The Cleftones were an American vocal group formed in 1955, who were then called The Silvertones at Junior High School 40 in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Formation

In 1955, the members of the group were high school students attending

Jamaica High School Jamaica High School was a four-year public high school in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was operated by the New York City Department of Education. Jamaica High School was founded as the Union Free School in 1854, and located within a three-stor ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York. The group initially formed around the idea of writing a political campaign jingle for Jamaica High School's Independent Party, an unpopular group of students "made up of people who were typically also-rans in all the school activities", which included future members of The Cleftones. With this aim, Herbie Cox (lead singer), along with classmates Charlie James McGhee (first tenor), Berman Patterson (second tenor), Warren Corbin (bass) and William "Buzzy" McClane (baritone), changed the lyrics to "Gee", a then-popular rhythm-and-blues song by

The Crows The Crows were an American R&B vocal group formed in 1951. They achieved commercial success and popularity during the 1950s with their debut single and only hit, " Gee". The single, released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first ...

. Performing their version of "Gee" resulted in making the Independent Party popular and winning the school elections. The group began performing locally as "The Silvertones" in a variety of neighborhood concerts, such as at Hillcrest Jewish Center Day Camp in Queens. The hit song "Gee" was originally produced by "gruff music industry legend"

George Goldner George Goldner (February 9, 1918 – April 15, 1970) was an American record label owner, record producer and promoter who played an important role in establishing the popularity of rock and roll in the 1950s, by recording and promoting many ...

, who also signed the group, now renamed "The Cleftones", to a recording contract in 1955.

Hits and recordings

In their first effort as professional musicians, Corbin and Patterson wrote "You Baby You", which became a hit in 1955. Herb Cox then wrote "Little Girl of Mine" and "Can't We Be Sweethearts" for the group. However, after a few minor hits ("Why You Do Me Like You Do" and "See You Next Year") their next major hits would not come until years later. In 1961 the second generation of The Cleftones included Herb Cox, Charlie James, Warren Corbin, Gene Pearson (baritone from The Rivileers who replaced baritone William "Buzzy" McClane) and new addition Pat Spann, the first and only female to sing with the group. In 1961 they reached No. 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

with " Heart and Soul", a rearrangement of the 1938 song of the same name (a No. 1 by Larry Clinton and his orchestra, with Bea Wain on vocals). The group followed that song with "For Sentimental Reasons" (1962), a rearrangement of a 1936 song of the same name. However, the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

of the mid-1960s took the audiences of The Cleftones and other

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, ...

groups. Gene Pearson left to sing with

The Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

from 1962 to 1966. The Cleftones broke up in 1964, three years after their "Heart and Soul" greatest success. In 2000, tenor Berman Patterson characterized his experience with The Cleftones: Lead singer Herb Cox (born Herbert Alexander Cox on May 6, 1938) died in

Fayetteville, Georgia Fayetteville ( ; locally ) is a city in and the county seat of Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,957, up from 15,945 at the 2010 census. Fayetteville is located south of downtown ...

, on December 7, 2019, at the age of 81. Berman Patterson died on October 1, 2023, at the age of 85.

Songs featured in selected films

* "Can't We Be Sweethearts" appeared in the film '' Goodfellas''. * " Heart and Soul" appeared in the films ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat ...

'', ''

Mischief Mischief (or malicious mischief) is the name for a class of criminal offenses that are defined differently in different legal jurisdictions. While the wrongful acts will often involve what is popularly described as vandalism, there can be a lega ...

'' and ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

''. * "Little Girl of Mine" appeared in the film ''

A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age crime film, crime drama film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale (p ...

''. * "Lover Boy" appeared in the film ''

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

''. * "My Angel Lover" appeared in the film '' Susie Q''.

References

External links

Cleftones biography, discography, photos, and further links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleftones African-American musical groups Apex Records artists Doo-wop groups Musical groups established in 1955 1955 establishments in New York City Musical groups from Queens, New York