TRIUMPHS (1) (TICO & THE)

 

Tico & The Triumphs (1) (Queens, N.Y.)

 

Personnel :

Paul Simon "Jerry Landis" (lead)

Marty Cooper « Tico » (lead)

Mickey Borack

Howie Beck

 

Discography :

Tico & The Triumphs  (1)

Singles:

1961 - Motorcycle / I Don't Believe Then  (Madison 169/ Amy 835)

1962 - Wild Flower / Express Train (Amy 845)

1962 - Cry, Little Boy, Cry / Get Up And Do The Wobble (Amy 860)

Unreleased :

1962 - She'll Be The One Who's Crying (Amy)

1962 - Here Comes The Garbage Man (Amy)

1962 - The Biggest Lie I Ever Told (Amy)

1962 - My Little Girl  (Amy)

1962 - Say What You Got To Say (Amy)

Jerry Landis bb The Triumphs (1) (uncredited)

1961 - I’m Lonely / I Wish I Weren't In Love (Canadian American 130)

1962 - The Lone Teen Ranger / Lisa (Amy 875)

Tico bb The Triumphs  (1) (uncredited)

1962 - Cards Of Love / Noise (Amy 876 / Jackson scott 14)

 

Biography :

The story begins in the summer of 1961 when a guy by the name of Jerry Landis aka Paul Simon (that Paul Simon) was already a singer with quite a reputation. Between 1957 and 1961, Simon wrote, recorded, and released many songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles. Simon already had a few songs under his belt and was working with Amy Records producing music. His path would cross a group of young kids hanging out in the Kew Garden Hills area of Flushing, New York. Original member Marty Cooper had moved from Brooklyn and started attending Parsons Jr. High School. He met Mickey Borack at school. Marty and Mickey would hang out on the street corner near the Honeycomb Luncheonette and sing.

  

Paul Simon "Jerry Landis"                                                                                                              

There, they met up with Howie Beck . They also had a female member - Gail Lynn who didn't continue with the group when they later started recording. They started performing together (Marty, Mickey and Gail) and later won a local talent contest at their school - Parsons Jr. High School, Flushing, New York. The group performed some more gigs and wound up one night at Forest Hills Jewish Centre.  Simon was in the audience that night and caught their show. Looking for new talent to produce, he approached the group about doing some work with him. He started grooming them to record. 

Simon used the group to back him on a recording for Canadian American Records in October 1961. They released I Wish I Weren't In Love under the name of "Jerry Landis." Following the Canadian American release, the group joined with Howie Beck and recorded two songs for Madison Records - Motorcycle and I Don't Believe Them. On some of the Tico and the Triumphs' records, Simon can be heard singing lead and on others it is Cooper. Madison later went bankrupt and sold the master for "Motorcycle" to Amy Records.

     

                                                                     Paul Simon "Jerry Landis" 

Amy released it again and in November 1961 the record did well hitting around 99 on the charts thanks to being featured on Murray the K's show in WINS. The song was the "pick of the week."Following the release of Motorcycle, the group did a lot of record hops. But Simon never performed with the group. It was always just Cooper, Borack and Beck.  So, while Paul Simon certainly was a big part of the group's success and sound, it was really these three guys that were Tico and Triumphs. It was Marty Cooper that sang lead on all of the group's live performances. The group's next two Amy releases did not do as well.

  

The group (credited only as Tico) without Simon went on to release Cards of Love b/w Noise in December 1962. Cooper took the lead on those. It was a return to the doo-wop sound that the group always loved. At that point, Simon had moved on to running Amy and later Bell records and he turned his attention to other artists. The group backed Simon on The Lone Teen Ranger b/w Lisa (Amy 865 - 1962) and after that the group split up. Simon had been partners with a guy named Bobby Susser. Cooper teamed up with Susser and start writing and producing records.

http://rthimel.free.fr/Paul-Simon-nouvelle-version/fs-sg-titre-album-tom-jerry-meet-tico-triumphs.htm

Songs :

(updated by Hans-Joachim) 

 Tico & The Triumphs  (1)

      

Motorcycle                       I Don't Believe Then                Express Train

         

          Cry, Little Boy, Cry        Get Up And Do The Wobble    She'll Be The One Who's Crying  

      

Here Comes The Garbage Man        The Biggest Lie I Ever Told           My Little Girl               

Say What You Got To Say

Jerry Landis bb The Triumphs (1) 

       

       

I’m Lonely                   I Wish I Weren't In Love             The Lone Teen Ranger

Lisa

Tico bb The Triumphs (1) 

   

Cards Of Love                             Noise    

 

REVELERS (2)

 

The Revelers (2) (New York)

 (By Hans-Joachim)

 

Personnel:

Edward Ansara (Bass)

Laurence Bogue (Baritone)

Thomas Edwards (Tenor)

Feodore Tedick (Tenor) alternating with Robert Simpson (Tenor)

 

Discography:

Single:

1958 - The Ghaly Ghaly Man / Give Me A Second Chance (Masquerade 22458/59)

