Randy & the Rainbows are an American

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, Chica ...

group from

Maspeth, New York Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside ...

History

The group was formed in 1962 in

Maspeth, Queens Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside ...

, and featured two pairs of siblings, along with a fifth member. The Safuto brothers, Dominick and Frank, had previously sung in the group The Dialtones. They recorded with the producers of The Tokens, releasing the single "

Denise Denise may refer to: * Denise (given name), people with the given name ''Denise'' * Denise (computer chip), a video graphics chip from the Amiga computer * "Denise" (song), a 1963 song by Randy & the Rainbows * Denise, Mato Grosso, a municipalit ...

" in 1963. The name "Randy and the Rainbows" was chosen by the owners of Laurie Records after the group recorded "Denise". The group had previously been called "Junior & the Counts" and "The Encores". "Denise" spent 17 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 10,Randy & the Rainbows - Chart History - The Hot 100
''Billboard.com''. Accessed September 30, 2015 while reaching No. 18 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s "

Hot R&B Singles 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 p ...

", and No. 5 on Canada's

CHUM Hit Parade The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 (and, until August 1968, the top 50) songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station. On Janua ...

. The song was written by Neil Levenson, and was inspired by his childhood friend, Denise Lefrak. In the late 1970s, the song became a European hit for Blondie, with the title changed to "

Denis Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402–14 ...

". Randy & The Rainbows' follow-up single, "Why Do Kids Grow Up", barely scraped into the pop charts at No. 97, and the group never charted again.

Members

The original 1962 line-up was made up of: *Dominick "Randy" Safuto (April 19, 1947 – October 16, 2018, aged 71) *Frank Safuto *Mike Zero *Sal Zero (October 10, 1942 - November 19, 2019, aged 77) *Ken Arcipowski (May 26, 1944 – March 23, 2011, aged 66)

Later years

They continued to perform under several other names (Madison Street, Triangle, Them and Us), and toured in subsequent years with The Spinners, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Tony Orlando, Blood, Sweat & Tears,

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Pat Cooper Pat Cooper (born Pasquale Caputo; July 31, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. Life and career His father Michael Caputo was a bricklayer from Mola di Bari, Italy and his mother, Louise Gargiulo was born in Brooklyn, New York, where Cooper ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

, and The Four Seasons. They released a new album, entitled ''Play Ball'', in 2001 on producer

Jimmy Wisner James Joseph Wisner (December 8, 1931 – March 13, 2018) was an American pianist, arranger, songwriter, and producer. He is best known for his 1961 hit single "Asia Minor", released under the name Kokomo. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Wisne ...

's label WizWorks.

Similarly named groups

Two groups now exist carrying the same name, one led by the Safuto brothers (Randy and Frank), the other led by Mike Zero. ;Randy Safuto's Randy & The Rainbows This is made up of the Safuto brothers, members are as follows: *Randy Safuto (died October 16, 2018) *Frank Safuto *Anthony Vara (died December 26, 2016) *Charlie Rocco The group appeared on the 2001

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

special ''Doo Wop 51''; it featured Randy's group plus Mike Zero. ;Mike Zero's Randy & The Rainbows This is made up of *Mike Zero *Jack Vitale *Vinny Carella (died 2012) *Jimmy Bense (joined 1990) *Dave Grant *Steve Klein *Bobby Taylor *Barry Titone

Discography

Albums

*1982: ''C'mon Let's Go!'' *2001: ''Play Ball''

Singles

*1960: "Johnny" (as The Dialtones) *1960: "'Till I Heard It from You" (as The Dialtones) *1963: "Angel Face" *1963: "

" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 - No. 10) *1963: "Why Do Kids Grow Up" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 - No. 97) *1963: "Come Back" *1963: "Don't Worry, I'm Gonna Make It" *1963: "Dry Your Eyes" *1963: "Happy Teenager" *1963: "No Love" *1964: "Little Star" *1964: "She's My Angel" *1964: "Strike It Rich" *1965: "Joyride" *1965: "Little Hot Rod Suzie" *1966: "Bonnie's Part of Town" *1966: "He's a Fugitive" *1966: "I'll Forget Her Tomorrow" *1966: "Lovely Lies" *1966: "Quarter to Three" *1967: "I'll Be Seeing You" *1982: "Debbie"* *1982: "Try the Impossible" *1984: " Remember (Walking in the Sand)"

References

External links

Mike Zero's Randy & The RainbowsRandy Safuto's Randy & The Rainbows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randy and the Rainbows Doo-wop groups Musical groups from Queens, New York Musical groups established in 1962 Laurie Records artists 1962 establishments in New York City