The crew cuts

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The crew cuts
The Crew Cuts in 1957
The Crew Cuts in 1957
General information
Genre (s) Doo Wop
founding 1952
resolution 1964
Members
Vocals (lead)
 John Perkins
Vocals (bass)
 Ray Perkins
Voice (first tenor)
 Pat Barrett
Singing (Barinton), arrangements
 Rudi Maugeri

The Crew-Cuts was a Canadian doo-wop vocal group. The formation were among the first white performers to make cover versions of their black colleagues and to distribute them to a broader public in the segregated American music market. Her best-known title is Sh-Boom from 1954.

Career

The quartet was founded in 1952 under the name "The Canadaires" in Toronto . In 1954 it consisted of the brothers John Perkins (* 1931) and Ray Perkins (* 1932) as well as Pat Barrett (1933–2016) and Rudi Maugeri (1931–2004), who was also responsible for the vocal arrangements. After a television appearance in Cleveland, Bill Randle became aware of the group, who proposed a new name "The Crew-Cuts" and brokered it to Mercury Records .

One of her first singles, her own composition Crazy 'bout Ya Baby , was a number 8 hit in the American charts. A black R&B template should be covered for the second recording session. The choice fell on Sh-Boom by the band The Chords , which landed very successfully on No. 2 in R&B and No. 5 on the pop charts. The cover version of the crew cuts, on the other hand, topped this success and stayed at number 1 on the pop charts for nine weeks, making it the second most successful pop song of 1954. Mercury then continued to pursue the strategy of pop-compatible recordings of black templates in big band style. This was followed by reenactments of Oop Shoop by Shirley Gunter , Earth Angel of the Penguins , the R&B standard Kokomo and more. This strategy was followed by many other white artists such as Pat Boone , Georgia Gibbs and The McGuire Sisters in the mid-1950s , until rock 'n' roll became a genre that made successful crossovers possible in all music genres and eventually became mainstream.

In 1958 the crew cuts changed to RCA Records , but could not build on their Mercury successes. After further unsuccessful stations at Warwick Records , Whale Records , Vee-Jay Records , ABC-Paramount and Chess Records , the group disbanded in 1964. 20 years later, the group was honored with induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame .

Discography

Albums

year Title
music label 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1954 The Crew Cuts on the Campus
Mercury 25200 		- US14 (2 weeks)
US
First published: 1953

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more albums

  • 1954: Crew Cut Capers (Mercury 20143)
  • 1955: The Crewcuts Go Long Hair (Mercury 20067)
  • 1956: Rock and Roll Bash (Mercury 20144)
  • 1956: Music ala carte / The Crew Cuts (Mercury 20199/12177)
  • 1959: Surprise Package ( RCA Victor 1933)
  • 1959: The Crew-Cuts Sing (RCA Victor 2037)
  • 1960: You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby! (RCA Victor 2067)
  • 1961: Sing Out (RCA Victor 102)
  • 1962: High School Favorites ( Wing 12180)
  • 1963: The Great New Sound of the Crew-Cuts / Crew-Cuts Sing Folk (Camay 3002)

