Category Archives: Philadelphia

Gli Angeli featuring Franco cover the Rokes “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi”

Gil Angeli Franco Star-Line 45 What Faults Do We HaveI wonder how a fast, wah-heavy version of the Rokes “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi” got its only release on a Philadelphia label known for a handful of local pop artists.

Whoever put the label together changed Gli Angeli to Gil’ Angeli, and misspelled the Italian title (as “Che Colba Abbia Mo Noi”), as well as several songwriter names.

Although there is an English title, “What Faults Do We Have?”, the song is sung in Italian. “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi” was an Italian version of Bob Lind’s “Cheryl’s Goin’ Home”, and was a hit for the Rokes in 1966. The Mogol song credit is Giulio Rapetti Mogol who often adapted English lyrics into Italian.

I put together a video of the song for youtube, but as I was uploading it, an automatic copyright claim popped up. Some faceless company would “allow” the upload but monetize it for their own profit. There’s a good chance this company doesn’t even have the rights to claim copyright, and I never monetize my uploads. So I decided not to upload it at all. The world will do without.

The flip also gets an English title, “Don’t Cry Tonight”, but it’s sung in Italian too, and is a cover of Don Backy’s 1967 ballad, “Non Piangere Stasera”. Mainstay Music Inc. is listed as publisher.

Usually a record like this would have been released in Italy or somewhere else first, but as far as I can tell, this was not released in any other country. The Bats did a version of “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi” but it does not sound like this one.

It’s possible this was recorded in Philadelphia, and was not taken from a demo or international release. The label says produced by Ricky Layne, who produced at least a couple other releases on Star-Line Records, on S. Eleventh St. in Philadelphia, PA. Possibly an Italian group was touring the US, and cut this 45 in a quick session to sell at their shows.

The dead wax FC-1A/B F/W indicates Frankford-Wayne mastering.

There was a Gli Angeli from Abruzzo who did “Butta La Corda” backed with an Italian version of the Who’s “I’m a Boy” as “Dove Vuoi”, but they didn’t have a vocalist named Franco. Gli Angeli Di Trieste are another possibility, but the recording I heard of them is much more polished pop than this.

I’d appreciate any leads on who this Gil Angeli & Franco could be.

Mitzee Baker – “Stand Up Boy” on Dralmar

Mitzee Baker Dralmar 45 Stand Up Boy
Mitzee Baker’s “Stand Up Boy” is early ’60s pop, not garage but it has a strong beat and crude production. I’m posting because it seems to be unknown, and there are some deadwax codes I am not familiar with.

The flip is a ballad with some orchestration, “No One Can Love You (More than I)”. Harry Moffitt wrote both songs and co-produced with Fred Downs, released on Dralmar 5000. Pompadour Music published the songs, but I can’t find them in BMI’s database. A Philadelphia origin is likely.

The runout codes are: “D-5000-B A” / “D-5000-B”. Both sides have “A.M.S.” followed by something that looks like a D with a couple short horizontal lines in front of it. In very small lettering on the A-side is “TV 33166”. All are etched.

Mitzee Baker embossed stamp codeAn embossed stamp on both sides seems to read backwards, beginning with, possibly M.O.I. and ending with CO – but I may not be reading that correctly.

The Blue Beats “Bad Girl” on Shane Records

Blue Beats Shane 45 Bad Girl

The Blue Beats made one single with two fine sides on Shane Records 100 out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The top side is “Bad Girl” with a snarling female vocal accompanied by a band and male chorus. The flip “Am I the One” is also good.

Paul Cappell wrote both songs, published by San-Dee Music ASCAP. The only other listing for San-De Music I can find is probably an unrelated company with a registration, “Lucky Baby” by Alan Lee & Mildred Phillips from 1964.

Shane Records had an address of 511 North Broad Street in Philadelphia. The release date may be as late as 1969. I’m not familiar with the TBB-1 / TBB-2 code on the labels.

