1958 - Please Don't Go / Believe in Me (Bullseye 1017)
1962 - The Beat of My Heart / Laid Off (Bargain 5004)
Bunny Sigler & The Cardells (2)
1959 - Square From Nowhere / Laddy Daddy (Bee 1013)
The Whirlwinds (2)
1963 - After The Party / Heartbeat (Phillips)
The Exceptions
1965 - Down by the Ocean / Pancho's Villa (Inst.) (Pro 1/ Cameo 378)
Biography :
Along with the original Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes, the
Dreamlovers, and others, the Cordells were one of Philadelphia's
pioneering R&B groups. The members were Jimmy Ellis, (lead), Earl
Young (bass), Val Walker, and Russell Boston, all from the Broad &
Lehigh area of North Philly. They recorded "Please Don't Go" b/w
"Believe in Me," for Bullseye Records in 1958 and didn't get the
opportunity again until 1959 when they Backed Bunny Sigler on "Square
From Nowhere" b/w "Laddy Daddy" as the Cardells. Bunny Sigler was a
champion swimmer, having won the city Championship representing Bok
School in South Phully. Walter "Bunny" Sigler will become a pop and
R&B songwriter and record producer who has done extensive work with
the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and who was instrumental in
creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s. He is nicknamed "Mr.
Emotion."
Bunny Sigler
Return
to Jimmy Ellis and his fellows. The Group didn't get the opportunity
again until 1961 when "The Beat of My Heart"/"Laid Off," fell on Bargain
Records, this time using their original name, The Cordells. Neither
side was more than a local play and while the group kept busy doing
local gigs and built a little reputation around town, nothing really
happened for them. The Philly singers became the Whirlwinds and recorded
in 1963, this time for Phillips Records. "Heartbeat" b/w "After the
Party" stiffed. They added Charles Hynes and tried it as The Exceptions.
Pro 1 Records released the first Exceptions' single, "Down by the
Ocean" b/w "Pancho's Villa," in 1965. It was originally scheduled for
Phil Gaber's P & L label, but the deal never consummated. The record
created a stir locally so Cameo Records snagged it for national
distribution, but it never took off. Switching to Cameo's subsidiary,
Parkway Records. By
the late 1960's Jimmy Ellis and the Exceptions had moved from doo wop
into soul music. The signed with the Groovy Grooves label and had two
releases. Groovey Groves issued two of their shelved singles in 1972 to
piggyback on the Trammps' Buddah recordings. Ellis and Young, two
ex-Exceptions, were now Trammps, comprised at that time of members from
the Exceptions and the Volcanoes. In addition, Young became a sought
after session musician and recorded with Ron Baker and Norman Harris as
Baker, Harris, & Young.
1958 - Wait Up Baby / For Ever And Ever (Fury 10113)
1959 - Nearest To My Heart / Bye-Bye (ARC 4446)
Biography :
By Richard Martin Oxman
Richard Oxman was a "patrol boy"
at grammar school in Newark, New Jersey, helping pupils to cross the
street on the corner by his family's apartment when he was about
nine-years-old. One day, Larry (Brown) came to his corner and began to
cross the street without his permission. Patrol boys wore white strips
across the chest as a kind of uniform, letting everyone know that they
were positioned on a particular corner to regulate crossing for safety
purposes. Well, Larry had absolutely no respect for any of that, and
Richard yelled after him as he crossed the street, headed for home which
was in another apartment building (which was part of The Seth Boyden
Housing Project, a low-income complex built for families after WWII).
Larry's family lived about a block from Richard's family. Anyway, Richard yelled at him, saying that he was going to report him to Mr. Pearl. Mr. Pearl was a gym teacher, and the adult at school in charge of all patrol boys, the entire operation concerned with crossing guards at street corners.
L.Russell Brown & Richard Martin Oxman
Well, when Richard Martin knocked off for lunch that
day... He walked the few steps to his apartment, and there was Larry
waiting for him! He started to hit him in anger, and, then, his mother,
hearing Richard screaming, came out of his apartment with a Broom
screaming at Larry to leave him alone! She chased him all the way home.
[Remember that Doo Wop song with the line "I ran all the way home, just
to say I'm sorry."???] That's how they met. Their families reconciled,
and though they never really got close, it was the beginning of their
relationship. Once he found out that Richard played the guitar, he
asked Richard to teach him. n 1958, Larry and Richard just traveled into Harlem from New Jersey (across the Hudson River) where they lived to make record contacts With Bobby Robinson, the record shop guy in Harlem. It was much different then, easier to make that crucial one-on-one contact. Bobby, with Larry fast-talking about what was special about the group ("We're a combo of the Everly Brothers and Little Richard.") got Bobby to walk them up to a nearby apartment where they were introduced to a fat guy named "Fats" who played the piano. They asked Richard & Larry to show what they could do, and then, after they sang and played, Bobby Robinson immediately signed the duet! In those days, record producers routinely screwed performers. They had to give them forms for their parents to sign first because they were underaged.
