The Elegants was 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 ...

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in se ...

, that started in 1958 by Vito Picone, Arthur Venosa, Frank Tardogno, Carman Romano and James Moschello in

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

, Staten Island, New York. Before their

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

inspired song, " Little Star", became a

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, the band usually performed informally under the

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

by their homes. "Little Star" was the only million seller for the group, and was written by Venosa and Picone. It spent 19 weeks in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, earning

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

status. The song reached number 25 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in September 1958. After their success with "Little Star", the band, still in their teens, toured with artists such as

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

Dion and the Belmonts Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal trio prominent throughout the 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo M ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

and

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

. However, none of their subsequent

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

reached the charts at all, making them an example of

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

s. In early 1970s, lead singer Vito Picone returned to the group, replacing Tardogno as the lead singer. The group can be seen annually performing at the

San Gennaro Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, lat ...

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

, in

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

, Manhattan, New York City. According to the group's website, Freddie Redmond died of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

in 2006, and was replaced by original member, James Moschella. Moschella had performed with The Charts in the 1980s. As of 2012, the Elegants were still performing at concerts and events throughout the United States, under the name "Vito Picone & The Elegants. Band members include Joe Lucenti on lead guitar, Alex "Al Bal" Leonard and Mark Garni on keyboards, Mike Catalano and Pete Gamby on electric bass, with Vinny Cognato and Sal Albanese on drums. Carman Romano (born on August 17, 1938) died on August 2, 2016, at the age of 77. Original member Artie Venosa died on April 20, 2018.

Notable singles

* Little Star (June 1958) * Please Believe Me (October 1958) * Pay Day (February 1959) * My Tears (1960) * Little Boy Blue (Is Blue No More) (January 1960) * Speak Low (July 1960) * Happiness (January 1961) * Tiny Cloud (May 1961) * Dressin' Up (November 1962) * A Letter From Viet Nam (Dear Donna) (January 1965) * Bring Back Wendy (April 1965)

References in culture

* The title poem of American poet

Mark Halliday Mark Halliday (born 1949 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American poet, professor and critic. He is author of seven collections of poetry, most recently "Losers Dream On" (University of Chicago Press, 2018), "Thresherphobe" (University of Chicago P ...

's collection ''Little Star'' (W. Morrow, 1987) is an homage to The Elegants and Vito Picone. The poem is also available in

Allen Grossman Allen R. Grossman (January 7, 1932 – June 27, 2014) was a noted American poet, critic and professor. Biography Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1932,Bruce Weber (June 29, 2014)Allen Grossman, A Poet's Poet, and Scholar, dies at 82 The N ...

(with Mark Halliday), ''The Sighted Singer: Two Works on Poetry for Readers and Writers'' (Johns Hopkins UP, 1992), pages 25–27.

References

External links

Rockabilly.nlVito Piccone & The Elegants
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elegants, The Musical groups established in 1958 Doo-wop groups People from Staten Island 1958 establishments in New York City Musical groups from Staten Island

Notable singles

References in culture

See also

References

External links