Harmony, Perfect Harmony

 

“The vocal group sound is an American art form that is becoming a forgotten part of our heritage”, wrote Jay Warner in the preface to his 1992 edition of ‘The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups’. As a UK collectors group that has tracked and documented the career of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons it seems totally appropriate for us to continue Jay’s good work and to devote blog space to preserving and informing re other great ‘harmony’ groups from the 60s.

 Frankie Valli wrote the ‘Foreword’ to that book and said…” Of course, vocal groups hold a special place in my heart, but I believe that anyone who’s ever sung with a friend or two, or just enjoyed listening to an act that happened to be a singing group, can appreciate the unique feeling that harmony brings to all forms of music……Behind all these harmonies and styles are stories of human interest. Each and every group had something to contribute to music history even if they didn’t become big successes …Maybe that’s what makes vocal groups fascinating. The big acts are always interesting, but lesser known groups ( who often contributed future solo artists) made their mark as well…...I remember the struggles and fears, the one-nighters and grueling tours, the frustration and exhilaration of recording sessions, the elation of hitting the charts, the good and the bad performance venues, the TV show turmoils, the extremely hard work and rehearsals, the light moments and the good times, the ironies, the coincidences, and the transient nature of vocal groups that often required one to keep a score card. I remember these thing’s, not only about my own group but about all the groups we met, performed with, grew up with, or watched retire before us…It’s gratifying to see the groups getting some long-overdue recognition”

Jay Warner certainly provided a “momentous encyclopedia” of vocal groups. So as archivists and music detectives we will expand this blog and dedicate it to preserving and informing re many of the groups in Jay Warner’s excellent book.. With the internet now providing access to previously un-valuable archive information and ‘lost tracks’ either previously un-issued or little known, we can point the collector at the CD sources  and capture maybe some of the ‘human interest’ stories  filling  in some of the gaps via this blog and the UK Newsletter.

Our first research project involves the Happenings Later Years 1969-77 so watch this blog for our next research….and contact us if you believe a vocal group deserves to have their ‘human interest’ stories recorded or their ‘lost tracks’ preserved. We will do what we can. And maybe it will encourage the record companies to make the tracks available in best quality sound. Contact chameleon@seasonally.co.uk if you want us to publish a tribute to your favourite ‘harmony’ vocal group..

Casey Chameleon