The Scintas were a music and comedy variety group. The group began in 1977 as The Scinta Brothers, consisting of Frankie and Joey Scinta, brothers from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. They got a job performing at the chain of

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club ...

s, including a stint at the Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City in 1981. Their younger sister, Chrissi Scinta, joined later. Drummer Pete O'Donnell was added to the group around 1987. In the late 1980s, after Frankie overcame a

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

addiction, the Scintas became prominent supporters of the "

Just Say No "Just Say No" was an advertising campaign prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s as a part of the U.S.-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying ''no'' ...

" anti-drug campaign. The group toured throughout the eastern United States for many years. They were particularly popular in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, where they performed regularly at the Tangier cabaret. In 2000, the Scintas moved to Las Vegas and began performing at casinos, with resident shows at the

Las Vegas Hilton The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and wa ...

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, Sahara,

The D The D may refer to: * A nickname for the city of Detroit * Tenacious D, an American rock band composed of Jack Black and Kyle Gass * The D Las Vegas The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel (formerly Fitzgeralds) is a 34-story, 639-room hotel and casino in ...

, and

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casinos through the years. Chrissi retired from the group in 2013 because of throat

hemorrhaging Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...

. She was replaced first by Ashlee Amoia and later by Janien Valentine. Joey Scinta died in 2017, and the group continued on without him. A year later, Frankie transitioned to performing under his own name, rather than as The Scintas, though O'Donnell continued to play a major part in the show.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scintas, The Musical groups established in 1977 1977 establishments in New York (state) Musical groups from Buffalo, New York American comedy musical groups