This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2010) |
The Brooklyn Bridge | |
---|---|
![]() Johnny Maestro (center) with Freddy Ferrara (left) and Les Cauchi (right) of Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge at a 2006 show | |
Background information | |
Also known as | The Bridge Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge |
Origin | New York City, U.S. |
Genres | Doo wop, R&B, pop, rock |
Years active | 1968–present |
Labels | Buddah, Collectables |
Spinoff of | The Del-Satins |
Members | Joe Esposito Marty D'Amico Jim Sarle Jimmy Rosica Lou Agiesta Joe Ruvio "Smitty" Edward Smith |
Past members | Johnny Maestro Roy Michaels Tom Sullivan Mike Gregorio Freddy Ferrara Les Cauchi Carolyn Wood Richie Macioce Ed Lisciandro Shelly Davis Artie Cantanzarita Tony Trombino |
The Brooklyn Bridge (also known as The Bridge and as Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge since the 1980s) is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Worst That Could Happen" (1968).
New York City-born Johnny Maestro (born John Peter Mastrangelo a.k.a. Johnny Mastro, Johnny Masters; May 7, 1939 – March 24, 2010) began his career in 1957 as the original lead singer of The Crests, one of the first interracial groups of the recording industry. [1] [2] Patricia Van Dross, older sister of the R&B singer Luther Vandross, sang with Johnny Maestro while The Crests were signed to the Joyce Record label. Before The Crests signed with Coed Records, Van Dross left the group because her mother did not want her 15-year-old daughter touring with the older guys. After a regional hit with "My Juanita"/"Sweetest One" on the Joyce label, he had three years of chart success with The Crests on Coed Records with "16 Candles", "Six Nights A Week", "Step by Step", "The Angels Listened In", and "Trouble in Paradise". Between "Step by Step" and "Trouble in Paradise", Coed released a single "The Great Physician"/"Say It Isn't So" under the name Johnny Masters. Late in 1960, Maestro would leave The Crests for a solo career. Maestro was unable to reach the chart heights he had with The Crests, but did have Top 40 hits with "What A Surprise" and "Model Girl" in 1961 as solo artist Johnny Mastro, "The Voice of the Crests" for Coed Records. For his next three singles with the label, he was known as Johnny Maestro, the third spelling change for the label. None of those records charted and Maestro recorded for three different labels before recording with new backup singers (none from the original group) as Johnny Maestro & The Crests in 1965 and 1966, which produced four singles on two more labels.
By 1967, another New York vocal group called The Del-Satins—who had become well known in the New York area as weekly performers on the local dance party program The Clay Cole Show, had made several non-charting recordings between 1959 and 1967 under their own name, and were noted for backing up Dion on his post-Belmonts recordings—were looking for a new lead singer to replace original lead Stan Zizka. Members were brothers Fred and Tom Ferrara (baritone and bass), Les Cauchi (first tenor; born Leslie Emanuel Cauchi, December 18, 1942 – March 3, 2020) [3] and Bobby Faila (second tenor). According to Cauchi, members of the group ran into Maestro at a local gym, playing his guitar, and approached him with the offer to join the group. After initially turning them down, Maestro's manager, Betty Sperber, called Cauchi and told him Maestro had changed his mind.[ citation needed ]
In 1968, Sperber, owner and founder of the talent management and booking agency Action Talents in New York City, was hosting her once a month Battle of the Bands talent search at the Cloud Nine nightclub in Long Island and brought Maestro along as the evening's special guest star. Action Talents' Vice President and General Manager Alan White suggested that Maestro be backed up that night by a seven-piece brass-filled group of youngsters called The Rhythm Method. The show included renditions of The Beatle's Day Tripper, the Beach Boys's Keep an Eye On Summer, and James Brown's Cold Sweat. [4] That night's performance was such a success that the next day Sperber decided to combine the talents of Maestro, the four Del-Satins, and The Rhythm Method. The new group's name came about after White made the off-handed comment that "it would be easier to sell the Brooklyn Bridge" than book the proposed 11-piece act. [5]
Johnny and the Bridge rehearsed their unusual combination of smooth vocal harmonies and full horns, and signed a recording contract with Buddah Records. [6] Their first release, a version of the Jimmy Webb song "Worst That Could Happen" (previously recorded by The 5th Dimension), reached No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart. [6] It sold over one and a quarter million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. [7] The follow-up, "Welcome Me Love", and its flip side, "Blessed is the Rain" — both by Tony Romeo — [8] each reached the Top 50. A dramatic version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and the controversial "Your Husband, My Wife" also reached the middle ranges of the chart. The group sold over 10 million records by 1972, including LP sales, mostly produced by Wes Farrell. Appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show , The Della Reese Show , and other programs helped to bring the group to the national stage.
