Category Archives: New York

Categories: Brooklyn, Demo-Disc, Dick Charles Recording, Kef, New York, New York City

The Go-Nuts

July 3, 2007 Chris Bishop 8 Comments

A couple months ago I wrote about the Go Nuts, a short-lived group from Brooklyn, NY. Their 45 “Flower” is an idealistic tribute to the Summer of Love youth that has been compared to the Seeds for its organ sound and vocals.

Soon afterwards, Jared K. sent me a scan and mp3 of a quite different record by Patrolman Vic Virzera with the Premiers. It seems that when they weren’t waxing eloquently about the flower children, the Virzera brothers were trying to convince the kids to trust the cops!

Jared wrote: “Sounds like he may have been the coolest cop of all time. ‘He’s On Your Side’ is the a-side and is another organ driven rocker (with none of the psych flourishes of ‘Flower’) about getting along with the police, because they’re here to help. Flip is a doo-woppy group vocal.

“Both sides have songwriting credits to brothers Vic and Michael Virzera with the b-side additionally crediting P. Drift. Michael produced the b-side (‘Two Hearts’) and Elliot Chiprut produced ‘He’s On Your Side’.”

Recently I heard from Vic Virzera himself, who have me the history of his groups, and sent me two early song they cut, the 50’s rocker Nina that I’m featuring here, and a ballad called Mystic Mirror. In Vic’s own words:

In 1962, Nina and Mystic Mirror were local grass roots Flatbush hits….our demos were being played in quite a few juke boxes. At that time we were The Premiers with the sub theme “Music with a New Sound”.
Elvis’s early producers, Wally Gold and Araon Schroeder (they wrote Elvis’ 1960 #1 hit “It’s Now or Never”, and Wally Gold co-wrote “It’s My Party”) offered us a contract that had “power of attorney clauses” and we declined….in retrospect …I guess we should have signed it, but at the time we thought we were doing the smart thing. We knew of so many groups that were working their butts off, traveling around the country while the powers that be would make all the money (since they had the power to sign your name to spend the earnings), claiming the money went for promotions, expenses, etc. Another consideration was the fact that, my brother, Mike, would have to had given up his job in open heart research, where he was instrumental in designing a heart-lung machine apparatus.
The Go Nuts were formed as a rock show group in 1965 and lasted about two years. We did recordings and appearances, including a performance aired Christmas Day, 1966 on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour. It was at the CBS Ed Sullivan Theater. Our rock rendition of “Shortenin’ Bread” really went over well… …girls were screaming, people standing and rocking with the beat, lots of applause etc. Unfortunately, similar to what happened to the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, probably the same tech engineers had my lead voice as low as the background voices and what was aired sounded like all background. Still, we came in second and had a great time.
Regarding Patrolman Vic Virzera and the Premiers, in 1971 we were scheduled to perform the song on the cross country David Frost Show, a special on police. Being a live show they ran out of time but paid us for being there and the rehearsal.
I retired several years ago from the NYCPD but I’m still playing gigs with my brother, Mike, and my band, the Vic Vincent Group, in the New York Metro area.

The Premiers – Nina

The Go-Nuts – Flower

Patrolman Vic Virzera with the Premiers – He’s On Your Side

Thank you Jared for contributing “He’s On Your Side”, and Steve Hogan for contributing the photo of the Go Nuts. Special thanks to Vic Virzera for sharing his acetate of “Nina”.

Categories: In Records, New York, Rochester, Upstate New York

The Young Tyrants

June 23, 2007 Chris Bishop 5 Comments

The Young Tyrants, Rochester

The Tyrants business card One of the leading bands in the Rochester, NY area, the Young Tyrants were Carl Lundquist lead guitar and vocals, Lou Grillo lead vocals, Julio Lora rhythm guitar, Mike Zazzaro bass and Mike Montoya drums. They were heavily influenced by the Young Rascals, even adding “Young” to their band name in imitation, but came up with a sound all their own by the time they recorded their only 45.

Fine Records Studio owner Vince Jans signed the band after hearing their live show over the phone. In September 1967, they recorded an album’s worth of songs at one session, mostly typical cover versions off the day along with two original songs and a couple instrumentals.

Jans let them release the two originals for their only 45. “I Try” starts off with Carl’s trilling guitar riff taken from the intro to the Buster’s surf classic, “Bust Out”, then turns into a fantastic rocker as the band kicks in. “She Don’t Got The Right” simmers with resentment: “She’s got the right to say/ she don’t want my kind/but she don’t got the right/ to take away my pride.”