Blue Beats Shane 45 Am I The One“Bad Girl” seems to be a cover of a 1968 single by Connie Little with B.G. Ramblers “Bad Girl” / “Don’t Mess with Cupid” on Rambo IV Records of Secor Road in Toledo, Ohio. According to Buckeye Beat, the B.G. Ramblers members included Billy Price, Bob Koons, John Ahlfors, Jerry Ahlfors and Peter Mousoulias.

Although that release is firmly in a soul style, Connie Little (real name Connie Mierzwiak) had recorded earlier singles as Connie Little and the Cashmeres and Connie and the Cytations with a gruff child voice that could match this Blue Beats single.

Buckeye Beat has an entry for her, noting that she had a group called “Connie and the Blu-Beats who sprayed their hair blue and who may have had a member named Paul Cappelletty”.

Could this be Connie Little singing on the Blue Beats single? It’s definitely the same song, though the song writing credits have been changed from Mierzwiak-Mousoulias on the Connie Little single to Paul Cappell on the Blue Beats. Connie Little and several of the B.G. Ramblers have passed away, so we’ll probably never know.

The Riders of the Mark and John Hill

Riders of the Mark 20th Century Fox 45 Gotta Find Somebody

In November 1967 a single by the Riders of the Mark came out on 20th Century Fox Records 45-6694. One side is the very accessible “Gotta Find Somebody”; the flip is the wild two minutes of “The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg”.

Teen Beat Mayhem lists locations of Moorestown, New Jersey which is east of Philadelphia, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, over an hour’s drive to the west. 


Riders of the Mark 20th Century Fox 45 The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion that Make Up Herr Dokter KriegThe Riders of the Mark may have been a real group, but the credits on their 20th Century Fox single don’t support that idea, and instead point to John Hill, Don Cochrane and their associates.

John Hill wrote “Gotta Find Somebody”; John Hill and Don Cochrane wrote “The Electronic Insides and Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg”. Blackwood Music published both songs, and the Blackwood connection features in the lead for news items on the recording in Cash Box and Record World. Tony Luis and John Hill produced both sides, and Hill arranged “… Herr Doktor Krieg”.

Riders of the Mark Record World 1967 November 4
Record World, November 4, 1967

John Hill and Don Cochrane composed “Love, Love, Love, Love, Love” for the Nite People, also done by Wool, and John Hill released it under his own name on a Columbia 45 backed with “I’m a Bear”.

Hill produced and played guitar on Margo Guryan’s 1968 LP Take a Picture, and produced the sessions that would be released as Susan Christie’s Paint a Lady. Studio musicians included Kirk Hamilton on bass and Jim Valerio on drums. These were done at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, but since that studio opened in 1968, I have to assume the Riders of the Mark single was recorded elsewhere.

In 2009, Finders Keepers Records released some of his 1970 sessions at Sigma Sound as John Hill’s 6 Moons of Jupiter.

John Hill Riders of the Mark Cash Box 1967 December 2
Cash Box, December 2, 1967

Bill Hamilton’s Groovey Grooves Records and Hamilton Productions

Satyrs Spectrum 45 Yesterday's HeroHamilton Productions, run by Bill Hamilton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, produced several garage singles with different label names including:

Sands of Time – ”Come Back Little Girl” / “When She Crys For Me” Stearly 8167, August 1967)
Satyrs – “Yesterday’s Hero” (C. Morrill, G. Williams) / “Marie” (M. Doerr, C. Merrill) Spectrum 2668, released 1968, Haddonfield Heights, NJ)
Groop Therapy with Gary Dial “I’ve Got To Leave This World” (Gary J. Dilllio) / “Ronnie Ronnie” (Lisa 6865, June 1968, Ripley Park, PA)

For more on the Sands of Time, see the separate entry for the band.

Exceptions Groovey Grooves 45 Baby You Know I Need YouHamilton also put out a number of singles, mainly soul, on the Groovey Grooves label starting in 1968, including the Exceptions “The Look in Her Eyes” and Phillies player Rich Allen and the Ebonistics doing “Echoes of November”.

