The Four Deuces were an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

vocal

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

, formed in the mid-1950s in Salinas,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The band was started by

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Luther McDaniel, and recorded several songs before they broke up around 1957. While active, the Four Deuces had moderate but short-lived popularity, mainly along the West Coast, mostly due to the frequent radio airplay of their hit song, "W-P-L-J".

History

The band was formed when Luther McDaniel and a group of army friends from

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

got together and began to sing

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

songs. They soon moved to rhythm and blues, and began to look for a record deal. Moving to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the band came into contact with Ray Dobard and his company, Music City Records. Once in the studio, they recorded "W-P-L-J", and a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

called "Here Lies My Love." This record was released in February 1956 (see

1956 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1956. Specific locations *1956 in British music *1956 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1956 in country music *1956 in jazz Events *January 3 – ''Bach: The Goldberg V ...

), and received wide radio airplay across the US. Besides in their home territory of San Francisco, the Four Deuces were especially popular in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The Four Deuces returned to the studio later in the year and released another record, which featured "Down it Went" and "The Goose is Gone", but these were not as popular. The group broke up shortly after. This group is not to be confused with the group that recorded "Polly/Yella Shoes" on

Everest Records Everest Records was a record label based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music. History The idea for starting a label was related by electronics inventor Harry ...

. That group was a white pop group, probably from New York.

W-P-L-J

The Four Deuces were best known for their song "W-P-L-J", which stands for white port and lemon juice. This later became the jingle for wine producer Italian Swiss Colony.

The Mothers of Invention version

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

and

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock music, rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an ...

covered the song in 1969, releasing it in 1970 on the album ''

Burnt Weeny Sandwich ''Burnt Weeny Sandwich'' is the seventh album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It consists of both studio and live recordings. Following the Mothers' split in late 1969, ...

''. This version was both a satire of and a homage to the original, and Zappa has conceded admiringly that he could not have written a song any more absurd, stating during a concert in Toronto that the titular drink made him vomit. The song prompted a rock radio station in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

then known as WABC-FM to change its

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), based in Franklin, Tennessee, it broadcasts EMF's Christian adult contemporary formatted p ...

on February 14, 1971; it still uses the callsign to this day. A cover of the song by

Hall and Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and backing vocals ...

was the last song played by the station as a commercial outlet on May 31, 2019.

Discography

*"W-P-L-J" / "Here Lies My Love" (1956) *"Down it Went" / "The Goose is Gone" (1956)

References

External links