Lou Grillo wrote “I Try”, although there are no credits on the label, while Carl Lundquist wrote “She Don’t Got the Right”. 500 copies were pressed on the In label and sold at their shows, at venues like the New Patriot Club in Hornell. The only radio play it received was on local Rochester station WSAY.

The band broke up in 1968, as Carl and Lou were heading to college. The masters from the Young Tyrant’s recording sessions have been saved, and supposedly include other takes of both sides of the 45 as well as a cover of “I Can Only Give You Everything”. Hopefully someday we’ll hear the whole session.

The primary source for this story is Greg Prevost’s interview with singer Lou Grillo from 1978.

Categories: Avco, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, Rossi Sound Studio, Smash

The Ox-Bow Incident on Smash Records

June 11, 2007 Chris Bishop 30 Comments

Jerry Scotti, Freddie DeRubeis, Joe Liotta and George Napolitano in Freddie's backyard, 1964 — Jerry Scotti, Freddie DeRubeis, Joe Liotta and George Napolitano in Freddie’s backyard, 1964

Inspired by the Beatles’ performances on Ed Sullivan in 1964, four friends in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn decided to form a band they would call the Creations. George Napolitano, Jerry Scotti, Dominic Coppola and Fred DeRubeis began lessons with Pete Frias, guitarist for the Peppermint Lounge act Jimmy & the Jesters. Two other friends, Joey Sirico and Joe Liotta soon joined. Pete not only taught them music, but assigned each of them the instrument they should play for the band.

The Creations performed at local churches and halls including the Teenage Cabaret and the “No Name” club on 60th St and 14th Ave in Brooklyn. They attracted notice with their spot-on renditions of songs by the Animals and the Dave Clark 5. Joe Liotta’s increasing ability on the Vox Continental organ gave them a professional sound that other bands lacked.

First Creations promo photo: Dom, George, Freddie, Joe L. and Jerry

Their two big breaks, though, came one Saturday in March 1965, when their new manager Bob Herin booked the band on Murray the K matinee show at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre with the Chambers Brothers. The Creations played a longer set than usual to fill in for the Rascals, who couldn’t get their equipment off of the Barge in Long Island. The audience response was tremendous, reaching Beatlemania type proportions. Charged by this reaction, they then went and auditioned for Jack Spector, AM radio WMCA’s star DJ who was looking for a house band for the stations “Good Guys” shows.

Landing the job, they began playing Good Guy shows regularly on Fridays, playing their own sets and backing touring acts. Bob Herin turned management of the Creations over to Billy and Steve Jerome, who managed the Left Banke among others. The band would soon change their name to the Ox-Bow Incident and record two fine 45s for Smash and a third, with a somewhat different lineup, for Avco.

George and Joe Sirico at the Worlds Fair, 1964

Before the name change and these releases, they recorded a handful of demos that were never released, including “Get on My Train” and “I’ve Paid My Dues”. I asked guitarist George Napolitano about the band’s early days as the Creations:

Q: What were the circumstances behind the demo recordings?

George Napolitano: The demo “I’ve Paid My Dues” was recorded at the request of Billy and Steve Jerome. They asked us to put something down so that they could give a listen. We had recorded “I’ve Paid My Dues” about 6 months earlier and this version was our second recording of that song. We also did “Get on My Train” at the same session.

The Creations – I’ve Paid My Dues (1965 Demo)
The Creations – Get on My Train (1965 Demo)

Q: Who wrote “Get On My Train” and “I’ve Paid My Dues”?

George Napolitano: I don’t remember who wrote “I’ve Paid My Dues”. It was given to us on sheet music and we were “told” to work on it. “Get on My Train” was written by a friend named Denver Ruggins. He gave us the song and we changed it a bit. The demo was recorded on a 4 track Ampeg Machine at Rossi Sound Studio in Brooklyn and transferred to acetate. I have the original acetate and from the acetate we made the CD copy.

Q: Where was Rossi Sound Studios?

George Napolitano: 2005 West 8th Street Brooklyn, 23 NY is the address on the record label. If I remember correctly that was between Avenues T and U on West 8th Street.

Q: Was the band still called the Creations at that point?

