1960 - Lundee Dundee / I'll Whisper In Your Ear (The Versatiles) (Rocal 1002)
1962 - A Wonderful Dream / Time Will Tell (Imperial 5855)
1962 - She's A Troublemaker / A Little Bit Now (Imperial 5879)
1963 - Anything You Can Do / What In The World (Imperial 5914)
1963 - Tra La La / What Have You Been Doin' (Imperial 5936)
1963 - Get Up Now / One Happy Ending (Imperial 5968)
1963 - Life Begins / Which Way Did She Go (Imperial 5991)
1963 - Ooh Wee Baby / I'll Be There (Imperial 66009)
Lps :
1963 - Meet The Majors (Imperial Lp 9222)
A
Wonderful Dream / Ooh Wee Baby / Time Will Tell / Tra La La / Twist and
Shout / A Little Bit Now / She's a Troublemaker / Don't Lose your Cool
/ I Wonder Who's Dancing With Her Now / What in the World / Come on
Come On / Anything You Can Do
The Versatiles (2)
1960 - Lundee Dundee (The Majors) / I'll Whisper in your ear (Rocal 1002)
The Performers (3)
1966 - Just Dance / Love Is A Answer (ABC 10777)
Biography :
Robert
Morris, Gene Glass, Frank Troutt, Rick Cordo, and Ron Gathers made up
the original quintet, with Idella Morris soon replacing her brother
Robert. The group first called themselves The Premiers and formed in
Philadelphia in 1959. Although they attended different high schools,
they hung around together after school, and on weekends, in Harlan
Street, performing on the street corners between 19th and 20th streets.
Idella was the youngest member at nineteen years and Gene Glass, who had
just returned from the US Air Force, was the oldest group member, being
twenty five.
The group met club owner Buddy Caldwell early in 1960 and he
persuaded them to record for his Ro-Cal label. They recorded "Lundee
Dundee" and "Let Me Whisper in Your Ear" as The Versatiles since the
studio apparently had another group listed on their books as The
Premiers. The record had local success, but Ro-Cal just wasn’t geared up
for national distribution and the group received little in the way of
royalties. At that point some of the male members went off to the
service. Two and a half years later, the group reformed, with an
identical lineup, as The Majors.
Jerry Ragovoy
When the group reformed Jerry Ragavoy heard them perform and he
already knew of "Lundee Dundee". Ragavoy liked The Majors enough to get
them a recording deal with Imperial. In July 1962 they turned up at the
Imperial studios and “A Wonderful Dream” b/w “Time Will Tell”. “A
Wonderful Dream” entered the Cashbox pop chart on the 4th of August and
rose to # 20 on September the 22nd, it made # 22 on Billboard and # 23
on the national R&B chart.
Following the success of “A Wonderful Dream” a lone and now quite
collectible, LP was issued and, in rapid succession, six more singles.
The next release was a bouncy tune in the mould of Wonderful Dream, “A
Little Bit Now (A Little Bit Later)” b/w “She's A Troublemaker”. Both
sides made moderate moves on the national listing. “A Little Bit Now”
peaked at # 63 and “She’s A Troublemaker” reached # 83. Three of the
groups remaining five Imperial releases made the Bubbling Under list on
Billboard.
“Anything You Can Do” reached # 117 in Februrary 1963. “Your Life
Begins at Sweet Sixteen” made #125 in September 1963 and “I’ll Be There”
reached #113 in February, 1964. At this point The Majors contract with
Imperial Records concluded. The Majors, with their line-up intact,
recorded just once more. In 1966 they entered Frank Virtue's studios as
The Performers. ABC-Paramount issued the Peter DeAngelos’ produced
disc, but it failed. The group continued to tour during the 1960s, but
made no more recordings and disbanded.
In a 1986 a Dick Clark TV special gathered all of the original
members for a performance. Rick Cordo, Idella Morris, who had by this
time changed her name to Haleema Alkhatib and Gene Glass then,
recommenced working as The Majors. Sometimes Troutt and Gathers also
join them.
