1957 - Book Of Love / You Never Loved Me (Mascot 124/Argo 5290)
1958 - Tom Foolery / Zombi (Argo 5301)
1958 - The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow / Soft Shadows (Argo 5321)
1959 - Tell It To The Judge / Fools Will Be Fools (Argo 5339)
1960 - Reading The Book Of Love / Dream (Hull 735)
1961 - Daddy's home, But Momma's Gone / Tattle Tale (Hull 743)
Unreleased :
1959 - What Would You Do If There Wasn't Any Roc'N' Roll? (Argo)
1960 - Forever Yours (Hull)
Lps :
1962 - Your Favorite Singing Groups (Hull Lp 1002)
Book Of Dance / Toast To Lovers
Biography :
Formed
in 1955 in Newark, New Jersey, USA, the Monotones recorded one of the
most memorable doo-wop novelty songs of the 50s, ‘Book Of Love’. The
sextet had sung in the same church choir as Dionne Warwick and Cissy
Houston before forming their own group. In 1956, they appeared on the
Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour television programme, singing the Cadillacs’
‘Zoom’.
They won first prize and began to think more seriously about a career
in music. Inspired by a television commercial for toothpaste (‘You’ll
wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent’),
Patrick, Malone and Davis wrote ‘Book Of Love’ to a similar melody.
They recorded it at Bell Studio in New York and it was released on
the small Mascot label, a subsidiary of Hull Records. It was then picked
up by Argo Records for national distribution and ultimately reached
number 5 in the USA. The group was touring when their record entered the
charts, and months passed before they had a chance to record a
follow-up. A single called ‘Tom Foolery’ was released but failed to chart. The
third, ‘The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow’, was a fine record and is still
played on doo-wop radio programmes today, but it also failed to chart in
its own time.After a few more singles, the Monotones gave up, although
some of the original members performed under that name in the 90s.