George Napolitano: We were still the Creations when we recorded the demos but changed the name shortly afterwards to the Ox-Bow Incident. The lineup for the original session was myself on guitar, Joe Sirico bass, Fred DeRubeis drums, Joe Liotta Vox organ and vocals, Dominic Coppola guitar. When we re-recorded the song Jerry replaced Dominic Coppola on guitar. After we recorded “I’ve Paid My Dues” and “Get On My Train” we were signed to a production contract with Billy and Steve Jerome. At the time they also managed the Fifth Estate and were part of the team behind the Left Banke who had a hit with “Walk Away Rene”. They gave us the song “Beg, Borrow or Steal” to record and we had it mastered and ready to be released. However the Ohio Express version was released before ours and it never came out. In fact that was 2 years before Reach Out was released.

Jerry, Joe, George, Freddie, Joe onstage at a WMCA "Good Guy" show — Jerry, Joe, George, Freddie, Joe onstage at a WMCA “Good Guy” show

Q: Were these songs part of your live set?

George Napolitano: Whenever we performed on a WMCA ”Good Guy” show we would play the songs as part of the “show” and then we would back up all of the other acts that needed musical accompaniment. Remember this was way before the days of singers singing over pre-recorded tracks. We provided the music for groups such as the Chiffons, Peaches and Herb, Chubby Checker, the Shangra-Las, Jimmy Jones, the Jive 5, Neil Sedaka and countless others. In fact just this past week I saw Neil Sedaka and I mentioned to him that my band use to back him up on the “Good Guy” shows. He smiled and said, “I remember those days fondly”. We never rehearsed with him. Whenever he arrived Jack Spector would immediately put him on stage and Sedaka would turn to us, snap his fingers and say “C- Am- F-G” and proceed to sing “Calendar Girl”, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”, “Oh Carol” and all the rest of his songs.

Q: How was the NY music ‘scene’ at the time? Did you get much chance to see other bands or only when you shared bills with other bands?

George Napolitano: We played a lot, practically every weekend so we really didn’t get much of a chance to see the other groups that were around at the time. When we weren’t playing our respective girlfriends expected us to spend time with them and not go listening to the other groups. We did go to see some of our friends groups such as Lurch & the Brats, The Intruders and others from time to time but when we were “off” we tried to stay away from the clubs and catch up on those things which we couldn’t do whenever we were playing. That being said whenever we could we did try to get to the Electric Circus or go to the Fillmore East to see The Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and whoever else was playing, but with our schedule that didn’t happen often.

The Ox-Bow Incident at Coney Island (l-r): Joe Liotta, Jerry Scotti, Fred DeRubeis, George Napolitano, Joe Sirico

Ox-Bow Incident Smash 45 Harmonica Man Signed to the Smash label, the Ox-Bow Incident didn’t release a record until 1968. By this time were heading in a more soulful direction, using a leslie speaker on the organ and adding lead singer Billy Sheehan from another local band, the Intruders. Unfortunately, Sheehan was drafted immediately after the band recorded a fine, somewhat psychedelicized version of the Four Top’s “Reach Out”. They recruited Al Tessitore to sing on the b-side, the garage song “Harmonica Man”. “Reach Out” made local radio charts as far away as Kentucky (WKLO) and Wisconsin (the first Instant Pick on WSPT), but missed the national charts despite good commercial potential.

They followed up with the catchy “You Can’t Make Love By Yourself”, sung by Al and “Lurch” Luis Pagan and featuring session player Vinny Bell on electric sitar. The flipside is “She’s Gone”, a heavy soul number written by Fred DeRubeis and George. Neither side caught on with radio or the public and the band disbanded in 1969. George and Joe Sirico found other musicians to record a final 45 for Avco, then reunited with most of the original members for live shows into 1973.

The Ox-Bow Incident is still performing and recording music to this day. Those who want to hear more of their music should check out their myspace page, which has a history of the band and many more photos than I could reproduce here. There’s also a long interview with George Napolitano and Joe Sirico from Mike Dugo’s 60sgaragebands.com site, archived here. Both of these were sources for this story, along with my own interview with George Napolitano. Special thanks to George and the other members of the Ox-Bow Incident for sharing these rarely heard songs.

Jerry, Joe S, Freddie, Joe L in studio during "Reach Out" session. — Jerry, Joe S, Freddie, Joe L in studio during “Reach Out” session.

Photo of the Creations contributed by Vinny 63:

Creations Brooklyn photo

Categories: MTA Records, New York, Unknown, Westchester, Yonkers

The Descendants

May 29, 2007 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

High schoolers from Yonkers, NY, they had this one 45 then disappeared. They may have been local competitors of the Chain Reaction who had a 45 on Date, “When I Needed You”.

