DAYTONS - THREE JOKERS - THREE STRANGERS - THIEVES

 

(L to R) : Melvin Wright, Salome Bey and Ike Smith  

The Daytons (Philadelphia)

Aka The Three Jokers

Aka The Three Strangers

Aka The Thieves

 

Personnel :

Salome Bey (Lead)

Heywood Royster (First Tenor)

Ike Smith (Second Tenor)

Jack “Buck” McLauglin (Baritone)

Melvin Wright (Bass)

 

Discography :

The Daytons

Single:

1958 - King of  Broken Hearts / Friday Better Come (Norgolde 101)

Unreleased :

1958 - Yum Yum

The Three Jokers

Single:

1963 -  He’s A Bum / Hi Diddle Diddle (Mercury 72345)

Unreleased :

1963 - Faith In A Young Man's Heart

The Three Strangers

1966 -  Little Boy Blue / I’ll Be Alright (Paramount 10774)

1966 -  Find My Baby - Part 1 / Find My Baby (Inst) (Frantics 201)

The Thieves

Single:

1966 - Why Did You Do It To Me / I’m Not The One (Broadway 405)

Unreleased :

1966 - Run To My Lovin Arms

1966 - Please Believe

 

Biography :

Salome Bey began his journey in music entertainment as a singer at a young age in South Philly where he grew up and went to school. In the late Nineteen Fifties, Salome along with Ike Smith, Melvin Wright, Heywood Royster and John “Buck” McLauglin sang together and formed The Daytons.  The Daytons, a name lifted from a popular shoe style of the late 1950’s, were ready to take on all comers.

 

                                                                                   (L to R) : Ike Smith, Salome Bey and Melvin Wright

They began their career doing house parties. They practiced at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center and competed at the recreation center and South Philly HS in “sing- offs”.  They competed with home turf rivals – Chubby Checker’s confab – The Quantrells, Bunny Sigler’s boys – The Opals and later, Pat and the Blenders.  Plus they sang along side these guys at talent shows in many of the same venues.

   (L to R) : Ike Smith, Leon Huff, Melvin Wright, ??? & Salome Bey... Seated Billy Ward

Salome with the Daytons went on to record King of  Broken hearts for the NORGOLDE record label.  Live appearances ensued, including one at the ever popular televised Summer Time at the Pier with Grady & Hurst in glitzy Atlantic City.  All this transpired while Salome and the others were still attending Barrett Junior High School.  The popularity of  King of Broken Hearts and the Daytons subsided. The group took stock of their options and enrolled in high school. Salome attended Bok High and escorted Patty Labelle to the Junior/Senior Prom (11/27/59).

  

  With Bobby Eli On Guitar                                                                                                            

 

Later, Salome was off singing with Bunny Sigler and his crew.  In 1963 Melvin and Ike reunited with Salome forming The Three Jokers and waxed a two-sider for Mercury Records entitled, He’s A Bum/ Hi Diddle Diddle.  Salome, Melvin and Ike changed their name to the Three Strangers and recorded with ABC – Paramount and Frantic Records, and later with Broadway Records as The Thieves.  Salome was in the early R&B mix and worked with such music greats as Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Tommy Bell.

http://www.andre-cafe.com/salome.htm 

Songs :

The Daytons

   

King of  Broken Hearts               Friday Better Come 

The Three Strangers

   

I’ll Be Alright                    Find My Baby

The Thieves  

   

Why Did You Do It To Me                     I’m Not The One     

BOWTIES (CIRINO & THE)

 

Cirino & The Bowties (Brooklyn, New York)

Personnel :

Cirino Colacrai (Del Serino) (Lead)

Johnny Granato

Jimmmy Piro

Anthony “Diddy” Cipaldo

Discography :

Singles :

1955 - My Rosemarie / My Baby's In Love With Me (Royal Roost 614)

1956 - Again / This Must Be The Place (Royal Roost 619)

1956 - After Love / Snap Jack (Royal Roost 622)

1956 - Ever Since I Can Remember / Rock Pretty Baby (Ivy Schulman & Bowties)(Royal Roost 624)

Unreleased :

N/A - Road Man (Royal Roost)

N/A - Blind in love (Royal Roost)

Biography :

Cirino Colocrai was born in Brooklyn and was a accomplished child musician, playing multiple instruments. He and Teddy Randazzo were boyhood friends, and in the early 1950s wrote several hit songs together, including "Rosemarie." Cirino's compositions "Runaround" and "Foolishly" were both recorded by Randazzo's group, the Three Chuckles. Cirino organized a group called "Cirino and the Bowties" to experiment and demonstrate, and record Cirino's songs. Initially, Cirino & the Bowties consisted of Red Hook neighborhood residents Cirino Colacrai,Tony Bonadonna (Vic Donna’ Brother), Jimmy Piro and Andy Romeo.

