DOO WOP MUSIC HALL OF FAME INTERVIEWS
PAGE TWO
WITH MIKE MILLER
OF THE HARMONY STREET SHOW ™
JAY SIEGEL
OF THE TOKENS
The multitalented Jay Siegel is best known for his soaring falsetto on the classic mega-hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Born in Brighton Beach, New York, a lifelong friendship with Neil Sedaka began when both attended Lincoln High School in Brooklyn where in 1955, Sedaka formed The Linc-Tones singing group. A year later, Siegel joined the Linc-Tones and the group name was changed to The Tokens. Siegel and Sedaka and fellow Tokens Cynthia Zolitan and Hank Medress then recorded “While I Dream” and “I Love My Baby” for Melba Records. As The Tokens, they performed together on their first television show, The Ted Steele Dance Time.
In 1958 Sedaka left The Tokens to begin his amazing solo career. Siegel joined Warren Schwartz, Fred Kalkstein and Hank Medress to form Darrell and the Oxfords. Together they recorded the regional hit, “Picture in my Wallet”.
A reformed Tokens group emerged in 1961 with Mitch and Phil Margo joining Medress and Siegel. The group quickly attained prominence with the hit song, “Tonight I Fell In Love.”
In October 1961, they recorded what has become one of the biggest hit songs of all time, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” That hit song is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011. One of the seminal songs of all times, it has enjoyed resurgence in multi-generational popularity thanks to its prominence in the long-running Broadway hit show, The Lion King.
Other major hits for The Tokens include, “He’s in Town”, “I Hear Trumpets Blow” and “Portrait of My Love”.
Jay Siegel and the Tokens have also produced many American pop classics, including The Chiffons, “One Fine Day” and “He’s So Fine”, Randy and the Rainbows, “Denise”, Tony Orlando and Dawn’s, “Candida”, “Knock Three Times”, and “Tie a Yellow Ribbon”, as well as “I Got Rhythm” and “See You in September” by The Happenings.
The Tokens were the first vocal group to produce a million-seller record for another. “He’s So Fine,” by the Chiffons. Another Tokens hit production by The Chiffons “Sweet Talkin’ Guy’ was co-written by music executive Doug Morris, currently CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, whose history with The Tokens goes back to Morris’ days as a staff songwriter and promotion director for Laurie Records.
The Tokens enjoyed success recording commercial jingles in the 1970s and 1980s for such products as Benson and Hedges cigarettes (“Silly Millimeter Longer”), Pan American Airlines (“Pan Am Makes the Going Great”), and Clairol hair products (“She Lets Her Hair Down”).
Over the years, The Tokens have shared the stage with such greats as The Beatles, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard.
In 2003 Siegel received an honorary doctorate from Kean University. He and his wife Judy have three children and five grandchildren and live in Wesley Hills, New York.
LENNY DELL
OF THE DEMENSIONS
The start of the Demensions can be traced back to the 50's when Lenny Dell and Howie Margolin originally created the group.
In 1960 "Over The Rainbow" was released which skyrocketed to a #1 hit selling 2 1/2 million copies worldwide.
Then in 1963, "My Foolish Heart" hit nationally as well, and the Demensions appeared live on Dick Clark's American Bandstand repeatedly.
In the 1990s, Lenny Dell reformed The Demensions once again with new members and appeared live onstage at many venues including Westbury Music Fair, Atlantic City's Trop World, The Garden State Art Center and Madison Square Garden.
Lenny Dell has the uncanny ability to take a timeless standard and be able to recreate the song with the distinctive Demensions flair that is unmatched. He has the rare ability to locate the heart of a song and touch the heart of audiences in a way that is mesmerizing.
The personal appearances of The Demensions throughout the years have included guest spots on "American Bandstand", "The Clay Cole Show", "Palisades Park", "WINS Radio", (with "Cousin Brucie", who was the first to play their # 1 hit "Over the Rainbow", and "WMCA Radio (The "Good Guy"). "Over the Rainbow" was originally recorded in 1960 on the Mohawk record label. The song achieved #1 status nationally, as well as #1 internationally in Hawaii and Italy!
Then in 1962 The Demensions released "My Foolish Heart" on Coral Records, which established a respectable place within the "Top 100's)
Currently, the dynamic sound of The Demensions remains a cornerstone for this musical genre, with modern day appearance at Westbury Music Fair, PNC Bank Art Center, Lead East, and Mohegan Sun where standing ovations by loyal fans attest to the timeless magnetism and appreciation The Demensions command.
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LESLIE ANDERSON
OF THE DUBS
The original members of the Dubs were:
Richard Blandon (born 16 September 1934 Montgomery, Alabama - died 30 December 1991, New York) (lead)
Cleveland Still (first tenor)
Billy Carlisle (second tenor)
James "Jake" Miller (baritone)
Thomas Gardner, replaced in 1957 by Tommy Grate (bass)
The Dubs formed from the merging of two short-lived vocal groups in Harlem, New York, The Five Wings and The Scale-Tones. The Five Wings (originally "The 5 Stars") were an up-and-coming group with members Jackie Rue (lead, later of Jackie and the Starlites), Frank Edwards (tenor), Billy Carlisle (second tenor), Melvin Flood (baritone), and Tommy Grate (bass). They recorded for King Records in 1955, but when they were unable to find success, the group began to splinter. Rue, Flood, and Edwards left, Kenny "Butch" Hamilton joined, and, shortly afterwards, Carlisle's cousin Richard Blandon was in following his discharge from the United States Air Force. Meanwhile, The Scale-Tones had been formed by James "Jake" Miller and Thomas Gardner, who had added Cleveland Still (lead), James Montgomery, and Don Archer. They made one record on the Jay-Dee label in early 1956.
