The Crests
The Crests were an American doo-wop singing group.
history
The original formation was founded in New York in the mid- 1950s . Founding members were JT Carter, Harold Torres, Talmadge Gough and Patricia Vandross, the older sister of the future R&B artist Luther Vandross. JT found the singer Johnny Mastrangelo (later Johnny Maestro) who mainly contributed to the success of the Crests with his distinctive voice. By then, Patricia Vandross had already left the group, supposedly because she was too young to go on concert tours. In 1957 the quartet got a record deal with Joyce Records and was the first to release the song Sweetest One / My Juanita . In 1958 the group switched to Coed Records and the hits followed: Sixteen Candles became a bestseller .
The Crests' success continued until 1960 . Then lead singer Johnny Maestro left the group to try his hand at being a soloist . The singer James Ancrum replaced him. With him the Crests had another respectable success with the song Little Miracles . However, contrary to the previous songs, this single was the first to not reach the top 100. Talmadge Gough then left the group and was replaced by Gary Lewis (not Gary Lewis from Gary Lewis & The Playboys). Then the group broke up. In 1969, Johnny Maestro was still a million seller as the singer of the band Brooklyn Bridge .
In 2004 the group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame . Johnny Maestro died on March 24, 2010 as a result of cancer.
Members
- Johnny Maestro
- Jay T. Carter
- Harold Torres
- Talmadge Gough
- Patricia Vandross
Discography
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| The Crests | ||||
| 1957 | Sweetest One |
US86 (2 weeks) US |
- | |
| 1958 | 16 candles |
US2 (2 weeks) US |
R&B4 (11 weeks) R&B |
Coed 506
|
| 1959 | Six Nights A Week |
US28 (13 weeks) US |
- |
Coed 509
|
| Flower of Love |
US79 (6 weeks) US |
- | ||
| The Angels Listened In |
US22 (16 weeks) US |
R&B14 (8 weeks) R&B |
Coed 515
|
|
| A Year Ago Tonight |
US42 (10 weeks) US |
- |
Coed 521
|
|
| 1960 | Step by step |
US14 (15 weeks) US |
- |
Coed 525
|
| Trouble in Paradise |
US20 (13 weeks) US |
- |
Coed 525
|
|
| The Crests featuring Johnny Maestro | ||||
| 1960 | Journey of Love |
US81 (4 weeks) US |
- |
Coed 535
|
| Isn't it amazing |
US100 (1 week) US |
- |
Coed 537
|
|
| 1961 | What a surprise | - |
R&B33 (8 weeks) R&B |
|
More singles
- 1957: No One To Love
- 1958: Pretty Little Angel
- 1960: I'll Remember (In The Still Of The Night)
- 1960: Say It Isn't So
- 1961: Little Miracles
- 1961: Model Girl
- 1962: The Actor
- 1962: Guilty
- 1963: Did I Remember
- 1964: A Love To Last A Lifetime
literature
- Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 128-131.
Web links
- The Crests
- The Crests at Allmusic (English)