
familiar places that made groups sound great — hallways, restrooms, and
so on. They started out as The Elads (first tenor Fred Gerace, second
tenor James Mehagher, baritone John Smith, bass Jeff Leonard and
falsetto Jimmy Dilks). Sy Kaplan, who later became their manager,
overheard them harmonizing. He was joined by Barry Rich, another
collector, and soon after had them record demo tapes. Kaplan felt that
original lead Jimmy Dilks was not unique enough and was replaced at lead
by diminutive (5 feet) black Joseph Hall.
Rich and Kaplan brought "Bongo Stomp" to Eddie Joy of Joy Records to
see if he was satisfied with the Flips song. Joy Records was opened as a
sideline in 1958 by Guy Mitchell's manager, Eddie Joy, and operated
through to 1965 featuring such artists as Guy, The Five Blobs, James
Gilreath, Jamie Horton and Senor Wences, the ventriloquist of The Ed
Sullivan Show fame. Joy loved it and soon released it on his label.
When
the tune began to take off, the Flips began touring up and down the
East Coast. As the story usually goes, Joy and his organization, despite
inquiries and litigation, paid the Flips or their management no
royalties. Little Joey & The Flips fared no better as none among
Bongo Gully b/w It Was Like Heaven on Joy 268 in 1962, The Beachcomber
b/w Fool Fool Fool on Cameo 327 in 1964, and The Mystery Of The Night
b/w Hot Rod on Monogram 111 in 1972 could get them back on the charts.
Fortunately, the success of "Bongo Stomp" provided work for the
group, including commercials and so on, but personal problems prevailed
and after their Cameo disc, they decided to call it quits.