 

By the end of 1955, the Bowties were recording for Royal Roost. But Vic’s brother, Tony Bonadonna, had been drafted and was in Germany.  Andy Romeo had also left the group. The group recorded rock and roll and teenage-themed uptempo love ballads for Roost Records during the mid-1950s. Roost Records (also known as Royal Roost Records) was a record label established in 1949 by music producer Teddy Reig, primarily to record jazz, taking its secondary name from the New York club with which it was associated. The personnel on the Bowties first record, “Rosemarie,” was Cirino Colacrai, Johnny Granato, Anthony “Diddy” Cipaldo and Jimmy Piro.

Both Cirino and the Bowties and the Three Chuckles would become favorites of deejay Alan Freed who not only put the groups on his stage shows but also in his 1956 film, Rock Rock Rock in which they sang "Ever Since I Can Remember" and also backed up Ivy Schulman on "Rock, Pretty Baby."  Cirino bought a luncheonette in Red Hook. While the Bowties were working Freed’s show at the Brooklyn Paramount, many of the singers from the show would drop by Cirino’s luncheonette, much to the joy of the neighborhood kids.

                                                                                                                                     Cirino Colacrai

In the late 1950s, the Bowties seemed to slowly break up, as they lost their contract to Roost, and Cirino followed other, more songwriting-type, projects. Cirino's songs were featured in the movies "Jamboree" and "Country Music Holiday" during the late-'50s, such as "Toreador," "I Don't Like You No More," and "Goodbye My Darlin'." During the 1960s, Cirino continued to write more pop songs, some of them moderate hits.

Videos :

Ever Since I Can Remember

Rock Pretty Baby (with Ivy Schulman)

Songs :

(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

           

      

                          Again                This Must Be The Place     Ever Since I Can Remember        

      

Rock Pretty Bab        (Take One) My Baby's In Love With Me            My Rosemarie

 

After Love / Snap Jack  

 

VERN & ROBIN

 

Vern & Robin (Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Ca.)

 

Personnel :

Vern Greenwood

Robin Greenwood

 

Discography :

1958 - Lula / Poro Hiti (Faro 587)

 

Biography :

Natives of Honolulu, Hawaii, Vern and Robin are student at Canoga Park High School and reside with their parents in Woodland Hills. Vern and Robin Greenwood have long been entertaining Valley clubs, schools and organizations  with their unusual and amusing interpretation of Hawaiian, Tahitain and Roc'n Roll Music. Spooted during one of their many appearances, a representative of Faro records immediately signed them a recording contract and had them appear in the Christmas show at Pacific Lodge. The Show included singers Johnny Cash, Katy Nolan, The Honey Sisters. Their Recording "Lula" has been chosen record-of-the-week on Pacific Bandstand, KEY TV, Santa Barbara, and is playing on many radio stations.

Unfortunately I do not know what kind they play...

Songs :

???

VELOURS

 

Charles Moffett, John Pearson, Donald Haywoode, Jerome Ramos & John Cheatdom (Bottom) Calvin McClean

 The Velours (Brooklyn, New York)

Personnel :

Jerome "Romeo" Ramos (Lead)

John Cheatdom (First Tenor)

Donald Haywoode (Second Tenor)

John Pearson (Baritone)

Pete Winston (Bass)

Calvin McClean (Piano)

Discography:

Singles :

1956 - My Love Come Back / Honey Drop (Onyx 501)

1957 - Romeo  / What You Do To Me (Onyx 508)

1957 - Can I Come Over Tonight / Where There's A Will (There's A Way) (Onyx 512/Gone 5092)

1957 - This Could Be The Night / Hands Across The Table (Onyx 515)

1958 - Remember / Can I Walk You Home (Onyx 520)

1958 - Crazy Love / I'll Never Smile Again (Cub K9014)

1959 - Blue Velvet / Tired Of Your Rock & Rolling (Cub K9029)

1959 - I Promise / Little Sweetheart (Studio 9902)

1960 - Daddy Warbucks / Sweet Sixteen (Goldisc 3012)

1961 - Lover Come Back / The Lonely One (End 1090)

1967 - I'm Gonna Change/Don't Pity Me (MGM K13780)

Unreleased :

1959 - I Hadn't Anyone Till You (Cub)

1959 - Please Don't Kiss Me Goodbye (Cub)

Biography :

The Velours were an American R&B vocal group who had two minor pop hits in the US in the late 1950s, "Can I Come Over Tonight" and "Remember". They relocated to England in the late 1960s, changed their name to The Fantastics, and had a top ten hit in the UK in 1971 with "Something Old, Something New", followed by a minor US hit with "(Love Me) Love the Life I Lead".

     

The group originally formed as The Troubadours in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn in 1953. The original members were Jerome "Romeo" Ramos, John Cheatdom, Marvin Holland and Sammy Gardner. In 1955, Gardner left to join the army and was replaced by Cheatdom's cousin, Kenneth Walker. The doo-wop group performed locally, but with little success until in 1956 they added a fifth singer, tenor Donald Haywoode, and changed their name to The Velours. They made their first recordings for the Onyx label, before Holland and Walker left and were replaced by John Pearson and Charles Moffett. They also added a pianist, Calvin McClean.

