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 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 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 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 :
The Wonders (7)
Say There Marilyn
The Satans Four
I Can't Find The Girl On My Mind Oh Kathy