Groovey Grooves discography
any help with this would be appreciated

Groovey Grooves 160 – Rich Allen and the Ebonistics “Echoes of November” / “Fannari”
Groovey Grooves 161 – Exceptions “The Look in Her Eyes” / “Baby You Know I Need You” (Hynes, Walker, Ellis, Jones, arr. by Bob Lowden)
Groovey Grooves 162 – Collectors “Cruel World” / “I Still Love You” (March, 1969)
Groovey Grooves 163 – Isthmus of Sound “River” / “Sweet Love”
Groovey Grooves 164 – Stone Dawn “Agent Promise Blues” / “What You Think Is Right” (both by Penny Stubbs, Assoc. prod Bill Hoy)
Groovey Grooves 165 – ?
Groovey Grooves 166 – Norwood Long “I’d Like to Have You” / “She Belongs to Me”
Groovey Grooves 167 – Exceptions “The Shagg” / “Danny Boy”
Groovey Grooves 168 – Great Compromise “Let The Evening Roll On” / “He Was A Man”
Groovey Grooves 169 – Les Stewart, Jr. “One Woman Man” / “Mind Your Own Business”
Groovey Grooves 170 – Fairwinds “She & Me” (J. Swank, R. Smith) / “Height in Funland”

Groovey Grooves 176 – Fantastic Soul-Locks “Come On Home Girl” / “Funky Prance”

The Exceptions recorded at Impact Sound Recording Studio on Castor Ave in Philadelphia, while Stone Dawn recorded at Baker Sound in New Jersey.

Groop Therapy with Gary Dial Lisa 45 Ronnie, RonnieFolsom Music, BMI published many of the original songs on Groovey Grooves.

Klemen Breznikar has an interview with one of the members of Stone Dawn at It’s Psychedelic Baby!. The piece doesn’t identify which member he interviewed but I believe it’s George Manney.

Thank you to Laurent, Max Waller and Mike Markesich for help with this post.

Facts of Life “I’ve Seen Darker Nights”

Facts of Life Frana 45 I've Seen Darker NightsThere isn’t much information about the Facts of Life despite the group’s fine 45 single. The group came from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, which lies just to the west of the Philadelphia city line. Members included Bruce Klauber, later a jazz drummer and professor, and Robert Yampolsky, who wrote both songs on their only single. I don’t know the other members’ names.

“I’ve Seen Darker Nights” begins with a blast of distorted guitar but otherwise is free of fuzz. The lyrics are heartfelt, the singing good, the arrangement has good hooks and momentum from the rhythm section. There’s a long solo on the organ and a brief guitar break.

The flipside, “All In Good Time” has a good ballad sound with a basic guitar solo. Robert Yampolsky copyrighted both songs in October, 1967, and the record came out as Frana Records 59-A/B. I don’t know of any other releases on the Frana label.

Facts of Life Frana 45 All In Good Time

The Myst

The Myst Open 45 Coney Island Wild Child

The Myst came from Philadelphia PA and cut this one single for release on Open Records 1252 in September, 1969. The A-side was a Gary Usher- Roger Val Christian song, “Coney Island Wild Child” which had been cut by Billy Harner for Lawn back in 1964. It could sound dated but the singer has a rushed, off-hand attitude that suits the song.

I don’t know much about the Myst other than that Frank Leonetti played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on these two songs.

“I’m Crying” is a heavy guitar and Hammond rocker, with a good lead vocal and sustained guitar running continuously throughout the song. The song was written by Joe Siderio, who may have been a member of the group, published by Caldwell Music, BMI.

Following the Myst single, Open Records released three singles and an LP by Billy Harner, and I believe the Myst was backing Harner in live appearances at this time.

Open Records, later shortened to OR, was located at 3126 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, most of their records have “A Call-Bill Production” on the label.
The Myst Open 45 I'm Crying

The Sands of Time on Stearly Records

The Sands of Time, circa 1967-8
The Sands of Time, circa 1967-8

Sands of Time Stearly 45 Come Back Little GirlThe Sands of Time came from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and recorded one single on Stearly Records 8167 in August, 1967.

