The Marcels were an American

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre 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, ...

group known for turning

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

songs into

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

. The group formed in 1959 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania and signed to

Colpix Records Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement o ...

with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss. The group was named after a popular hair style of the day, the

marcel wave Marcelling is a hair styling technique in which hot curling tongs are used to induce a curl into the hair. Its appearance was similar to that of a finger wave but it is created using a different method. Marcelled hair was a popular style for w ...

, by Fred Johnson's younger sister Priscilla.

Career

In 1961, the Marcels released a

cover of the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

Blue Moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...

" that began with the bass singer singing, "bomp-baba-bomp-ba-bomp-ba-bomp-bomp... vedanga-dang-dang-vadinga-dong-ding...". The record sold over one million copies and was awarded a

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 ...

. It is featured in

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. The disc went to number one in the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. In the US, additional revivals in the same vein as "Blue Moon"—" Heartaches" and "

My Melancholy Baby "My Melancholy Baby" is a popular song published in 1912 and first sung publicly by William Frawley. The music was written by Ernie Burnett (1884–1959), the lyrics by George A. Norton. Background Ernie Burnett, who is credited with compo ...

"—were less successful, although "Heartaches" peaked at No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and eventually sold over one million copies worldwide. The introduction to "Blue Moon" was an excerpt of an original song that the group had in its act, a cover of "Zoom" by the Cadillacs. Colpix A&R director Stu Phillips transferred the introduction to "Blue Moon" to give the song additional flair. The Marcels recorded "Blue Moon" in two takes. A promotion man asked for and got a copy of the finished tape, which found its way to DJ

Murray the K Murray Kaufman (February 14, 1922 – February 21, 1982), professionally known as Murray the K, was a New York City rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. During the early days of Beatlemania, he frequently referre ...

. He promoted it as an "exclusive" and reportedly played it 26 times on one show. In August 1961, due to racial problems encountered while touring in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

because of the group being multi-racial, Knauss and Bricker and Daniel Mercado left and were replaced by Allen Johnson (brother of Fred) and Walt Maddox and Mundy. In 1962, Harp and Allen Johnson left and were replaced by Richard Harris and William Herndon. There was a brief reunion of the original members in 1973. The group made several recordings in 1975 with Harp back on lead. Original member Gene Bricker died on December 10, 1983. Allen Johnson died of cancer on September 28, 1995, at age 55. By the early 1990s, the group included Johnson, Maddox, Harris, Jules Hopson, and Richard Merritt. The group split around 1995. Fred Johnson formed his own group with new members, while the other four members recruited new bassist Ted Smith. Maddox won a lawsuit against Sunny James Cvetnic, the manager of Johnson's group, for trademark infringement in 1996. Johnson reunited with Harp, Mundy and Knauss in 1999 for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

special '' Doo Wop 50''. The Marcels were inducted into the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...

in 2002. Original lead singer Cornelius "Nini" Harp died on June 4, 2013, at the age of 73. Ronald "Bingo" Mundy (born on April 20, 1940) died of pneumonia on January 20, 2017, at the age of 76. Fred Johnson died March 31, 2022, aged 80.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Chart performance

" *No.1 U.S. *No.1 U.K. *No.1 Australia2UE Top 40 Official Music Charts for Sydney, Australia 1961, 1962 and 1963 *No.1 Ger/Fra *No.1 N.Z. " Summertime" *No.78 U.S. *No.38 Australia *No.12 N.Z. " Heartaches" *No.7 U.S. *No.3 U.K. *No.15 Australia "

" *No.30 U.K. *No.7 Australia "Flowerpot" *No.10 N.Z. "Friendly Loans" *No.75 U.S. *No.31 Australia "Teeter-Totter Love" (1963 version) *No.2 Australia (The song was well received in the city of Adelaide where it reached No.2 in August 1963)7KW Official Big 60 for South Australia including Barossa Valleys and Adelaide City Centre for 1961 through 1966

Filmography

* '' Twist Around the Clock'' (1961) The Marcels' popularity in 1961 was so great that they were included in the Oscar Rudolph film '' Twist Around the Clock''. Released on December 30, 1961, with the tagline "It's Twist-eriffic! The first full-length movie about the Twist!" the film also showcased fellow artists

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

Dion DiMucci Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known Mononym, mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter. His music incorporates elements of doo-wop, Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B, folk music, folk an ...

, Vicki Spencer and singer-songwriter and TV show host turned actor Clay Cole. Allen Johnson, Gene Bricker, Cornelius Harp, Fred Johnson, Richard Knauss and Ronald Mundy of The Marcels were all included—and had speaking parts in addition to performing musical numbers. They sing "Merry Twist-Mas", which was released over Christmas 1961, though no chart action ensued. * '' Bikini Beach'' (1964) This

Annette Funicello Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. She began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original ''The Mickey Mouse Club, Mickey Mouse Cl ...

and

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...

movie, about a millionaire who sets out to prove his theory that his pet chimpanzee is as intelligent as the teenagers who hang out on the local beach where he is intending to build a retirement home but ends in hilarious results, also included two of The Marcels, Gene Bricker and Cornelius Harp. They provided backing vocals for two songs, Avalon's "Gimme Your Love Yeah Yeah Yeah" and Little

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

's "(Happy Feelin') Dance And Shout".

References

External links

Walt Maddox's Marcels
* Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundationbr>The Marcels (Inducted 2002)
* Marv Goldberg's article on The Marcels
R & B Notebooks: The Marcels
* * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcels, The Musical groups established in 1959 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 Colpix Records artists Doo-wop groups Musical groups from Pittsburgh 1959 establishments in Pennsylvania 1972 disestablishments in Pennsylvania