After its heyday, the Brooklyn Bridge downsized to a five-man group, with the vocalists playing their own instruments. For example, on stage Maestro played rhythm guitar, while former Rhythm Method bassist Jim Rosica picked up a vocal part. Later in the 1970s, as the Rock and Roll Revival evolved from a nostalgic fad to a respected genre, the group added members, retaining its core vocalists. By 1985, the group had solidified into an eight-piece group, including original Del Satins, Cauchi, Fred Ferrara, and original Bridge member Rosica, augmented by a horn section for special occasions. The drummer for the current line-up, Lou Agiesta, was the drummer for the original American touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar (1970). Today he is drummer (Brooklyn Bridge) and sub drummer for Little Anthony and The Imperials.
The later version of the Brooklyn Bridge released a Christmas EP in 1989 and a greatest-hits compilation in 1993, re-recording Maestro's hits with The Crests. In the early 1990s, Maestro moonlighted as the background tenor on Joel Katz's studio project CD Joel & the Dymensions (which also featured baritone-bass Bobby Jay). In 1994, The Brooklyn Bridge recorded the 10-song CD Acappella .
On December 5, 1999, the Brooklyn Bridge was featured in one of PBS's biggest fundraising events ever, "Doo Wop 50", performing both "16 Candles" and "The Worst That Could Happen"; the entire program was released on VHS and DVD. In 2005, the Brooklyn Bridge released a full concert-length DVD as part of the Pops Legends Live series. They continue to tour and in 2004 released a CD on the Collectables label titled Today , featuring more re-recordings of their hits and versions of other groups' songs of the 1950s and 1960s.
The Brooklyn Bridge was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005. They were inducted into the South Carolina Music (Rhythm & Blues) Hall of Fame in May 2006 and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.
In 2007, Collectables Records reissued the Johnny Maestro & Brooklyn Bridge's 2002 album Peace on Earth as Songs of Inspiration. On March 31, 2009, the album Today, Volume 2 was released on CD by Collectables Records.
Johnny Maestro died on March 24, 2010, from cancer in Cape Coral, Florida, at age 70. [5]
In April 2010, the Los Angeles-based rights-management firm Beach Road Music, LLC, acquired the Coed Records catalog, subsequently re-releasing the Maestro song "The Great Physician" [9] on the 2011 compilation album From The Vault: The Coed Records Lost Master Tapes, Volume 1. "The Great Physician" was originally released in 1960 as Coed 527, under the pseudonym "Johnny Masters".
Frederick "Fred" Ferrara died on October 21, 2011, of cardiac failure at age 69. [10] [11] [12]
Following the deaths of Maestro and Ferrara, original member Joe Ruvio returned, and the group recruited new lead singer Roy Michaels. [13] Michaels was replaced by Joe Esposito in 2013.
On May 9, 2012, Johnny Maestro was honored by the House of Representatives of the United States of America. Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, whose district includes the neighborhood where Maestro was born and raised, and where he began his music career, introduced an Extension of Remarks in the House of Representatives. [14] In June 2012, a 40th Anniversary DVD was released by the Brooklyn Bridge. The DVD included a full concert and interviews with group members, recorded on May 6, 2006 (38 years after the group formed).
