The original Neons group (above picture) from the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, NY, consisted of Frank Vignari - lead, Jeff Pearl - 2nd tenor, John D'Avirro - baritone and Pat Fatibene - bass. Frank Vignari overdubbed the first tenor part on the record. When the record took off, Nick Bernini joined the group as the first tenor for live performances.
They became friends with Raoul Cita of the Harptones who introduced them to Monty Bruce, the owner of Bruce Records who recorded the Harptones, Bruce recorded the group in 1956 on his new label, Tetra records with the songs "Angel Face / Kiss Me Quickly", the A side was very popular in the New York / Philadelphia area and received some national attention and the group had many live appearances where the audience was shocked to see a white group singing in the doo wop style.
in 1957 the group recorded "Road Of Romance / My Chickadee" on Tetra Records. The Neons had John D'Avirro's best friend Ed Augustyn as their guitar player. Ed was already a professional guitar player and had to be paid union scale. Ed was considered an original Neon and was the lead guitarist on "Angel Face." He dropped out, to go to college, before the Neons recorded "Road To Romance" (Ed became a scientist). The Neons considered the original group a 6 man group.
In 1958, The Neons consisted of Frank Vignari, Jeff Pearl and two new members, Ron Derin and Norm Isacoff. They are the 2nd Neons group (Above picture) This new formation recorded a new song for the Gon records label in 1960, "Golden Dreams with the original "Angel Face" on the flip. In 1973 Vintage records released a new song by the group "Honey Bun" with the well-known song "Golden Dreams". maybe this new song was an unreleased song recorded in the Gone records days.
Completen bio at; http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-neons-mn0000472630
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