“Come Back Little Girl”, written by Feliciani, has a catchy intro with a distorted treble guitar sound.

The singer breathlessly calls out the lyrics to the flip “When She Crys For Me”, written by Ellis, with more cool buzzing guitar between verses. Bill Hamilton of Hamilton Productions produced the single.

I didn’t know the members’ names or anything much about the band until I heard from Mike Marr:

The Sands of Time, early photo with Bill Ellis and Joe Feliciani
“Here is the earliest picture of the band, Bill Ellis (top right) and Joe Feliciani (bottom right). The accordionist did not stay very long with the band.”

At the time of this recording I was the bass player in the Sands of Time; the band members were:Joe Feliciani – lead guitar and vocals
Bill Ellis – rhythm guitar and vocals
John Furterer – drums and vocals
Art Bernie – organ
Mike Marr – bass

The original band members were all neighborhood friends. Back in the mid to late 60’s everybody wanted to play guitar. We would play in someone’s basement or living room. I guess you could say the band was officially organized by an older man named John Mullins who knew Joe Feliciani’s father.

Sands Of Time at Scanlon RecreationCenter, Philadelphia, May or June, 1967
Sands Of Time at Scanlon Recreation Center, Philadelphia, May or June, 1967

This was a picture [above] of our first playing job. It was at Scanlon Recreation Center in Philadelphia. I think this was taken May or June of 1967.

Art Bernie joined the band a few weeks after this picture was taken and he was from that neighborhood (Kensington) in Philadelphia.

The Sands of Time, circa 1968
The Sands of Time, circa 1967-8

We were ages fourteen to sixteen at the time of the recording. It was done at a studio in Camden New Jersey that was in a motel on Admiral Wilson Blvd. It was the Oasis Motel and the studio may have been named Palmer Studios.The name Stearly Recordings was chosen because it was the street where our crowd of friends lived and hung out. I don’t remember [producer] Bill Hamilton. It is possible that he knew and dealt with John Mullins who acted as our manager at the time.

That is a Vox bass. Later I bought a White Gibson EB3 (very rare color). I also had a fretless Dan Armstrong (clear body). The band evolved with other members as time went on but no other recordings were ever made.

The Sands of Time, circa 1967-8
The Sands of Time, circa 1967-8

These pictures [at right] show Art Bernie the organist but Joe Feliciani was no longer in the band and was replaced by Rick Sutcliff, and Bill Ellis remained for another year.This would have been Fall of 1967 and Winter of 1968. There was more evolution but this was the band at the time of the record recording and soon after.

Mike Marr

Sands of Time Stearly 45 When She Crys For MeThis band has no connection to the Sands of Time who recorded Red Light on Sterling Award records out of New York.

The Changing Tymes of Phliadelphia

Changing Tymes photo 1
The Changing Tymes, from left: Tom Shapiro, Jimmy Mahoney, Ray Tilli, (not shown: Wayne Tort)

The Changing Tymes came from Philadelphia and cut a great single “You Make It Hard” / “Try a Whole Lot Harder” in 1966. I was struck by the similarity of the opening of the Changing Tyme’s “You Make It Hard” to the Quiet Jungle song “Everything”, but that seems to be a pure coincidence.

Thomas Shapiro and James Mahoney wrote both songs, released on the R.D. #1 label with Don White publishing registered in early December, 1966. It seems the group recorded two other songs at the same session, but these seem to be lost.

Ray Tilli commented below and in 2020 wrote to me with more info and the photos seen here:

My name is Ray Tilli and I was a founding member of “The Changing Tymes” from Philadelphia, PA. We started the band in 1965. The first iteration of the Changing Tymes were (as shown in the photos):

Tom Shapiro – lead vocals, guitar, bass (on live gigs)
Jimmy Mahoney – lead guitar, vocals
Ray Tilli – guitar, bass (on the record), vocals
Wayne Tort – drums (not shown)

The Changing Tymes were founded by myself and Jimmy Mahoney in 1965. We were fortunate to have come of age at a time when we saw and experienced the birth of Rock and Roll, and we were deeply influenced by the greats of that early era. Then in 1964, the Beatles and the subsequent great bands from England and America invaded our brains! Every week there was some new artist, song or album to get really excited about, and to pour ourselves into and absorb. It was a time of great creativity, inspiration, and expression, and it drove us to practice, practice and practice more!