Richard Martin Oxman & L.Russell Brown
IBut that didn't keep Bobby and
Fats from pulling a fast one on them, screwing them as far as potential
royalties went. They
recorded at historic Beltone Studios in New York, where many huge hits
had been recorded. They met many stars. One of them was the great DOO
WOP sax player, King Curtis... who walked into one of their sessions.
They were given the opportunity to have him play on "Wait Up, Baby", but
They turned the offer down… -- STUPIDLY, RIDICULOUSLY! -- because...
guitars were, they felt, IN, the latest thing, the upcoming thing, the
thing to embrace. Talk about mistakes! Talked about missed
opportunities! Can you imagine having a Duals' record today with King
Curtis playing the riff on it? . They met Nina Simone , and many
others. There was a great, unknown, Doo woo group (the Du Mauriers) ,
which was at their recording session. They did "All Night Long". Fury
released "Wait Up Baby" b/w "For Ever And Ever" in early 1958. Richard
Oxman and Larry Brown made a second single, "Nearest To My Heart" b/w
"Bye-Bye" in Elizabeth NJ at the ARC records studio owned by Ed Dambach.
Russell Brown continued in the music industry and wrote many hit songs
subsequently, like "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree"... and
many more.
1958 - My Lost Love / Walk, Talk And Kiss (MGM 12724)
Biography :
Like the Danleers, The Webtones were named after their manager and
songwriter Danny Webb. The group consisted of Louis Williams (Lead),
Terry Wilson (Baritone), Frankie Clemens (Bass), Duke Ebron (Second
Tenor) and Bruce Cooke (First Tenor). Their manager wrote the Danleers’s
only hit and charting single, “One Summer Night,” which was also the
group’s debut single in April 1958.
By
late fall, Danny Webb had placed The Webtones, with MGM for one quick
unheralded release, "My Lost Love" b/w "Walk, Talk And Kiss".
unfortunately, Despite the promising and beautiful "My Lost Love" the
single never charted and this will be their only recordings as The
Webtoones... After their last single on Mercury, The danleers broke up.
Danny Webb put Lead singer' Jimmy Weston together with three members of
the Webtones, to form a new Danleers group : Louis Williams, Terry Wilson and Frankie Clemens.
Louis Williams, Terry Wilson, Frankie Clemons
Webb
then proceeded to get the reorganized Danleers a contract with
Columbia's Epic subsidiary. The New Danleers recorded some singles on
Epic, Everest Le Mans and Smash. With no hits since 1958, the Danleers
were history by the mid-60s.
The Meridians : Roger Bruno, Felix DeMasi, Bill Adair & Tommy Brown
The Meridians (1) (Tarrytown, Westchester,NY)
aka The Ideals (8)
Personnel :
Roger Bruno (Lead)
Felix DeMasi
Bill Adair
Tommy Brown
Discography :
The Ideals
Unreleased :
1962 - New Love
The Meridians (1)
1965 - Blue Victory / Have You Forgotten (Parnaso 102)
Biography :
In Tarrytown, in the early nineteen sixties, there lived a young
Brazilian musician named Tim Maia, who was destined for greatness,
although few who knew him at the time would have guessed it. Tim sang
in a vocal-harmony group called the Ideals with Roger Bruno, Felix
DeMasi, Paul Mitranga and Bill Adair, and wrote the words to the group's
only recorded song, "New Love," whose rhythm reflected Maia's
world-music aspirations; somehow, he had persuaded the great Brazilian
drummer Milton Banana to play on the demo.
The Ideals : Roger Bruno, Bill Adair, Felix DeMasi, Paul Mitranga & Tim Maia
The
song was never released commercially. The Ideals were planning on
shopping it around to different labels, but the group's career was
derailed when Maia was busted in Daytona Beach, Florida, for smoking pot
in a stolen car, and after six months in jail he was deported to
Brazil.
The Ideals : Roger Bruno, Felix DeMasi, Tim Maia, Paul Mitranga & Bill Adair
Not
long after, Roger Bruno, Felix De Masi & Bill Adair replaced him
with Tommy Brown, and the Ideals became the Meridians. The group was
mixed - 2 African-Americans (Tommy Brown and Bill Adair) and 2 whites
(Roger Bruno and Felix DeMasi) . They recorded a couple of sides, "Blue
Victory" b/w "Have You Forgotten", which got them some radio play and a
small tour, opening for the Duprees. But by then vocal-harmony groups
were giving way to rock bands. Bruno went out to Hollywood, where he and
Ellen had some success as songwriters. Tim
Maia contributed to Brazilian music within a wide variety of musical
genres, including soul, funk, bossa nova, disco, romantic ballads, pop,
rock, jazz, baião and MPB. He introduced the soul style on the Brazilian
musical scene. Tim Maia is internationally recognised as one of the
biggest icons of the Brazilian music. He recorded numerous albums and
toured extensively in a long career.
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.