John Cheatdom, John Pearson, Jerome Ramos & Donald Haywoode at the Apollo

Over the next two years they made some of their best-remembered records for Onyx, including "Can I Come Over Tonight", written by Haywoode, which reached number 83 on the Billboard pop chart in 1957. They had further chart success the following year with "Remember", with Ramos as lead vocalist, which again reached number 83. They regularly performed at the Apollo Theater, and shared stages with such stars as Roy Brown, Fats Domino, Larry Williams and Bo Diddley.

   

After adding a sixth singer, Troy Keyes, they recorded for several small New York labels through the late 1950s and early 1960s, including George Goldner's Gone, but with little success, and the original group disbanded in 1961. In 1966, Ramos, Cheatdom and Haywoode decided to reform the Velours, adding tenor Richard Pitts. In 1967, they released the single "I'm Gonna Change" on MGM Records, and agreed to undertake a tour in England.

Jerome Ramos, Richard Pitts, John Cheatdom & Donald Haywoode

When they arrived in Britain, they discovered that they were to be billed as The Fabulous Temptations, and were expected to perform Motown songs. However, they toured successfully and were invited to return, in 1968, by Sheffield club owner Peter Stringfellow, this time under another new name, The Fantastics.They decided to remain in Britain, and recorded several singles released on MGM and then on the Deram label in England.

http://www.uncamarvy.com/Velours/velours.html

Songs:

       

My Love Come Back                   Honey Drop                    Romeo            

     

Can I Come Over Tonight / Where There's A Will         This Could Be The Night                Hands Across The Table                    

      

Remember                Can I Walk You Home                Crazy Love

      

I'll Never Smile Again            Blue Velvet            Tired Of Your Rock & Rolling

     

I Promise                 Little Sweetheart              Daddy Warbucks

     

Sweet Sixteen          Lover Come Back / The Lonely One       I'm Gonna Change

EMBERS (5)

 

The Embers (5) (Houston, Texas)

 

Personnel :

Don Angelo (Lead)

Mickey Newbury (Tenor)

Chuck Augustus Gengler (Bass)

James Walker (Baritone / Guitar)

 

Discography :

Don Angelo bb The Embers (5)

1960 - I´m Sorry Dear / My Love For You (Mercury 71580)

Joe D'Ambra & The Embers (5)

1960 - Don't Forget To Write / Please Come Home (Mercury 71725)

 

Biography :

Born Milton Sims Newbury, Jr. in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, Mickey Newbury sang tenor in a moderately successful vocal group called The Embers.  Shortly after starting high school, Mickey Newbury attended a sock hop, where a local group, The Sharps, was performing. Sixteen-year-old Houston native , Kenneth Donald Rogers-Kenny Rogers-sang tenor for The Sharps at the time. In a year, Rogers would sing in another Houston doo wop group called The scholars. Mickey asked the lead singer of The Sharps, Don Angelo, if he knew anyone who would like to start a singing group. Angelo replied, “sure, my neighbor” and introduced him to Chuck Augustus Gengler “CAG.” 

The Embers with Julian Barnett

Don Angelo and CAG lived next door to each other. They needed someone who could play an instrument, and they soon found James Walker, who played guitar. Newbury, Gengler and Walker practiced as a trio for several months.  Mickey's doowop ensemble was completed when lead singer Don Angelo left Kenny Rogers' group The Sharps and joined Mickey's trio, which then became a singing foursome, The Embers. The Embers consisted of Newbury tenor, Angelo lead, Gengler bass, and Walker guitar and baritone. The Embers hit the road, performing at black R&B clubs across Texas, where Mickey was nicknamed “The Little White Wolf” by Gatesmouth Brown and B.B. King.

Julian Barnett would temporarily join The Embers, filling in for lead singer Don Angelo. In 1957, The Embers did package shows with Sam Cooke, Paul Anka, Jackie Wilson, TBone Walker, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Frankie Avalon, the Everly Brothers and many others. As they had become a popular singing group, an Embers Fan Club was formed, and members mostly teenage girls wore special shirts with fancy red stripes. The Embers experienced several close encounters with Kenneth Rogers. He performed Crazy Feelings at a show in Houston, backed up by The Embers less Don Angelo. Also Rogers' brother, Leland, booked a few gigs for them. In early 1960, They released a Mercury single (# 71580) titled, "I'm Sorry Dear" b/w "My Love For You", under the name, 'Don Angelo,' who sang lead on it. 

   

They took cash dollars up front and released all future rights. Kenneth plays standup bass on that record. The Embers recorded "Don't Forget To Write" b/w "Please Come Home" with singer Joe D'Ambra . Mickey Newbury put his musical career on hold at age 19 when he joined the Air Force. After four years in the military, Newbury again set his sights on making a living as a songwriter. Before long, he moved to Nashville and signed to the prestigious publishing company Acuff-Rose Music. Mickey Newbury continued to write and have recorded for several labels, producing 18 albums.

Mickey Newbury Crystal & Stone

Songs :

Don Angelo bb The Embers (5)

   

I´m Sorry Dear                        My Love For You

Joe D'Ambra & The Embers (5)

   

Don't Forget To Write                        Please Come Home