Our record was recorded at Impact Studio, located in Northeast Philadelphia, on or about September-October 1966, and released in November 1966. I lost track of the other two recordings. I don’t think they were put on vinyl.

When Jimmy Mahoney began to play lead, he used his big hollow body Gibson ES-175 guitar with the new Fuzz Tone pedal. It caused a type of feedback they had never heard before – but it was controlled feedback. There was a shout from the control room: “What’s that noise!.” Unfortunately, Jimmy had to switch to his backup guitar to get the sound they wanted. The recording would have been wilder if we recorded it the way we wanted! 

The engineers in the recording booth were laughing so hard that they had trouble “slating” the tape for recording because they had to say the name of one of the tunes: “You Make It Hard”! We actually didn’t get the joke; talk about naive and clueless …

The meaning of the record label, R&D #1 Records: the “R” stands for Roy Howell who funded the production, and the “D” for Dave Wilson, our manager. We never heard of the band Quiet Jungle, nor did we ever hear their song “Everything”. The musical universe is huge, and once in a while, similar riffs or parts can occur.

Changing Tymes photo 2
The Changing Tymes, from left: Tom Shapiro, Jimmy Mahoney, Ray Tilli, (not shown: Wayne Tort)

We got pretty damn good, and quickly gained a reputation as being one of the best bands in the Tri-State area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware). Word got around and we were asked to appear on all the regional music TV shows. American Bandstand had just moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in 1965, so we missed that opportunity. The next most popular TV show was called “Summer Time at the Pier with Ed Hurst”. The “Pier” was the world famous Steel Pier in Atlantic City, NJ.

Changing Tymes Hurst Show clipping

We appeared on the live broadcast of “Summer Time at the Pier with Ed Hurst” in the summer of 1966 along with Freddie and the Dreamers, and the Ramsey Lewis Trio. After playing the Pier gig, we drove about 20 minutes south to Margate, New Jersey to play our regular five-night-per-week gig at the White House – a club near the beach. During that summer we were the house band at the White House. All TVs in the club that day were showing our live appearance on Steel Pier, so when we arrived back at the club we were greeted with a rousing applause and back-slaps!

A similar occurrence happened when we played a live TV show in South Philadelphia, PA called “Aquarama”. The backdrop was a huge fish tank with hundreds of exotic species of marine life. After the show we had to immediately rush to our evening gig at Penn State University’s Ogontz Campus outside of Philly. The crowd was getting annoyed because we were late, but when we finally arrived we were greeted with cheers and applause! We made about a half dozen TV appearances on regional tri-state television that year.

A funny fact: our looks belied our music. Both Jimmy and I were in college at the time (I was also in the Army ROTC and Army Ranger ROTC training program), and the other guys had jobs that had dress and hair codes. We looked squeaky clean cut, but our sound was wild!

The first discotheque in Philadelphia was the “Underground Discotheque” in the basement of the (giant) Atlantic-Richfield building at Broad and Spruce Streets. It was the beginning of psychedelia – black lights, strobe lights, gel projections etc. We were playing that night with an excellent band called The Down Children. When both bands showed up for setup before the gig, we were thoroughly intimidated by the other band; they were older and looked like a bunch of Hell’s Angels – a look way ahead of any band we’d ever seen in 1966!

They looked like they could (and wanted to) kick our asses – they were scary! Fortunately, the setup went on without incident. When the gig started the Down Children [“I Can Tell” (Jimmy Rowland) / “Night Time Girl” on Philips] went on first. They were a really good band and looked badass tough and cool. When they finished they disappeared into the dressing room. Then it was our turn. Looking rather “preppy” the audience seemed to take little notice or interest when we took the stage. That was until we started playing. We won them over almost immediately – we played our hearts out! We couldn’t help but notice that the other band came out from their dressing room and watched us intently. We weren’t sure if that was good or bad – we wondered if they going to crush our heads after the gig!

