The Chimes (later Lenny Cocco & the Chimes) were 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
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
The group came together under the direction of lead singer Lenny Cocco in the mid-1950s.
Their first single was a version of "
Once in a While"—a 1937 hit for
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...
—released on Tag Records.
The song became a hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 11 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in January 1961, and No. 15 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The follow-up single was "
I'm in the Mood for Love
"I'm in the Mood for Love" is a popular music, popular song published in 1935 in music, 1935. The music was written by Jimmy McHugh, with the lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced by Frances Langford in the movie ''Every Night at Eigh ...
", a song from the 1930s.
This hit No. 38 later that year. In 1962, they began recording as Lenny & the Chimes, and moved to
Metro Records
MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...
and then to
Laurie Records
Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), T ...
in 1963. In 1964, they released the single "Two Times" on
Vee-Jay
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
, but broke up shortly after.
In subsequent decades they have re-formed for the doo-wop revival circuit, usually under the name Lenny Cocco and the Chimes. Cocco died in 2015 at age 78.
[
]
Members
Original
*Lenny Cocco - lead singer and founder (born Leonard Cocco in Brooklyn in 1936; died on May 8, 2015, in Holbrook)
References
*The Chimes
''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is th ...
at AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
*Joel Whitburn
Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings.
Early life
Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wau ...
, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000
Footnotes
External links
Cocco and the Chimes Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chimes, The
Musical groups from Brooklyn
Doo-wop groups
Flair Records artists