The happenings
The Happenings was an American vocal quartet that was formed in Fort Dix , New Jersey , in the early 1960s .
history
The four founding members got to know each other during their time in the army. They began to sing and after their release they stayed together as a group, initially calling themselves The Four Graduates .
In the beginning, they mainly worked as an accompanying choir or background singers. They can be heard on a number of Four Seasons recordings .
Then they met Ernie Maresca and the tokens . This enabled them to record two singles . These two discs ( "What A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening" and "Candy Queen" ) were flops.
In 1965 the group changed its name to The Happenings . And now the second record was already a hit: “See You In September” climbed to number 3 in the American charts in 1966.
The song was a cover version of a track from 1959, and now The Happenings stuck to the strategy of refreshing previous hits. This was also the case with the version of Gershwin's composition I Got Rhythm , published on April 8, 1967 , which made it a million seller with its falsetto harmonies .
The group still appears sporadically and with a strongly changed line-up at oldie festivals in the northeastern United States .
Members
- Robert Miranda (vocals, guitar, organ)
- Ralph De Vito (guitar, vocals)
- replaced by Bernhard La Porta (guitar, vocals)
- John Paiva (guitar, vocals) from 1970 to 1973
- David Libert (e-bass, keyboard)
- Thomas Guliano (percussion)
Discography
Albums
- 1966: The Happenings
- 1966: Back to Back
- 1967: Psycle
- 1968: The Happenings Golden Hits
- 1969: Piece of Mind
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1966 | See You In September The Happenings |
- |
US3 (14 weeks) US |
|
| Go Away Little Girl The Happenings |
- |
US12 (9 weeks) US |
||
| Goodnight My Love Back to Back |
- |
US51 (6 weeks) US |
||
| 1967 | I got rhythm psycle |
UK28 (9 weeks) UK |
US3 (13 weeks) US |
|
| My Mammy Psycle |
UK34 (5 weeks) UK |
US13 (8 weeks) US |
||
| Why Do Fools Fall In Love Psycle |
- |
US41 (6 weeks) US |
||
| 1968 | Music Music Music The Happenings Golden Hits |
- |
US96 (2 weeks) US |
|
| Breaking Up Is Hard To Do The Happenings Golden Hits |
- |
US67 (5 weeks) US |
||
| 1969 | Where Do I Go / Be-In / Hare Krishna (Medley) |
- |
US66 (6 weeks) US |
|
Individual evidence
literature
- Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 390f