After the first set (each band played 2 sets), a couple of the scary dudes from The Down Children came up to us and started asking questions: “Hey man, how did you get that tone?” “How did you get the sound on ….”, “You sounded EXACTLY like the record”! Man, were we relieved – they were impressed by us. Needless to say, we felt validated!

Changing Tymes White House Bar MargateAnother sticky situation was when our lead singer got arrested on stage during our stint at the White House. We were all too young to drink: 21 years of age was the minimum age in the tri-state area. We were 19 years old (and had to have special permits to play in the bars). Our lead singer, Tom, acquired a phony ID card to get into a different club the previous night to get some drinks. Somehow, the police were able to track him down to our club, and during our first set, a few cops arrived and came up on stage. They asked Tom his name, then put handcuffs on his wrists and hauled him off to jail.

So there we were, no lead singer who was also the bass player at the time, and the rest of the band still having to play 5 sets per night, 5 nights per week! His bail was set at $500 which neither he, nor any of us had. We improvised the best we could. Once we were finally paid, we took our full $500 cash pay to the courthouse and bailed him out.

There are too many stories of the Changing Tymes to relate here, like the time our cars crashed into each other on the way to a gig and we were 3 hours late! We played gigs at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Penn State, St. Joseph’s University and other various colleges and fraternities in the region. Also, many, many rock clubs and bars in the area.

I was fortunate to have had a relative in a high level executive position with RCA Records in New York City. After our record was released, and feeling a rush of confidence, we met in with my relative, John Rosica, head of promotions for RCA. He patiently and intently listened to our new record and said, “The best advice I can give you is to go back to collage and get a good education”!

We were shattered! He then said, you guys need to sound and play like full-time musicians – like these guys who we just signed, they’re called The Youngbloods. He put their new (yet unreleased) LP on the turntable and played “Grizzly Bear”. So we left NYC with our tails between our legs, demoralized, but not defeated.

The second iteration of The Changing Tymes were:

Ray Tilli – bass, vocals
Jimmy Mahoney – lead guitar, vocals 
Nicky Indelicato – lead vocals
Mike Laurence – guitar, vocals
various drummers
(unfortunately, no pictures)

This version of the Changing Tymes added more challenging songs to the repertoire. The nail in the coffin for the group breaking up was the successful recruitment of Nicky Indelicato to become the lead singer of a new group The American Dream. The group was the very first band to be produced by Todd Rundgren. They opened shows for The Doors, Hendrix and many others. They were an exceptional original band. We were sad to see him go, but happy for his success. Nicky passed away in March of 2020.

Jimmy Mahoney went on to do studio work and appeared on the Robert Palmer album, Double Fun. He also recorded at Sigma Sound for Philadelphia International Records. He played with band members from Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Larry Coryell. He was also a member of the band Medusa on Columbia records.

I also played with other bands including one with the former lead guitarist from the Bill Black Combo who had a few international hits. Later, I got into the business part of music as an agent, and then as a Manager/Road Manager with a band called Cats who were signed to Electra records. They toured and opened for Van Halen for the entire 1980 US summer tour.

After the Changing Tymes disbanded in 1968, most of us went on to other bands and careers. I became a Psychologist (now retired). Jimmy Mahoney passed away in January 2015. I miss him to this day. We remained close to the very end. He sent some of his memories to me about the band a few years back, and I have included some of them in this Changing Tymes history.

Ray Tilli

Note: this isn’t the same Changing Tymes as the Gate City, Virginia group who recorded cool songs like “Go Your Way” and “The Only Girl I Love” for the Moss label.

The Scholars

The Scholars with vocal trio the Perennials, plus manager Nat Segal at Cameo Parkway Studio, Philadelphia, January 28, 1967
The Scholars (white sweaters) with vocal trio the Perennials, plus manager Nat Segal
Cameo Parkway Studio, Philadelphia, January 28, 1967

Scholars Ruby Ray 45 I Need Your LovinThe Scholars were a quintet of Drexel and Temple University students from the Bridesburg, Port Richmond and Mayfair sections of Philadelphia.