The catchy “Lela” was produced by Ted Varnick, a veteran in the music biz who also produced the Forsaken, on MTA, a group I covered just a short while back.

Varnick co-wrote “Lela” with J. Lynch, and also wrote the b-side, a flimsy piece of harmony pop called “Garden of Eden” that’s not without a certain paisley charm – prescient too considering this was released in October of 1966. CBS picked it up for release in the UK, but I don’t know of this making the charts anywhere.

Categories: Brooklyn, Coral, New York, New York City

The Yo Yo’s

May 28, 2007 Chris Bishop 19 Comments

The Yo Yo’s were all from Brooklyn, NY, becoming one of the biggest groups in the city by 1967. They cut one great 45 on the Coral label, an original song “Crack in My Wall” and a fine adaption of Poe’s “The Raven” on the b-side. I love the thunderous opening chords and drum roll on “The Raven”, ominous and fantastic!

They began when bassist Alan Aaron formed a group called the Starfires. The original singer, Frankie Vee (Nick) brought in Larry Elliott on lead guitar and Tommy Zumba on rhythm in 1965. Tommy Zumba’s friend Jeff Miller became the drummer, and then Pepe Cardona took over from Frankie on vocals.

The band changed their name to the Yo Yo’s when Lou Sudano and Barry Flickstein became their managers, forming Louba Productions. They met the band through Lou’s son Bruce, who was a friend of Jeff Miller. Lou and Barry encouraged the band to replace Pepe with a better singer named Ray Sabatis, who took on the stage name “Christopher Shane”. Pepe remained friends with the band and went on to form Alive N’ Kickin’.

The band won a number of local battle-of-the-bands, played at clubs like Steve Paul’s the Scene, Joel Heller’s Eighth Wonder and the Cheetah, appeared on the John Zacherley TV show Disc-O-Teen, and even toured with the Lester Lanin Orchestra as the ‘rock’ portion of the act.

Larry Elliott and Alan composed the music for both “The Raven” and “Crack In My Wall” and Ray Sabatis (Shane) wrote the words to “Crack In My Wall”. Barry Flickstein’s name appears on the credits to “Crack in My Wall”, but Alan maintains Barry had nothing to do with the songwriting.

“Crack In My Wall” and “The Raven” both received “B+” ratings in Billboard, but Coral didn’t put any promotional effort behind the band.

The band broke up in 1969 due to a combination of having their equipment stolen and a general feeling that they wouldn’t find success. Sadly, Ray Sabatis (Christopher Shane) committed suicide shortly after the group broke up. Photos of the band were taken, but none have surfaced that I know of. Does anyone have a photo of the group?

These Yo Yo’s have nothing to do with the Memphis Yo Yo’s who recorded two 45s for Goldwax.

The main source for this story is a detailed interview of Alan Aaron by Mike Dugo.

Categories: Manhattan, New York, New York City, Sanders Recording Studios, Unknown

Mystery Jazz Acetate from Sanders Recording Studio on W. 48th St.

May 11, 2007 Chris Bishop 10 Comments

This is an unidentified 12″ Sanders Recording Studios acetate featuring a somewhat free jazz ensemble whose sound and instrumentation remind me of Sun Ra or Mingus. I’m hoping some listener will be able to help me identify the artist. If you have any friends who are into this kind of jazz, please have them give these samples a listen.

Neither side has any information on it other than the printed label with the studio’s address and phone number, at 167 West 48th St., off Times Square in New York City. I would guess this dates to about 1961 or 1962.

It’s a very low fidelity recording, but I think the music is interesting enough to make a listen worthwhile. It’s noir, well-composed but not totally straight either. Track 13 may be the most polished composition on the acetate, so you may want to start with that first.

Someone commented the trombone sounded like Bob Brookmeyer, though I didn’t hear it.

Track 4
Track 5
Track 9
Track 12
Track 13

Categories: MTA Records, New York, Unknown

The Forsaken

May 11, 2007 Chris Bishop 4 Comments

Forsaken MTA 45 She's Alright For the most part, the MTA label (Music – Talent – Artistry!) signed California bands, but there were a few east coast groups on MTA as well. The Forsaken put out two singles on MTA in the second half of 1966. I have no idea where the Forsaken came from or who was in the band, but I suspect they were from the New York area. Ted Varnick is listed as songwriter and producer on all their sides; he also produced and wrote songs for the the Descendants.