Les Cauchi died unexpectedly on March 3, 2020, in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the age of 77. [15]
Original
Current
Former members
![]() |
Doo-wop is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s and continued to influence performers in other genres.
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael LePond.
Rare Earth is an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan. According to Louder, "Rare Earth's music straddles genres and defies categorisation, slipping seamlessly between the two seemingly disparate worlds of classic rock and R&B." The band was signed to Motown's subsidiary label Rare Earth. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first successful act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members.
Tygers of Pan Tang are an English heavy metal band who are part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. They formed in 1978 in Whitley Bay, England, and were active until 1987. The band reformed in 1999 and continue to record and perform. The name is derived from Pan Tang, a fictional archipelago in Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné fantasy series whose wizards keep tigers as pets.
The Crests are an American doo-wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, "16 Candles", rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1959 selling over one million copies and earning a gold disc status. The group's other hits include "Step By Step," "The Angels Listened In," "Trouble In Paradise," "Six Nights A Week," and "A Year Ago Tonight." The Crests were one of the earliest racially mixed doo wop groups, consisting of three African American members, one Puerto Rican, and one Italian American.
"In the Still of the Nite", also subsequently titled "In the Still of the Night", is a song written by Fred Parris and recorded by his band the Five Satins. Originally the song was titled "(I'll Remember) In the Still of the Nite" to distinguish itself from Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night". Later the title was changed to "In the Still of the Night".
"The Wanderer" is a song written by Ernie Maresca and originally recorded by Dion, released on his 1961 album, Runaround Sue. The song, with a 12-bar blues-base verse and an eight-bar bridge, tells the story of a travelling man and his many loves. The song is ranked number 243 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Brooklyn Dreams were an American singing group of the late 1970s, mixing R&B harmonies with contemporary dance/disco music and best known for a number of collaborations with singer Donna Summer. The band consisted of Joe "Bean" Esposito, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano. Esposito provided lead vocals for the band and played guitar, while Sudano played keyboards and Hokenson played drums and occasionally sang lead vocals.
John Peter Mastrangelo, known as Johnny Maestro, was an American pop singer. He was the lead vocalist for the doo-wop group The Crests, whose song "16 Candles" went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. He later lead The Brooklyn Bridge, who are best known for their cover of the Jimmy Webb song "Worst That Could Happen".
The Del-Satins were an American vocal group, most active in the early 1960s, who recorded on their own but are best remembered for their harmonies on hit records for Dion and others. They have been described as having "few peers as practitioners of white doo-wop."
The Capris are an American doo wop group who became a one-hit wonder in 1961 with "There's a Moon Out Tonight." They experienced a popularity and performing resurgence in the 1980s, when three members reformed and The Manhattan Transfer recorded their song, "Morse Code of Love," which reached the US Hot 100 and the U.S. AC top 20.
Brooklyn Bridge is the eponymous debut album from the American band The Brooklyn Bridge. It was released in 1968 by Buddah Records.
The Second Brooklyn Bridge is the second album from The Brooklyn Bridge. It was released in 1969 by Buddah Records.
Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge is a 1993 recorded and released collection of classic songs by The Brooklyn Bridge and The Crests, as well as other notable doo wop songs.
A discography for the band The Brooklyn Bridge.
Alan R. White, is an American Top 40 disc jockey, pioneering nightclub DJ, booking agent, talent manager, record producer, disco innovator, nightclub operator and promoter, radio and television personality, dance event promoter, an internet broadcasting pioneer, and author.
JiveBop Dance Party TV Show is an American dance-based television program created by American Top 40 disc jockey and nightclub operator Alan White.
Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr., known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a session and live-performing saxophonist with the band Foreigner during the 1980s.
Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens are an American gospel and soul music group led by front woman Naomi Shelton. The group was formed in 1999. Two founding members were from Brooklyn, New York. They have released two albums with Daptone Records, What Have You Done, My Brother? (2009) and Cold World (2014). Both albums charted on the Billboard magazine charts, where they placed on the Gospel Albums chart.