The Chords (American band)

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The Chords was an American doo-wop group from New York that was later active under the names The Chordcats and The Sh-Booms . During their nine-year existence, the band had their only hit with Sh-Boom in 1954 , which makes them a one-hit wonder .

Band history

The brothers Carl and Claude Feaster founded the singing group The Chords in 1951 in the New York Bronx, together with James C. Keyes, Floyd McRae and William Edwards . The formation, to which the pianist Rupert Branker belonged, was discovered three years later during a performance in a subway station. Then it came to the contract with Atlantic Records .

Music producer Jerry Wexler , who as an A&R man was also responsible for the young artists at Atlantic , had The Chords cover the Patti Page song Cross over the Bridge . The single was released in April 1954. Not the A-, but the B-side , on which the title Sh-Boom could be heard, received attention . This song was particularly popular because of its swinging R&B voices and the catchy intro , which consists of apparently nonsensical syllables like "shh-boom, shh-boom, yadda da da yadda da da da da da da". The meaning of the name Sh-Boom is believed to be due to an atomic bomb explosion , which was a major threat to the public during the Cold War . However, the text of this surreal - optimistic song also contains the message "life could be a dream", meaning that life can be a dream.

In June 1954 Sh-Boom was published as the A-side, on the B-side of this edition is the song Little Maiden . On July 3 of that year, Sh-Boom rose to the American R&B and pop charts: The track reached number 2 on the R&B hit list and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition to the hit Gee by the band The Crows from 1953, which initially also only appeared as the B-side and then, discovered by DJs , became the A-side, Sh-Boom brought black R&B music to the white audience for the first time. Not everyone considered this development as positive: Peter Potter, host of the BBC - panel game Juke Box Jury , expressed its horror expressed and guessed nobody that 5 or 20 years later, more Sh-Boom would remember and no record label to the idea would come up to publish the track again. These assumptions turned out to be in error.

The song's authors were showered with offers from music publishers who wanted to acquire the rights to Sh-Boom in the hopes of big profits . Finally, an agreement was reached with the publishing house Hill & Range. Various cover versions were then released that competed with the original, especially on the radio, for example the versions of the Billy Williams Quartet and the Canadian vocal quartet The Crew-Cuts .

The Chords appeared on various television programs. During this time they learned that there was already another band called Chords. As a result, it was renamed The Chordcats and the release of the single A Girl to Love , which went largely unnoticed. A last attempt to help the group to new popularity followed in mid-1955, when the band name was changed to The Sh-Booms in reference to their only hit. In addition to other unsuccessful single releases, such as I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire from 1957 on Vik Records , there were personnel changes in the late 1950s. For Blue Moon , the final recording of the Sh booms, the formation returned to Atlantic Records in 1960. Since there was no success this time either, the end of the group was sealed.

occupation

  • Carl Feaster (born September 24, 1930 in the Bronx , New York - † January 23, 1981) - lead vocals, tenor
  • Claude Feaster (born September 23, 1933 - November 1975) - vocals, baritone
  • James C. Keyes (born May 22, 1930 in Kentucky - † July 22, 1995 in the Bronx, New York) - vocals, 1st tenor
  • Floyd Franklin McRae († March 19, 2013) - vocals, 2nd tenor
  • James William Edwards († 1964) - vocals, bass
  • Rupert Branker - piano

Discography

Albums

  • 2005: The Best of the Chords (compilation)
  • 2006: In Mint Condition (release: December 28th)

Singles

year Title
music label 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1954 Sh-Boom
Cat 45-104 		US5 (16 weeks)
US 		R&B2 (15 weeks)
R&B
First published: June 1954
Grammy Hall of Fame
215th place on the Rolling Stone 500 (2004 list)
Authors: Carl Feaster, Floyd McRae,
James C. Keyes, James W. Edwards

More singles

  • 1954: Cross over the Bridge (release: April)
  • 1954: Zippity Zum (I'm in Love) (release: November)
  • 1954: A Girl to Love (as The Chordcats; released November)
  • 1955: Could It Be (as The Sh-Booms; release: October)
  • 1957: I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (as The Sh-Booms; release: September)
  • 1960: Blue Moon (as The Sh-Booms; release: August)
  • 1961: Sh-Boom (as The Sh-Booms; released December)

swell

  1. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4
  2. ↑ RS500 Songs (List 2004) ( Memento from June 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Web links