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The Playmates were an American late 1950s vocal group led by the
pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
Chic Hetti (born Carl Cicchetti, 26 February 1930), drummer Donny Conn (born Donald Claps, 29 March 1930 – September 2, 2015), and Morey Carr (31 July 1932 – 1987), all from
Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
, United States.


Career

The Playmates—Donald Claps (a.k.a. Donny Conn), drummer and lyricist; Carl Cicchetti (a.k.a. Chic Hetti), pianist music composer; and Morey Cohen (a.k.a. Morey Carr), lead vocalist—were an instrumental and vocal trio, from Waterbury, Connecticut, and, in the early 1950s, at the
University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
. After graduation in 1952, they began touring small lounges and night clubs in the United States and Canada, originally as "the Nitwits", later as the Playmates. Signed to
Roulette Records Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed ...
in 1958 as the label's first vocal group, and anticipating a Calypso craze, the group recorded an album called ''Playmates Visit the West Indies''. They then released two notable Top 40
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'' ...
 — "Jo-Ann" and "Don't Go Home" — before having a number 4
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 ...
(July 9, 1958) with the tempo-changing
novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...
"Beep, Beep", which became a regular feature for
Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
. The " Beep, Beep" song was on the '' Billboard''
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...
chart for twelve weeks. It sold more than 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 ...
. Concurrently with the popularity of "Beep Beep", American Motors Corporation (AMC) was setting production and sales records for the Rambler models. Because of a directive by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
at the time that songs did not include
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
names in their
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...
, a version of "Beep Beep" was recorded for the
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an market, replacing the Cadillac and
Nash Rambler The Nash Rambler is a North American automobile that was produced by the Nash Motors division of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation from 1950 to 1954 in sedan, wagon, and fixed-profile convertible body styles. On 1 May 1954, Nash-Kelvinator merged ...
with the generic terms
limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...
and
bubble car Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are oft ...
. The group followed up with a chart listing single in 1959 with "What Is Love" and then again in 1960 with "Wait For Me". After four
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
s for Roulette, the novelty group — known for its between-song
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
and banter as much for its repertoire — broke up in 1965. Morey Carr died from lung cancer in 1987. Donald Claps died in Malibu, California, on September 2, 2015 at the age of 85.


Discography

Charted singles (U.S.) / 45 rpm. (Release Month/Year), Title, (Label), Billboard Chart peak * (January, 1958), "Jo-Ann" (Roulette), #19 * (April, 1958), "Let's Be Lovers" (Roulette), #87 * (June, 1958), "Don't Go Home" (Roulette), #22 * (September, 1958), "The Day I Died" (Roulette), #81 * (November, 1958), "Beep Beep" (Roulette), #4 * (March, 1959), "Star Love" (Roulette), #75 * (July, 1959), "
What Is Love "What Is Love (Baby Don't Hurt Me)" is a song recorded by Trinidadian-German Eurodance artist Haddaway for his debut album, '' The Album'' (1993). The song was released in 1993 as the album's lead single. It was a hit in Europe, becoming a numbe ...
" (Roulette), #15 * (October, 1960), "Wait for Me" (Roulette), #37 * (March, 1961), "Little Miss Stuck-Up" (Roulette), #70 * (July, 1962), "Keep Your Hands in Your Pockets" (Roulette), #88 Album * ''At Play with the Playmates'' (1958) ;Side one # "Jo-Ann" – 2:35 # "Your Love" – 2:09 # "Darling It's Wonderful" – 2:35 # "Substitute for Love" – 2:13 # "Magic Shoes" – 2:10 # "While the Record Goes Around" – 2:10 ;Side two # " Beep Beep" – 3:01 # "The Day I Died" – 2:20 # "Give Me Another Chance" – 2:25 # "Lovable" – 2:16 # "Intimate" – 2:20 # "Don't Go Home" – 2:30


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Playmates, The American novelty song performers Musical groups established in 1958 Musical groups disestablished in 1964 Apex Records artists Roulette Records artists 1958 establishments in Connecticut