1956 in the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn Richard Brooks,Jerry Ascher,Sam Infantio,Hank Ferrara and Mike Harris were singing at their local YMHA. the sounds were good and the guys decided began a professional singing career.
Their group name was taken from Hank's car,a pontiac Catalina. After much practice the group entered and won a talent contest at the Educational Alliance Record Hop in their area.as winners they would get travel to Phoenixville,PA.
In 1958 the group was managed by Jay Fishman who send the group to New York label Glory Records owened by Phil Rose and Lou Sprung where they recorded the Hank's side_Marlene. b/w_With You Girl-Yeah!. (today this recording have a value of $200 on the collector's circuit).
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The next recording venture of the group was in 1960 in the Jay's own label Up Records where they recorded another Hank's side_Hey Peanuts(One day while working with the machines in the shop, Hank had a "beat" stuck in his head all day long. He kept humming it until he got home from work. It was so catchy that he started to make up some words to go along. Upon showering after a long hard days work, as fast as the water was flowing from the shower head, the words were starting to flow as well. He yelled for someone to grab a pen & paper and told them to "write this down" ) with the B Side_Row Boat.
The A side was very popular in Brooklyn and the group have a life appearance at the Jerry Lewis Telethon show but finally disbanded.
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A reformed group back in 1979 recorded two singles for Crystal Ball Records and appear on Don K Reeds and Ronnie I radio shows.
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2 comments:
Does anyone know what happened to my great friend Mike Harris?
I miss him terribly. I met him as a photo assistant in the 1970's and we became fast friends. I have not heard from him since 2014. Anybody know?
Bill Truran
I'm sorry Bill, I just heard recently that Mike has passed away.
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