Albums:

n/a - Drinking Songs Around The World (Urania UR 9008)

There Is A Tavern In The Town / In Praise Of Music / A Toast To Ireland / Auprès De Ma Blonde / The Heidelberg Stein Song / Landlord, Fill The Flowing Bowl / The Whiffenpoof Song / I Belong To Glasgow / Gaudeamus Igitur / Krambambuli / The More We Got Together / In Bohemia Hall / Little Brown Jug / The Parting Glass / Vive L’Amour / Im Tiefen Keller Sitz Ich Hier / A Sup Of Good Whisky / Auld Lang Sine

n/a - Salty Sea Chanties (Urania UR 9007 / Urania UR 9020)

 The Maid Of Amsterdam / Away You Rio / The Drunken Sailor / The Pirate Song / Haul Away Joe / High Barbaree / Eddystone Light / Santy Anna / Ward The Pirate / Oh, You New York Girls / Blow The Man Down / Shenandoah / Captain Kidd / Henry Martin / Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye

 

Biography:

The Revelers was formed around 1920 and has gained its reputation for fine music making and clever arrangement of standard concert repertoire. The group has developed many top ranking musicians.

    

In 1956 after an absence of several years, the new Revelers were formed by Edward Ansara , Laurence Bogue, Thomas Edwards and Feodore Tedick . The repertoire of this male vocal quartet ran the gamut from Franz Schubert to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and included their arrangements of folk and popular songs.

   

They released two albums on Urania and a single on Masquerade in the 1950’s. In 1957 they were honored by an appearance at the White House, where they sang for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Songs:

The Ghaly Ghaly Man / Give Me A Second Chance

EL DEONS

  

From left: Randy Hardy, Kenny Head, Eddie Williams, Larry Banks and Michael Turner 

The El Deons (Cleveland, Ohio)

 

Personnel :

Eddie Williams

Larry Banks

Randy Hardy

Kenny Head

Michael Turner

 

Discography :

1959 - It's Raining / Turn Me On (Parma ?)

 

Biography :

The El'Deon's were a Cleveland based doo-wop group that was formed at the city's East High School. The group was composed by Eddie Williams,  Larry Banks, Kenny Head, Michael Turner and Randy Hardy. They made a record. They recorded at WERE Radio station, in the basement. The engineer was Arnie Rosenburg.

            From left: Larry Banks, Kenny Head, Michael Turner, Eddie Williams, Randy Hardy and a student

The 2 cuts on this were "It's Raining" and "Turn Me On".  One of the group then gave this to DJ Eddie OJay and he sent it off to contacts in New York. The people in NY wanted a clearer copy but the members didn't have one and that was the end of that. Then somebody dubbed over their original recording and the resulting cut was issued on Parma Records (a subsidiary to Paramount Records) in 1959.

The El Deons with the El Deonettes

The El Deons had a sister group , the El Deonettes and both outfits were managed by Walter Randcliff. He also managed the LaSalles (the Tan Tams) who cut “Chopsticks”. He made the money, not the group members. Eddie Williams left the El Deon’s and joined the Sensations (not the Philly outfit or Way Out group) who included two ex members of the Crescents in the line-up. They were all together for about a year before He went into the army in 1961.

Songs :

?

DAWN BREAKERS

  

Larry Potter, Buddy Baker, Jack Blanchard, and Johnny Wilson.

The Dawn Breakers (Buffalo, NY)

Personnel :

 

Jim Warren (Lead)

Buddy Lee Baker (Tenor)

Don Fronczak (Bass)

Jack Blanchard (Baritone)

Discography :

1956 - Boy With The Be-Bop Glasses (And The Suede Shoes) / The Things I Love (Coral 61619)

Biography :

Jack Blanchard was very talented musically, proficient on guitar, bass and piano. After graduating (he attended Bennett, Lafayette and Kenmore High Schools) he played piano in various joints around town. Don Fronczak joined the Army out of high school, which is where he began performing music – singing first in an Army chorus, then a private group. Out of the service and looking for an opportunity to sing, Don met Jack at a nightspot in Tonawanda and they decided to form a group.

The first Dawn Breakers Quartet. Late 1950's

At first it was the boys with two girls and the material was the Pop music of the day. As time went on the ladies were replaced with a succession of male singers, the material started including R&R, and they started working the Western New York circuit (which really means Ontario to Erie), including McVan’s and the Glen Casino. Jack continued to be the ‘musician’ of the group while Jim Warren became the lead singer.

  

                                                    Clockwise from bottom left: Buddy Baker, Jim Warren, Don Fronczak, Jack Blanchard.

This group did some recording at Howell Studio on Delaware Avenue, as many as a dozen tracks of their music plus advertising jingles and a theme for a local DJ. Probably due to the latter, they hooked up with local DJ ‘Hernando’ (Phil Todaro), as many aspiring local musicians ended up doing. Through his record business contacts Todaro was able to get them a deal with Coral Records. Jack brought out a song he’d written called Boy With The Be-Bop Glasses (And The Suede Shoes). In the interest of group ‘harmony’ he have the credit to all groups members- Blanchard, Fronczak, Warren and Buddy Lee Baker (who had replaced Harry Madrid).

