Rick & The Rockers (3) (L to R) Bobby Brown, Pete Shultz and Rick Randell.
Rick & The Rockers (3) (Newark, NJ)
aka Rick & The Randells
Personnel :
Rocco Gaeta "Rick Randell" (Lead)
Pete Shultz
Bobby Brown
Matty Ferrara
Discography :
Rick & The Rockers (3)
1959 - That Day / I'm Hurt (Arc 4445)
Rick Randle & The Rockers (3)
1959 - That Day / I'm Hurt (Arc 4445)
Rick & The Randells
1960 - Let It Be You / Honey Doll (ABC 10055)
Biography :
Rick
Randell's real name is Rocco Gaeta and he was born and raised in
Newark, NJ, in the Ironbound neighborhood. Still a thriving, vibrant
area of Newark. The radio in their home was always on. His mother loved
Country/Western music. He loved the sound of the steel guitars. His
parents bought him a guitar when he was 9 years old. In the 8th grade
his family moved to the suburb of Bloomfield, NJ where he attended Jr.
High and High School.
Rick Randell
In Jr. High He started a band called “The Rockers”. This group lasted
into High School where they would play for the HS dances. They also did
Rock n Roll Sock Hops at Daley’s Meadowbrook, Cedar Grove, NJ every
Saturday for 2000 attending teens. The owners of ARC Records (Ed
Danback/Joe DiMaggio) heard ,liked and signed The Group. They recorded
“That Day” b/w “I’m Hurt” in 1959. They managed to be on the “Alan
Freed” radio show, THE Rock n Roll number one show at that time. This is
when “The Rockers’ became known as “Rick and the Rockers”.
People from ABC Paramount were interested from this first recording
with ARC. So ARC let them out of the contract and wished them well as
they signed with ABC Paramount. They recorded “Honey Doll” in 1959. That
same year They recorded “Let It Be You” for ABC. Since they were still
in HS, permission from Parents and school district had to be obtained
for Rick and the Rockers to go on a 2 month leave in order to tour the
US and Canada.
Rick & The Randells (L to R) Matty Ferrara, Pete Shultz, Bobby Brown and Rick Randell.
At this time they did an appearance on Dennis James’ Cerebral Palsy
Telethon in NYC with such headliners as Connie Francis, Dwayne Eddie,
Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell etc… they were supposed to do 1-2 songs but
the phones began to ring off the hook. They were the only performers to
stay on live TV and continue playing for 45 minutes! The Rockers were
Pete Schultz and Bobby Brown. They added Matty Ferrara and the four
became “Rick and the Randells”. In 1960, ABC Paramount dropped the
group, kept Rick Randell (Rocco Gaeta was too ethnic a name for the
times) where He recorded for APT Records, a subsidiary of ABC Paramount.
Rick Randell recorded for several other major labels: Decca, United
Artists, Reprise.
