The Crew Cuts were a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
vocal
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...
quartet, that made a number of
popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
records that charted in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and worldwide.
They named themselves after the then popular
crew cut
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the upright hair on the top of the head is cut relatively short, graduated in length from the longest hair that forms a short pomp ( pompadour) at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the cro ...
haircut
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming ...
, one of the first connections made between
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
and
hairstyle
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomin ...
. They were most famous for their
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
of
The Chords
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
'
hit record
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...
, "
Sh-Boom
"Sh-Boom" (sometimes referred to as "Life Could Be a Dream") is an early doo-wop song by the R&B vocal group The Chords (US band), The Chords. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and William Edwards, mem ...
".
Group members
* Rudi Maugeri (''né'' Rudolph Peter Maugeri; January 27, 1931 – May 7, 2004) (lead and baritone)
* John Perkins (born August 28, 1931) (lead and tenor)
* Ray Perkins (born November 24, 1932) (bass) (John Perkins' brother)
* Pat Barrett (September 15, 1933 – July 27, 2016) (lead and tenor)
Biography
They all had been members of the
St. Michael's Choir School
St. Michael's Choir School (also known as SMCS, The Choir School, or St. Mike's Choir) is a semi-Independent school, private Catholic Church, Catholic Cathedral school, choir school for boys from Educational stage, grades 3-12 in Toronto, Ontario, ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
which also spawned another famous quartet,
The Four Lads
The Four Lads was a Canadian male singing quartet which, in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, earned many gold singles and albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Moments to Remember"; " Standing on the Corner"; "No, Not Much"; "Who Needs ...
. Maugeri, John Perkins, and two others (Bernard Toorish and Connie Codarini) who later were among the Four Lads first formed a group called ''The Jordonaires'' (not to be confused with a similarly named group,
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...
, that was known for singing backup vocals on
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
's hits) and also ''The Otnorots'' ("Toronto" spelled backwards being "Otnorot"), but they split from the group to finish high school. When the Four Lads returned to Toronto for a homecoming concert, John Perkins and Maugeri ran into each other and decided that they could themselves have a musical future. They joined with Barrett and Ray Perkins in March 1952. The group was originally called ''The Four Tones'' (not to be confused with
The Four Tunes
The Four Tunes (also referred to as The 4 Tunes) were a leading black pop vocal quartet during the 1950s. The members at the peak of their fame were Pat Best, Jimmy Gordon, Jimmie Nabbie, and Danny Owens.
Career
The group originated from The Br ...
, a group on the borderline between pop music and
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
).
A Toronto disk jockey, Barry Nesbitt, put them on his weekly teen show, whose audience gave the group a new name, ''The Canadaires.'' All four of the members were at the time working at jobs with the
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
government, but quit their jobs to sing full-time. They worked clubs in the
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, and Niagara Falls, New York area, but saved up their money and drove to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, so they could appear on
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...
's
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
program, ''
Talent Scouts
Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...
,'' where they came in second to a comedian. While they did get a record with Thrillwood Records and recorded a song titled "Chip, Chip Sing A Song Little Sparrow", this led to no improvement in their fortune, however, and they continued playing minor night clubs.
In March 1953, they returned to Toronto and appeared as an opening act for
Gisele MacKenzie
Gisèle MacKenzie (born Gisèle Marie Louise Marguerite LaFlèche; January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003)
Accessed April 2010 ...
at the Casino Theatre. She was impressed with them and commented favorably to her record label, but could not remember the group's name.
They were playing in a
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes)
** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, night club in a sub-zero Canadian winter when they received notice that they had been invited to appear as a guest on a
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
television program. They drove 600 miles at -40° temperatures to appear on the
Gene Carroll show, where they remained for three appearances. While in Cleveland, they met local disc jockey
Bill Randle
Bill Randle (March 14, 1923 – July 9, 2004) was an American disc jockey, lawyer and university professor.
Randle was born William McKinley Randle Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, he hosted a popular show on WJLB-AM radio (now WDTK) called ...
. On his show, on Cleveland radio station
WERE (1300 AM), he coined the name that would, from that point on, belong to the group. In addition, Randle arranged for them to audition with
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
, who liked them enough to sign the quartet to a contract.