Compilations

  • 1980: The Wonderful, Happy, Crazy, Innocent World of the Crew-Cuts (Picc-a-Dilly 3560)
  • 1996: The Best Of: The Mercury Years ( Spectrum 552 762; Release: July 18th)
  • 2001: Best of the Crew Cuts ( Polygram ; release: May 29)
  • 2006: Sh-Boom: Where Swing Met Doo-Wop & Rock'n'Roll (2 CDs; Jasmine 432; release: March 28th)
  • 2013: The Biggest Surprise Package: The Best of the Crew Cuts (Backtracks; release: June 17th)
  • 2017: The Singles Collection 1950–1960 (Acrobat; release: August 4th)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1954 Crazy 'Bout Ya Baby
Crew Cut Capers 		- US8 (18 weeks)
US
First published: April 1954
Authors: Pat Barrett, Rudi Maugeri
1954 Sh-Boom
Rock and Roll Bash 		UK12 (9 weeks)
UK 		US1 (20 weeks)
US
First published: June 1954
Authors: Carl Feaster, Floyd McRae,
James C. Keyes, James W. Edwards
Original: The Chords , 1954
1954 Oop shoop
rock and roll bash 		- US13 (7 weeks)
US
First published: September 1954
Authors: Blondie Taylor, Shirley Gunter
1954 an R&B hit for Shirley Gunter
1955 Earth Angel
Rock and Roll Bash 		UK4 (20 weeks)
UK 		US3 (13 weeks)
US
First published: January 1955
Author: Curtis Williams
Original: The Penguins , 1954
1955 Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)
Rock and Roll Bash 		- US6 (14 weeks)
US
First published: January 1955
Authors: Vernon Haven, Forest Wilson
Original: Gene & Eunice with Jonesy's Combo , 1954
1955 Don't be angry - US14 (8 weeks)
US
First published: November 1955
Authors: Nappy Brown , Rose Marie McCoy
Original: Nappy Brown, 1955
1955 A Story Untold
Rock and Roll Bash 		- US16 (7 weeks)
US
First published: May 1955
Author: Leroy Griffin
an R&B hit for the Nutmegs that same year
1955 Gum drop
rock and roll bash 		- US10 (8 weeks)
US
First published: August 1955
Author: Rudolph Toombs
Original: Otis Williams and His New Group , 1955
1956 Angels in the Sky
Rock and Roll Bash 		- US13 (13 weeks)
US
First published: November 1955
Author and original: Dick Glasser , 1953
1956 Mostly Martha
The Crewcuts Go Long Hair 		- US31 (9 weeks)
US
B-side by Angels in the Sky
Authors: Dorcas Cochran, Ralph Sterling based
on the aria Oh so pious, oh so dares from
the opera Martha
1938 a hit for Larry Clinton
1956 Seven Days
Rock and Roll Bash 		- US20 (11 weeks)
US
First published: December 29, 1955
Authors: Carmen Taylor, Willis Carroll
1956 Tell Me Why - US45 (5 weeks)
US
First published: May 26, 1956
Author: Titus Turner
Original: Marie Knight, 1956
1957 Young Love - US24 (12 weeks)
US
First published: December 3, 1956
Authors: Ric Cartey , Carole Joyner
Original: Ric Cartey with the Jiva-Tones, 1956

more singles

  • 1954: I Spoke Too Soon (released May)
  • 1954: The Barking Dog (released November)
  • 1954: Twinkle Toes (released November)
  • 1955: Unchained Melody
  • 1955: Chop Chop Boom (release: May)
  • 1955: Are You Having Any Fun (released September)
  • 1956: Honey Hair, Sugar Lips, Eyes of Blue (released March 21)
  • 1956: You're already with me (release: July 13th)
  • 1956: Keeper of the Flame (release: September 24th)
  • 1956: The Varsity Drag / The Halls of Ivy (release: October 17th)
  • 1956: Little by Little / Young Love (released December 3rd)
  • 1957: The Angelus (released March 1st)
  • 1957: Suzie Q / Such a Shame (released May 10)
  • 1957: I Sit in the Windows (release: July 26th)
  • 1957: Be My Only Love (released October 17th)
  • 1958: Hey, Stella! (Who Zat Down Your Cellar?) (Release: August)
  • 1958: Baby Be Mine (release: October)
  • 1959: Fraternity Pin (release: January)
  • 1959: Gone, Gone, Gone (released April)
  • 1960: It Is No Secret / No, No, Nevermore (released January)
  • 1960: American Beauty Rose (release: May)
  • 1960: Aura Lee (release: June)
  • 1960: Over the Mountain (release: July)
  • 1960: You and the Angels (release: October)
  • 1960: Malaguena (release: October)
  • 1961: The Legend of Gunga Din (released March)
  • 1962: Twistin 'All Around the World (released January)
  • 1962: Laura Love (release: April)
  • 1962: Hush Little Baby (Don't You Cry) (released May)
  • 1963: Hip-Huggers (release: May)
  • 1963: The Three Bells (release: October)
  • 1964: Yea, Yea, She Wants Me (released March)

swell

  1. ^ Canadian Music Hall of Fame - Inductees. Canadian Music Hall of Fame , accessed August 6, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Billboard Pop Hits Singles & Albums 1940–1954 by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2002, ISBN 978-0-89820-198-7 / Top Pop Singles 1955–2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978 -0-89820-172-7
  3. ↑ Chart sources: UK US

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