“She’s Alright” is an uptempo pop number, where the singer is defending his painted-up, long-haired girlfriend from slander. The flip, “Babe”, is pretty good despite a dirge-like tempo.

I haven’t heard the Forsaken’s second single on MTA 111, “Frantic” / “Gotta Get Movin'”. It also has Varnick’s name in the credits and Varona Music, BMI as publisher.

Categories: New York, New York City, Twirl

The Jagged Edge “Midnight to Six Man” / “How Many Times” on Twirl Records

March 25, 2007 Chris Bishop 28 Comments

Jagged Edge Twirl 45 Midnight to Six Supposedly recorded in California, but released on a NY label, with the band maybe from Ohio? That’s how different versions of the story go, which has to make the Jagged Edge one of the best ’60’s bands whose history was a mystery until recently.

Their fantastic double-sider on the Twirl Records label features a cover of the Pretty Things’ “Midnight to Six Man” that surpasses any other I’ve heard. The b-side “How Many Times” is an original by D. Brown (which could stand for Donner Brown). It was released in February, 1966.

Band members were:

Shelly Leder – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Don Brown – lead guitar, vocals
Freddie Ebner – bass
Peter Gretch – drums
Lenny Matlin (Leni) – organ

Jagged Edge Twirl 45 How Many Times As Alan points out in a comment below, the Twirl label was started in Detroit. Harry Balk had formed Twirl and the publishing company Vicki Music and had a business partner, Irving Micahnik. They released about twenty singles on Twirl before Balk sold his share in Twirl and Vicki to Irving and formed the Impact label, which released some great 45s by the Human Beings and others. It seems that Irving Micahnik relocated the Twirl label to New York, where he resided, in 1965.

When I originally made this page in March, 2007, I gave an edge to Detroit as the most likely origin for the band, but I finally heard from the band’s manager, Mike Glasser and their vocalist Shel Stewart, and have confirmed the band was from New York City.

This was their only release, but a couple of unreleased acetates turned up that I’m fairly sure is the same band, but I would like confirmation of this from one of the members. The demos feature an excellent original (?) song “Gonna Find My Way”, and a frantic version of “I’m a Man”. The other songs on the acetate are a decent version of “Big City” and a slower take on “I’m a Man”. Who has the acetate – where was it recorded?

I wonder if any photos of the group exist? If anyone knows of one please contact me.

To make clear another confusing matter, this band was not the Jagged Edge from Brooklyn that released “You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” / “How She’s Hurting Me” on Gallant in April of ’66, and then became the Off-Set, recording “Xanthia (Lisa)” for Jubilee in July of ’66. That band also did a version of “A Change Is Gonna Come” that went unreleased at the time.

Shel Stewart wrote to me:

Shel Stewart, known as Shelly Leder at the time. I formed the group with Don Brown in NYC in 1965. I played rhythm guitar and sang lead with Don Brown on this record. Don Brown played lead. Lenny from Brooklyn played Vox organ, Mike Glasser at the time was our manager. Peter a friend of Don played drums.
Don Brown is a childhood friend of mine that goes way back when we were both in high school together. We played together before the Jagged Edge, which I named the band. It was a high school band called the Continentals and we played many of the NYC synagogues and some churches.
Because of my brief but exciting past with this band I will recall most of what I can remember in a future memoir/historical document.
I kept in touch with Don sporadically till about 1973/1974, then we drifted into different lifestyles I presume.
Most of my life I played in various original bands after the Jagged Edge still looking for the dream. I have been in glitter rock projects (Dorian Zero) during the pre-punk days, Poptronix a new wave band, Fahrenheit 451 a gothic band, Orange Midnight a garage retro band, The Lucifer Scale, an industrial band. To listen to some of my other projects after that just google my name Shel Stewart. I’m featured on bigmusic.org and reverbnation.

The band’s producer Michael Glasser also produced The Soup Greens’ “Like a Rolling Stone” / “That’s Too Bad” at Dick Charles Studio in 1965. Lenny Matlin was part of the Soup Greens. I’ve read that Lenny played on Harumi’s 2LP album on Verve Forecast and also toured with Harumi.

I believe Mike also recorded for LHI (Lee Hazelwood) under the name Michael Gram, but I haven’t confirmed this with him yet. Mike Glasser commented below, “I was the manager/producer, and a Long Island, NY band took the name when the original band dismantled. Joe Mara of the Night Owl Cafe loved this band and if Joe is still with us I know he can verify the origin of the Jagged Edge and so many other bands and artists that the Night Owl Cafe showcased back in the early 60s.”