Although their first hit, "Crazy 'Bout You, Baby", was written by Maugeri and Barrett themselves, they quickly became specialists in
cover
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
recordings of originally-R&B songs.
Their first cover, "Sh-Boom" (of which the R&B original was recorded by
The Chords
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
) hit #1 on the charts in 1954.
A number of other hits followed including "
Earth Angel
"Earth Angel", occasionally referred to as "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)", is a song by American doo-wop group the Penguins. Produced by Dootsie Williams, it was released as their debut single in October 1954 on Dootone Records. The Penguins ...
" which rose to the number 2 spot on the charts and had great success in the UK and Australia. Many of the non-cover songs of theirs that became hits 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 ...
were unknown in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, while it was only their covers that had great success in the United States.
In the week beginning 19 September 1955, they played six nights at
Liverpool Empire
The Liverpool Empire Theatre is a theatre on the corner of Lime Street in Liverpool, England. The playhouse, which opened in 1925, is the second one to be built on the site. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in the United Kingdom and can ...
, in
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. A 12 years old
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
was among the crowd on one of those nights, and a 13 years old
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
got an autograph of them.
The group moved from Mercury to
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
in 1958 and eventually broke up in 1964, but they all moved to the U.S. and reunited in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, in 1977. In the 1990s they were inducted into the
Juno Hall of Fame
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honour Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The award presentation is held each year as part of the ...
. In recent years, the three remaining members have appeared on a PBS special filmed in Atlantic City's Trump's Taj Mahal. The program, "Magic Moments: The Best of '50s Pop", continues to air as part of the fund raising efforts for the Public Broadcasting System.
A remix of their version of the song "Sh-Boom" was featured in the credits of the video game ''
Destroy All Humans!
''Destroy All Humans!'' is an open world action-adventure video game franchise that is designed as a parody of Cold War-era alien invasion films. ''Destroy All Humans!'' and ''Destroy All Humans! 2'' are available for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, ...
''. The original recording of their song "Sh-Boom" can also be heard on one of the in-game radio stations in ''
Mafia II
''Mafia II'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K Games. It was released in August 24 2010 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. The game is a standalone sequel to 2002's ''Mafia (video game), Mafia'', an ...
''.
In later years, Rudi Maugeri became a music director of one of the music syndication companies, Radio Arts in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
. The company supplied music on ten inch reels of audiotape for use in radio station automation systems and for "Live Assist" use, around the world. Maugeri selected and issued a playlist every week for the company. His record of picking hit songs for syndication was in the upper 90% and record promoters had Radio Arts on their list of 'must see' companies because Radio Arts provided music to hundreds of stations weekly. Interviewed in 1979 on the syndicated radio show ''ShBoom Radio Show'', Maugeri was quoted, "We came along at a time when the big bands were almost finished and we were the new... and yet we toured with
Ralph Marterie
Ralph Marterie (24 December 1914 – 10 October 1978) was an Italian big-band leader born in Acerra (near Naples), Italy.
Life and career
Marterie first played professionally at age 14 in Chicago. In the 1940s, he played trumpet for various ba ...
's big band as the opening act and were quite well accepted by both the adults and the teens of the day. It wasn't until we hit the charts with "Crazy 'Bout Ya Baby" that the teens adopted us as their own and after that tour we became the headliners."
The Crew-Cuts were among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the
2008 Universal fire
On June 1, 2008, a fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood, an American film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. The fire began when a worker used a blowtorch to warm asph ...
.
Discography
Singles
See also
*
Music of Canada
The music of Canada reflects the diverse influences that have shaped the country. Indigenous Peoples, the Irish, British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has also subsequently been ...
*
Canadian rock
Rock music of Canada is a wide and diverse part of the general music of Canada, beginning with American and British style rock and roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern po ...
*
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honour Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The award presentation is held each year as part of the ...
References
External links
The Crew-Cuts at Doo Wop Heaven*Crew-Cuts page o
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crew-Cuts, The
Musical groups established in 1952
Musical groups disestablished in 1964
Canadian pop music groups
Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees
Doo-wop groups
Traditional pop music singers
Mercury Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Vee-Jay Records artists
Chess Records artists
Musical groups from Toronto
1952 establishments in Ontario
1964 disestablishments in Ontario