Paul Myers wrote: The success of Canadian talent is not something that has occurred since the creation of Canadian content regulations, as beneficial as they have certainly been. It’s a fact – believe it or not – that 30 years ago, Canadian vocal groups dominated the charts, not only in Canada and the United States, but also in Europe. All the groups – the Crew-Cuts, the Diamonds and the Four Lads – came from Toronto, and between them they had a total of 38 Top 40 hits on the Billboards charts, a success record that has yet to be equaled by any other Canadian artists.
The first of the group to break the barriers down was the Crew-Cuts. Their first single, “Crazy ‘Bout Ya Baby” hit the number 8 spot on the Billboard chart back in June 1954. From then on, the hits kept coming. “Earth Angel”, which went to number 3 and number 1 in Europe, and Sh-Boom”, their best known hit, which stayed on the charts for 20 weeks and stayed in the number 1 spot for over two months. “Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)” also went top 10, as did “Gum Drop”, their seventh single.
The Four Lads started a little later – their chart success began in September, 1955 with “Moments to Remember” – and in the next three years hit the top 40 eleven more times, with “No Not Much!”, “Standing on the Corner”, “Who Needs You”, “Put a light in the Window” and “There’s Only One of You” (all of which went Top 10) and six others.
The Diamonds had the longest track record of all, although they hit the Top 10 only three times (with “Little Darlin”, “The Stroll” and “Silhouettes”). But there were a total of fifteen Top 40 hits – a string which ran from March, 1956, right through to August, 1961.
Now the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is honouring the original members of all three groups with the Hall of Fame Award – and at the same time bringing together singers who, in some cases, have not met each other in more than a decade.
The Crew-Cuts are the only one of the three groups which still works together – but since the members all live in different parts of the United States now, these are on very rare occasions. John Perkins, for instance, is entertainment editor for a chain of newspapers in Slidell, Louisiana; his brother Ray has a printing business in California. Rudi Maugeri works in radio and TV in Los Angeles, and Pat Barrett’s in the car business in New Jersey.
The Four Lads are equally spread out – Connie Codarini works in the restaurant business in San Diego, Bernie Toorish sells insurance in Cleveland and Jimmy Arnold is a music teacher in Sacramento, California. Frank Busseri remains in the music business – he manages the careers of the current Four Lads group (which, of course, has none of the original members) and is also involved in the comeback career of another famous artist from the fifties, Connie Francis. It’s been 22 years since the original members sang together, and the Toronto reunion is something the quartet has been looking forward to since they heard of the honor to be given them.
The Diamonds, similarly, haven’t sung together for years – Dave Somerville, the group’s main spokesman figures it’s been twelve or thirteen years since they worked together. Somerville remains in the music business in Los Angeles, doing voice-overs for commercials and writing; he recently completed a co-writing assignment for the theme for The Fall Guy, and a movie project. Bill Reed runs a one-stop record distribution company in Florida – and the other two members, Phil Levitt and Ted Kowalski, both work as engineers in Toronto; they are the only two of the 12 singers being honoured at the Junos who still live in Canada.
The members of these groups are excited about the Hall of Fame Award; the chance to meet each other again after years is a remarkable reunion. The music they made – three decades ago – helped pave the path for rock and roll in North America; their achievements merit the highest honour the Canadian music industry can bestow.
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