Buddy Baker, Jim Warren,  Don Fronczak and Jack Blanchard

In any case, the 1956 song was something of a local hit, though some radio stations may have opted to spin the more traditional These Are "The Things I Love" on the flip. They had trouble getting The Hound – George Lorenz – to play their record unless some considerations were thrown his way (a common practice) which they were unwilling or unable to do. And just as they were getting going there were the usual members resignations due to family and ‘other job’ demands. With new members they auditioned for the Arthur Godfrey Show and even cut an advertisement for the local Polish newspaper “Everybody’s Daily”. They may have cut one more obscure 45. But finally they just drifted apart.

https://wnyfm.wordpress.com

Songs :

  

         The Things I Love              Boy With The Be-Bop Glasses 

PLAZAS

 

1962 (top) Mike Barletta, Danny Ugarte, John Martinkovic, Larry Verdicchio. (Bottom) Anthony Ventura

Eric & The Plazas (Plainfield, N.J.)

ref The Cordials (4)

(updated by Hans-Joachim)  

 

Personnel :

Eric Seijo (Lead)

Anthony "Dome" Ventura

Bobby Stern

Joe Ugarte

Danny Ugarte

Discography :

Emil Spak & Encores bb The Plazas

1962 - Stuck-Up / Hold Up (instrumental) (WGW 3004)

Eric & The Plazas

1963 - I Wich / It's The Last Kiss (Production RS 63106)

Nicky Addeo & The Plazas

1963 - Danny Boy / Lovely Way to Spend An Evening (Revelation VII 101)

ref : The Cordials (4) (with Danny Ugarte)

1961- Dawn Is Almost Here / Keep An Eye (7 Arts 707)

Biography :

In early 1960, Danny Ugarte and his family moved to Plainfield, New Jersey. Danny found himself going to Plainfield High School where he met his singing group. At that time, their name was not yet the Plazas. They find their group name the day they see a car a 1955 or '56 Plymouth Plaza ride by : The Plazas. Danny replaced Richie Rossi in the Plazas. The Plazas now consisted of John Martinkovic (lead and first tenor), Danny Ugarte (lead and first tenor), Michael Barletta (second tenor), Larry Verdicchio (baritone) and Anthony "Dome" Ventura (bass). By 1961, the Plazas were entertaining at school dances, they performed along with the Mood Makers band. The Plazas sang at another dance, sponsored by the Plainfield High School Canteen at the Emerson School. Though the Plazas were at first just performing locally, they soon became a fixture at New York City's Brill Building in the heart of Tin Pan Alley.

1962 (top) Mike Barletta, Danny Ugarte, John Martinkovic, Larry Verdicchio. (Bottom) Anthony Ventura

The Plazas did background work at the Brill Building for about four years. On one occasion, their bass singer, Dome, was sent down to Philadelphia to do a recording session with the Dreamlovers.Around 1962, the Plazas were approached by singer/songwriter named Emil Spak who wanted them to back him on a song he'd written. It turned out to be a rock-a-billy tune called "Stuck Up". The Plazas arranged the background to the song.. It was recorded for Geno Viscione's WGW label (#3004) out of Somerville, NJ. Personnel wise, the Plazas continued to evolve. Joe Ugarte came and sang with the group and when the Decca’s Dynamics broke up (another Plainfield High School group), Paul Nocillawas brought into the Plazas. They turned out to be one of the best groups around.

1964 (Top) Bobby Stearn, Nicky Addeo, Tony Ventura (Bottom) Joe Ugarte, Jimmy Chidnese, Danny Ugarte.

Through their connections in the music business, the Plazas met music producer Ralph Seijo of Colonia, New Jersey. Ralph Seijo had once been A&R man for George Goldner's Tico label. Ralph's son, Eric Seijo, was singing at the time and Ralph was looking to record him. They recorded two songs. The personnel on the Eric & the Plazas songs were Eric Seijo, Danny Ugarte, Joe Ugarte and Bobby Stearn. The following year, 1964, found the Plazas re- cording "A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening" and "Danny Boy" with Asbury Park lead singer, Nicky Addeo. Nicky and the Plazas record came out on Al Mott’s Revelation VII label (#7-101) out of Allenhurst, New Jersey. Singing on the record were Nicky Addeo (lead), Danny Ugarte, Joe Ugarte, Bobby Stearn and Tony Ventura (bass). Nicky Addeo & the Plazas continued singing together locally and .The Plazas finally drifted apart.

http://classicurbanharmony.net/articles/articles-by-us/ 

Songs :

Eric & The Plazas

 

I Wich ***                                    It's The Last Kiss***

Nicky Addeo & The Plazas

   

                    Danny Boy               Lovely Way to Spend An Evening

Emil Spak & Encores bb The Plazas

Stuck-Up

The Cordials (4) (with Danny Ugarte)

Dawn Is Almost Here / Keep An Eye