After some prompting by Blandon when he showed up at a Scale-Tones' rehearsal, a new group emerged. This included Blandon and Carlisle from the Five Wings, and Still, Miller and Gardner from the Scale-Tones. The Five Wings' manager, Buddy Johnson's brother Hiram, offered to manage the new group. As The Marvels, they recorded an unsuccessful single, "I Won't Have You Breaking My Heart", for ABC-Paramount.
The group then renamed themselves The Dubs, and released Blandon's song "Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely" on the Johnson label set up by their manager. Radio acceptance was almost immediate, and the record was picked up for national release on George Goldner's Gone label. It peaked at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1957, although like all their other records it surprisingly failed to make the R&B chart. Gardner then left the group to be replaced by Tommy Grate.
The group's next single, "Could This Be Magic", also written by Blandon, was another pop hit, rising to #23 later in 1957 and becoming recognized over the years as a doo-wop classic. This success landed the group a spot on an Alan Freed package and they toured extensively in the U.S. and Canada.
However, subsequent singles from the group were less successful and, in November 1958 the group decided to split up, disappointed over their meagre earnings. Blandon joined The Vocaleers (who had previously had a 1953 hit, "Is It A Dream"), and the other members found jobs outside the music industry.
Later versions of the group
In July 1959, some eight months after its initial release, "Chapel of Dreams" was reissued and rose to #74 on the charts. To build on its relative success, Blandon left the Vocaleers and reformed The Dubs with Miller, Grate and Carlisle. Cleveland Still, then working as a shipping clerk, did not return, and was replaced by Cordell Brown. The group signed again with ABC-Paramount, and recorded a string of singles over the next two years. In 1962, Still temporarily returned to replace Brown, and the group recorded for several labels, including Josie for one side of a split album with The Shells, The Dubs Meet the Shells.
Richard Blandon kept the group active during the 1960s, often re-recording their old hits. By 1971 the group was a trio comprising Blandon, Still, and tenor Kirk Harris, and in 1973 they added baritone Dave Shelley.
In the mid 1980s the partnership between Blandon and Still ended, with each forming their own version of The Dubs. Still's group included lead Leslie Anderson, Bernard Jones, John "Spider" Truesdale and Steve Brown. This group, minus Brown, still performs.
JIMMY MERCHANT AND HERMAN SANTIAGO
OF FRANKIE LYMON AND THE TEENAGERS
The Teenagers had their origins in The Earth Angels, a group founded at Edward W. Stitt Junior High School in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan by second tenor Jimmy Merchant and bass Sherman Garnes. Eventually, Garnes and Merchant had added lead singer Herman Santiago and baritone Joe Negroni to their lineup and evolved into The Coupe De Villes. In 1954, 12-year-old Frankie Lymon joined the Coupe De Villes, who changed their name to first the Ermines and later The Premiers.
The same year Lymon joined the group, he helped Santiago and Merchant rewrite a song they had composed to create "Why Do Fools Fall In Love". The song got the Teenagers an audition with George Goldner's Gee Records, but Santiago was too sick to sing lead on the day of the audition. Lymon sang the lead on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" instead, and the group was signed to Gee as The Teenagers, with Lymon as lead singer.
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" was The Teenagers first and biggest hit. The group, known for both their harmony and choreography, also had hits with "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent" and "The ABCs of Love".
By 1957, the group was being billed as "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers". This caused in-fighting, and by September Goldner had pulled Lymon out of the group to record solo. The Teenagers continued recording, bringing in new lead.[1] Lobrano, as the group's first white member, made them more racially mixed, now with two black, two Hispanic, and one white member. The group had little success with Lobrano, and he left in mid-1958.
Merchant, Santiago, Garnes, and Negroni continued as a quartet, but were not able to find success in any new recordings. They tried a quintet line-up again in 1960, first with new lead Howard Kenny Bobo, then with another lead, Johnny Houston, but to no avail. They continued mainly as an "oldies circuit" group from this point on.
Sherman Garnes died of a heart attack in 1977, while Joe Negroni died a year later due to a cerebral hemorrhage. Their replacements were Bobby Jay and Frankie's brother Lewis Lymon, respectively. In the 1980s, the Teenagers had resorted to using a female singer to imitate Lymon's prepubescent voice; and Pearl McKinnon joined the band. The members at that time were Jimmy Merchant, Herman Santiago, Eric Ward, and Pearl McKinnon. By 1983, Ward had been replaced by Derek Ventura, and in 1984 Phil Garrito took over for Ventura. Roz Morehead replaced McKinnon, and Marilyn Byers moved into Morehead's lead spot. Later in the 1980s the group had settled on a new lead, Jimmy Castor. Castor remained lead until the 1990s, when he was replaced by Timothy Wilson, former lead of Tiny Tim and the Hits. This line-up appeared on the PBS special, Doo Wop 51, in 2000.[citation needed]
Lewis Lymon left to join Beary Hobbs' Drifters around 2003. He was replaced by Dickie Harmon. Jimmy Merchant retired shortly thereafter, and the group continued as a quartet. This line-up appeared on the PBS special, My Music: Doo Wop Love Songs, in 2007. In 2008 Bobby Jay and Dickie Harmon both left the group. Later original member Merchant came out of retirement, and returned to the group, replacing Bobby Jay. The group's current line-up is Herman Santiago, Jimmy Merchant and Timothy Wilson. They are often billed as "Frankie Lymon's Legendary Teenagers". As of 2015, Jimmy Merchant had returned to retirement and been replaced in the lineup by a returning Bobby Jay.
INTERVIEWS
JAY SIEGEL
LENNY DELL
LESLIE ANDERSON
JIMMY MERCHANT
HERMAN SANTIAGO
