John McCall, John Carter, Dee Clark, Teddy Long, Doug Brown with a Fan.
The Delegates (1) (Chicago)
aka The Kool Gents
Personnel :
Delecta "Dee" Clark (Lead Tenor)
John McCall (Lead Tenor)
Doug Brown (Second Tenor)
Teddy Long (Second Tenor / Baritone)
John Carter (Bass)
Discography :
The Kool Gents
Singles :
1956 - This Is The Night / Do Ya Do (Vee-Jay 173)
1956 - You Know / I Just Can't Help Myself (Vee-Jay 207)
Unreleased :
N/A - Crazy Over You (Vee-Jay)
N/A - When I Call On You (Vee-Jay)
N/A - Just Like A Fool (Vee-Jay)
The Delegates (1)
Singles :
1956 - The Convention / Jay's Rock (Big Jay McNeely) (Vee-Jay 212)
1957 - Mother's Son / I'm Gonna Be Glad (Vee-Jay 243)
Unreleased :
1956- June (Vee-Jay)
Dee Clark (bb The Kool Gents)
1957 - Gloria / Kangaroo Hop (Falcon 1002)
Biography :
One of the most interesting groups to emerge from Chicago in the '50s
was the Kool Gents. An early incarnation called the Golden Tones
consisted of Cicero Blake, James Harper, Howard McClain, Teddy Long, and
John Carter. Delecta "Dee" Clark, John McCall, and Doug Brown replaced
Harper, McClain, and Blake.
The Hambone Kids : Sammy McGrier, Dee Clark and Ronnie Strong
McCall, not Clark originally sung lead until Vee Jay's A&R man
Calvin Carter recommended that Clark sing lead. Long served as the
groups' main songwriter. Clark, from Arkansas, had previously recorded
"Hambone" with the Red Saunders Orchestra as a member of the Hambone
Kids. They renamed themselves after disk jockey Herb "Kool Gent" Kent,
who introduced them to Calvin Carter and Vee Jay Records.
Delecta "Dee" Clark
Their first release, "This Is the Night" b/w "Do Ya Do" sold locally
in 1956. A second release, "I Just Can't Help Myself" b/w "You Know" did
fine in Chicago also, but failed to make any inroads outside the city.
The Kool Gents didn't burn up the charts, but they sounded good, so
Calvin Carter and Ewart Abner decided to spoof the Democratic National
Convention by releasing "The Convention" as "the Delegates" .
John McCall, John Carter, Teddy Long & Doug Brown
It received a tremendous amount of airplay, which unfortunately
didn't transform into a tremendous amount of sales. A second Delegates
single, "Mother's Son" b/w Teddy Long's "I'm Gonna Be Glad" didn't even
excite Chicagoans. In 1957, Dee Clark decided to go solo (with Calvin
Carter's OK), and the Kool Gents and the Delegates recording activity
ended. Some members of labelmates the El Dorados ("At My Front Door")
left the group, leaving only lead Pirkle Lee Moses, so Calvin crowned
the Kool Gents the New El Dorados and they backed Moses for two
fruitless years.
http://www.uncamarvy.com/KoolGents/koolgents.html
http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/dclark.htm
Songs :
The Kool Gents
This Is The Night / Do Ya Do You Know / I Just Can't Help Myself
Crazy Over You When I Call On You Just Like A Fool
The Delegates (1)
I'm Gonna Be Glad / Mother's Son The Convention
Dee Clark (bb The Kool Gents)
Gloria / Kangaroo Hop