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Bell Sound Studios
Bell Sound Studios was an independent recording studio in New York City from 1950 to 1976. At its height, the studio was the largest independent recording studio in the United States, and the site of recording sessions that produced seminal hits by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, the McGuire Sisters, The Flamingos, Dion and the Belmonts, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, the Drifters and Ben E. King, The Four Seasons, Lesley Gore, the Dixie Cups, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Kiss. History Early years Co-founders Allen Weintraub and Dan Cronin were classmates at Brooklyn Technical High School and aspiring radio engineers. In June 1950 with an initial investment of $600 Weintraub and Cronin established the recording studio as Bell Recording Co. in a storefront at 73 Mott Street in New York's Chinatown. The studios were initially used for recording radio airchecks and weddings and bar mitzvahs. Within a year the studio had outgrown its initial location and was moved to Brooklyn, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's " Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. He was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film '' Why Do Fool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown () is a Neighborhoods in Manhattan, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy, Manhattan, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Chinatown is home to the highest concentration of Chinese people in New York City, Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere.* * * * * Manhattan's Chinatown is also one of the oldest Overseas Chinese, Chinese ethnic enclaves. The Manhattan Chinatown is one of Chinese Americans in New York City, nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City, as well as one of twelve in the New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017. Historically, Chinatown was primarily populated by Cantonese speakers. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, large number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faye Adams
Faye Adams (born Fanny Tuell, May 22, 1923) is an American singer who recorded and performed rhythm and blues and gospel from the late 1940s until the early 1960s. She had several chart hits in the early 1950s, before retiring from the music business. Biography Early years Adams was born in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was David Tuell, a gospel singer and a key figure in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). At the age of five she joined her sisters to sing spirituals, regularly performing on Newark radio shows. Musical career Under her married name, Faye Scruggs, she became a regular performer in New York nightclubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s. While performing in Atlanta, Georgia, she was discovered by the singer Ruth Brown, who won her an audition with the bandleader Joe Morris of Atlantic Records. Having changed Scruggs's name to Faye Adams, Morris recruited her as a singer in 1952, and signed her to Herald Records. Her first release was Morris's song "Shake a Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
89th Street (Manhattan)
89th Street is a one-way street running westbound from the East River to Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street is interrupted by Central Park. It runs through the Upper West Side, Carnegie Hill and Yorkville neighborhoods. The street's western terminal is on Riverside Drive overlooking Riverside Park and the Hudson River at the site of the Classical marble Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. The first building on the north side of the street at its western end is 173-175 Riverside Drive, a co-operative apartment building with entrances on both 89th and 90th Streets. On the south side of the street stands the former Isaac Rice mansion, now Yeshiva Ketana of Manhattan and a designated New York City Landmark. The Dalton School, the Dwight School, and the Abraham Joshua Heschel School are all located on 89th Street. The block between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue has the old Claremont Riding Academy, now an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pop Chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include record sales, the amount of radio airplay, the number of downloads, and the amount of streaming activity. Some charts are specific to a particular musical genre and most to a particular geographical location. The most common period covered by a chart is one week with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs. A common format of radio and television programmes is to run down a music chart. Chart hit A ''chart hit'' is a recording, identified by its inclusion in a chart that uses sales or other criteria to rank popular r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
R&B Chart
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 positions but was shortened to 50 positions in October 2012. The chart is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, rock and roll, soul, and funk, it is today dominated by contemporary R&B and hip hop. Since its inception, the chart has changed its name many times in order to accurately reflect the industry at the time. History Beginning in 1942, ''Billboard'' published a chart of bestselling black music, first as the Harlem Hit Parade, then as Race Records. Then in 1949, ''Billboard'' began publishing a Rhythm and Blues chart, which entered "R&B" into mainstream lexicon. These three charts were consolidated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audio Engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound. Audio engineers work on the "technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the setting of levels. The physical recording of any project is done by an engineer... the nuts and bolts." Sound engineering is increasingly seen as a creative profession where musical instruments and technology are used to produce sound for film, radio, television, music and video games. Audio engineers also set up, sound check and do live sound mixing using a mixing console and a sound reinforcement system for music concerts, theatre, sports games and corporate events. Alternatively, ''audio engineer'' can refer to a scientist or professional engineer who holds an engineering degree and who designs, dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gee (The Crows Song)
"Gee", is a song by American R&B and Doo-wop group the Crows, released in June 1953. The song has been credited as the first rock and roll hit by a rock and roll group. It is a doo-wop song, written by William Davis and Viola Watkins, and recorded by the Crows on the independent label, Rama Records, at Beltone Studios in New York City in February 1953. It charted in April 1954, one year later. It took a year to get recognized on ''Your Hit Parade''. It landed No.2 on the rhythm and blues chart and No. 14 on the pop chart. It was the first 1950s doo-wop record to sell over one million records. Recorded on an independent label, it was one of the first such R&B records to crossover to the wider pop market. In fact, some, including Jay Warner, consider it as the first of the "rock n' roll records". Song The song starts with a few bars of wordless vocals: ::''duh-duda-duh-duda-duh-duda-duh-duh-duba'' followed by the lead vocal; ::''Oh-ho-ho-ho gee, my oh-oh gee-hee, well oh-ho g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Crows
The Crows were an American R&B singing group formed in 1951 who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only hit, " Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first rock n’ roll hit by a rock and roll group.Warner, Jay, American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today (2006), published by Hal Leonard Corporation, at page 137 It peaked at position #14 and #2, respectively, on the ''Billboard magazine'' pop and rhythm-and-blues charts in 1954. Although Gee fell into the Doo Wop genre, and "was the first 1950s doo-wop record to sell over one million records" in that genre, some (including Jay Warner) consider it as the first of the "rock n' roll records". History When The Crows started in 1951, practicing sidewalk harmonies, the original members were Daniel "Sonny" Norton (lead), William "Bill" Davis (baritone), Harold Major (tenor), Jerry Wittick (tenor), and Gerald Hamilton (bass). In 1952, Wittick left the group and wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doo-wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre 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, DC, 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 (such as "doo-wop") is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.Hoffmann, FRoots of Rock: Doo-Wop In ''Survey of American Popular Music'', modified for the web by Robert Birklin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Goldner
George Goldner (February 9, 1918 – April 15, 1970) was an American record label owner, record producer and promoter who played an important role in establishing the popularity of rock and roll in the 1950s, by recording and promoting many groups and records that appealed to young people across racial boundaries. Among the acts he discovered were the Crows, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Little Anthony and the Imperials. He established (or helped establish) a number of record labels, including Tico, Rama, Gee, Roulette, End, Gone, and Red Bird. It was said of him that he "discovered more talent, both in front of the microphone and behind the scenes, than most producers get to record in a lifetime.. Moreover, in the decades since, much of the music that Goldner recorded and released has retained an astonishing appeal to generations of listeners". Early life Goldner was born to a Jewish family in 1918 to a mother Rose originally from Poland and father Adolph from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music'' (Cambridge, MA & London, UK: MIT Press, 2005).Richard James Burgess, ''The History of Music Production'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014)pp 12–13Allan Watson, ''Cultural Production in and Beyond the Recording Studio'' (New York: Routledge, 2015)pp 25–27 The record producer, or simply the producer, is likened to film director and art director. The executive producer, on the other hand, enables the recording project through entrepreneurship, and an audio engineer operates the technology. Varying by project, the producer may or may not choose all of the artists. If employing only synthesized or sampled instrumentation, the producer may be the sole artist. Conversely, some artists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