Categories: Bermuda, Duane, New York, Stony Brook, Suffolk County

The Weads “Don’t Call My Name” / “Today” on Duane Records

March 4, 2007 Chris Bishop 14 Comments

The Weads Duane 45 Don't Call My Name The Weads were the first rock band to release a record on the Duane label in Bermuda. I wondered, how did a band from Stony Brook, New York end up on a label from Bermuda? That question was answered when I spoke to Rodger Jackson, bass player for the Weads, who generously provided a lot of information about this great band.

Rodger Jackson started a band called the Statics with Allan Varela at their high school in Garden City, Long Island, Rodger playing bass and Allan lead guitar. Allan was 14 at the time and Rodger a little older. The next year, Allan moved to Stony Brook, where he attended the Stony Brook Boys School, though he continued playing music with Rodger. They recruited Dick Turano from Northport to play drums and Myron MacLeod ~~McCloud~~ to play rhythm guitar. Myron was from Texas but was attending the Stony Brook Boys School at the time.

The Weads distinguished themselves from other groups by playing only original songs, most of them written by Allan Varela (listed as Varella II on 45 label). They outfitted themselves in suits, and played through Vox Super Beatle amps. Allan Varela played a Stratocaster, Rodger a Precision bass, and Myron a Vox Teardrop guitar.

Also at the school was a student from Bermuda, Alan Dowdy, who took a demo tape of the Weads back home with him and played it for Eddy DeMello, owner of the The Music Box in Hamilton. DeMello liked what he heard, and in short order he contacted the Weads and signed them to 3 year, 10 song contract. The Weads recorded at least four songs at National Recording in Long Island. DeMello then took the masters back to Bermuda and pressed records there.

DeMello stocked them in his record shop and DJ Bryan Lodge got them played on the local radio station ZBM, sending “Today” to #2 in Bermuda. Allan Doughty from Bermuda became their manager. All the college students there for vacation knew the songs from the local radio play, so when the Weads arrived for College Week, they already had a good audience. Like the Savages, they played for college audiences around the island and at the Princess Hotel. It’s likely that the success of their 45, “Today” / “Don’t Call My Name”, led to the recording and release of records by the Savages and the Gents.

Back in the states, the flip side “Don’t Call My Name” went top 10 on Long Island. The Weads did an hour-long radio interview that may still exist on tape somewhere. They played shows at local Hullabaloo clubs and in Pt. Jefferson. They also started recording commercial jingles and may have recorded new material at Ultrasonic in Hempsted.

About a year after signing with DeMello the Weads decided they wanted to get out of contract in order to concentrate on breaking into the national scene. DeMello fought this and made it difficult for them to find another label. Columbia passed on them in late ’66/early ’67 and with members going to college, the Weads called it quits.

During college, Rodger joined a club band, playing the Hamptons and Lake George. He fondly remembers late night jam sessions with members of other Long Island bands at the Afterhours.

Master tapes of the Weads sessions should still be in existence. One of the unreleased songs has a title like “Her Name Was Lynn”. Until those tapes surface, we’ll have to wonder what else this talented group was capable of. Given the quality of their original material on the Duane 45, they could have done well if they had the backing of a major label.

Anyone have a photo of the group?

Categories: Fargo, New York, New York City, Unknown

The Vi Dels

December 29, 2006 Chris Bishop Leave a comment

Lou Fargo started the Fargo label in 1957, recording doo-wop acts for the most part.

The last record released on the label was in 1964, which sounds about right as a date for “Walking Down the Street”, this frantic slice of r&b by the Vi Dels.

This was an unknown 45 up til now. No songwriting credits on either side of the 45, but as Euphonic points out in his comment below, Sebastian Zimmardo and Vito Ingoglia wrote the A-side, “Ya, Ya, Ya, Ya”, and Joseph A. DeAngelis and Zimmardo wrote “Walking Down The Street” for Instant Music Co. – Casgol Pub, BMI.

The Fargo label had offices on Broadway in New York City, but I don’t know where the Vi Dels came from.

I don’t know if there is any connection with an earlier vocal group called the Videls who released the doo wop single “Be My Girl” / “Place in My Heart” backed by the Frank Spino Orchestra on the Rhody Records label. M. Bouchard and P. Andreoli were the song writers for that disk, published by Starfire-Peer, BMI.

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