Members were:

Bernie Winski – lead vocals and cordovox
Joe Macie aka Joe Macijewski (spelling?) – guitar
Bob Wilkowski – bass
Tony Tokarczyk (spelling?) – drums
Richie Dombrowski – saxophone

Bernie Winski wrote both songs on the 45, “I Need Your Lovin” and “Please Please”.

Opening with a pounding snare, “I Need Your Lovin'” is intense garage. The sound is dense, with background vocals by the Perenials [sic] and heavy swirling organ. A sax solo is followed by some great surf-type runs on the guitar. A remastering from the original tape, if it exists, might really bring out all the elements.

“Please Please” is competent but less exciting, I’m including it for the completists out there. They also cut one unreleased song, “I’m Gonna Make It”, that really shows doo-wop influence. “I’m Gonna Make It” originally appeared on the Crude PA compilation.

The 45 was released in February, 1967 on the Ruby Ray label out of Cornwell Heights (northeast of Philadelphia, I believe) and distributed by David Rosen Inc. Mastering by Frankford/Wayne.

Be sure to read the comment below from Bernie Winski’s brother Edward for more information on the Scholars.

 The Perennials at Cameo Parkway Studios, Philadelphia, January 28, 1967
The Perennials at Cameo Parkway Studios, Philadelphia, January 28, 1967

Update, June 2011

 The Perennials, from left: Jack Donadio, Gene (surname?) and Jim Tucker
The Perennials, from left: Jack Donadio, Gene (surname?) and Jim Tucker

Backing vocalist Jack Donadio wrote to me about the session with the fine photos seen here:

I am one of the Perennials who recorded the songs featured on your website: “I Need Your Lovin'”, “Please Please”, and “I’m Gonna Make It”.

The Perennials (background vocals) consisted of three doo wop singers from Philadelphia who answered a newspaper ad and auditioned to provide the background vocals for the Scholars who had recently signed a recording contract with Nat Segal. Nat was the group’s manager and contract holder, who also produced the master tape and subsequent recording under the Ruby Ray label.

Gathered around the microphone is me (Jack Donadio), Gene (don’t know his last name) and Jim Tucker (my brother-in-law). With regard to Gene, we only met him for the first and last time at the recording session. All that I remember about Gene is that he resided in Philly and sang with various doo wop groups, as we did.

Shortly following the release of the record, the Scholars appeared on the local TV show, “Summertime on the Pier”.

The was no further musical collaboration of the Perennials and Scholars following the recording session. There was not much of a musical career for me and Jim. We sang with a lot of different groups (Frankie and the Fashions, among others). We both eventually became law enforcement officers. Jim was a Sergeant in charge of the Homicide Division in Philly and retired from there about five years ago. I became the Police Chief of New Hope Pennsylvania for seven years, then Oneonta, NY (retired from there after 25 years) and finally Hawthorne, Florida for two years. I am presently retired and living in Gainesville, Florida.

Jack Donadio, 2011

Thank you to Jack for providing the photos and information on the recording session.

Nat Segal was a clarinet player who owned the Downbeat Club in Philadelphia and booked jazz shows into the Academy of Music in the ’40s and ’50s. In the early 1960’s he went into personal management for Danny & the Juniors, the Orlons, the Dovells and DJs Bob Horn and Jerry Blavat before working with the Scholars.

Sources on Nat Segal: Jersey Jazz’s December 2009 issue (PDF document) and “To the Geator, Bob Was Horn of Plenty. To this Day, Jerry Blavat Feels Debt of Gratitude to the Show’s Founder … and its Biggest Victim” by Jonathan Takiff, Philadelphia Daily News, August 5, 1997, accessed through Philly.com.

 The Perennials at Cameo Parkway Studio, Philadelphia, January 28, 1967
The Perennials at Cameo Parkway Studio, Philadelphia, January 28, 1967