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[RED PRYSOCK, "HAND CLAPPIN']

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ANNOUNCER: And here it is, Alan Freed's Rock and Roll Party.

And here he is in person, Alan Freed.

ALAN FREED: Hello, everybody.

How are y'all?

Welcome to our Rock and Roll Jubilee of Stars.

And here we go to rockin'.

KENNY VANCE: When I was a kid, I remember

hearing Alan Freed on the radio, and he

announced that he was having a rock and roll show.

No one knew what that was.

And I took the subway to the Brooklyn Paramount,

and there were thousands and thousands

of people waiting on line.

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

[CHATTER]

[AUDIENCE CHEERING]

And when that show started, it was the most unbelievable thing

I'd ever seen in my life.

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

Everybody could sing their ass off.

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

Things just shot off that stage, and entered my heart,

and have stayed with me for the rest of my life.

[MUSIC FADING]

MAN 1: One, check.

One, key, check, check.

[GUITAR RIFFING]

We added like three and, like--

I have the Polk master set at the same thing.

[CHATTER]

MAN 1: Do whatever you want.

[MUMBLING]

MAN 1: Mack.

MAN 2: Hello.

What did you do with your jacket?

Let's see.

You can't see it.

The lap of luxury.

That's right.

You can see how it's set up back here.

Oh, man.

Look who's here.

MAN 1: Is this rock and roll?

It is now.

It just became rock and roll.

It's not rock and roll as people know it anyway,

right, as most people know it?

I don't know what this is.

MAN 1: I don't know.

We're keeping something going.

(SINGING) Oh darling, oh, darling

Oh, oh, oh my darling.

Anybody here from Brooklyn?

[CROWD CHEERING]

You know, when I was a kid, I remember

seeing James Sheppard and The Heartbeats, Pookie Hudson

and the Spaniels.

I saw The Turbans there with those yellow suits.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: "Congratulations"!

Yeah, congratulations.

(SINGING) Congratulations on your new love affair

You have my best wishes

(SPEAKING) "Congratulations" by The Turbans,

the follow up to "When You Dance."

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm basically stalling for time now,

because I gotta hit this very high note.

[LAUGHTER]

[APPLAUSE]

[VOCALIZING]

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): There's nothing better than playing

music that you love--

the spirit of it, the passion of it.

It fills you up from the inside.

[THE MOONGLOWS, "SINCERELY"]

We've carried these songs with us through the years.

(SINGING) Sincerely

They live inside of us.

(SINGING) Oh, yeah

This is where it all started.

It's the music of the unsung heroes of rock and roll.

(SINGING) Please say you'll be mine.

[VOCALIZING]

It's Kenny.

Listen, I just got off the exit.

I'll be-- I'll be there as soon as I can.

Are you going to play some Jay and the Americans stuff or what?

Waiting for me to come?

OK.

I got "Wisdom of a Fool" with me.

I got the guitar.

I learned "She Cried," and we could do "This Is It,"

and we could have a ball.

OK, see you later.

[MUSIC FADING]

ANNOUNCER (ON RADIO): Now, now, now, back to Friday Night

Doo-Wop with Rick McCaffrey and the Solid Gold Jukebox.

DJ (ON RADIO): And this is Oldies 97.

We have three of the four original members

of Jay and the Americans here in the studio.

We're expecting Kenny Vance any minute.

We are really super excited about having

Jay Traynor and the Americans here,

40 years of the anniversary of She

Cried, number two record in America.

I haven't been able to sleep for days.

SANDY DEANNE (ON RADIO): Get a life

DJ (ON RADIO): OK, Sandy.

We had a request for this one.

[THE CLEFTONES, "HEART AND SOUL"] Heart and soul

I fell in love with you

Heart and soul

The way a fool would do

Madly because you held me tight

Held me tight

Held me tight

Held me tight

Held me tight

Held me tight

Held me tight

Held me tight

And stole a kiss

Stole a kiss

There in the night

Heart and soul

I beg to be adored

Yes, and I lost control and tumbled overboard

Gladly that magic night we kissed

That we kissed

Oh, we kissed

That we kissed

Oh, we kissed

Oh, we kissed

That we kissed

Oh, we kissed

That we kissed

Oh, we kissed

WOMAN (ON PHONE): [SQUEALING]

MAN: Hold on just a second.

WOMAN (ON PHONE): Oh.

DJ: After this song, you can talk to Jay Traynor.

WOMAN (ON PHONE): I'm so excited.

OK, how are you doing?

He looks good, right?

Yeah.

Sure.

Think about it.

What's happening?

Gary, nice jacket.

Thank you.

I got it from the--

Sharp, man.

How would you feel about doing "She Cried" live?

We haven't even seen each other in a while.

I mean, I'm not--

I'm trying to think we could do maybe something simple.

I don't know, whatever you want to do.

To me, the really great group record is the follow up to She

Cried, which is This is It.

Uh huh.

JAY TRAYNOR: I listen to it, and I'm taken back

by the drumming on it.

I think it's Gary Chester.

KENNY VANCE: Gary Chester.

You gotta hear the way this guy kicks on this thing.

I mean, it's such a--

like a drum machine.

He's unbelievable.

DJ: Let's play it.

Let's play it.

KENNY VANCE: Great.

SANDY DEANNE: Let's go.

This is the Friday Night Doo-Wop Show.

We are featuring the 40th anniversary reunion

of the original Jay and the Americans here tonight.

[JAY AND THE AMERICANS, "THIS IS IT FOR ME"] Ah, ah, ah, ooh

(SINGING) She doesn't love me anymore

She doesn't want my kisses

KENNY VANCE: Wow.

DJ: Great song.

(SINGING) I know that this is it for me

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): It's amazing seeing these guys

that I harmonized with in my mother's basement when I was 16.

When we started, we were basically

a doo-wop group emulating music that we heard on the radio, just

guys from the neighborhood that kept having hit records.

(SINGING) This is it

(SINGING) And I know I know

This is it

That this is it for me

DJ: Oldies 97.

I tell you, you guys got--

you guys got real potential.

Woo!

No, you know, in those days, the way groups started were--

none of us really knew any music.

So if you were lucky enough to have

three guys on three different notes instead

of all the guys on the same note--

if three guys hit three different notes,

it was immediate eye contact.

And the next day, we bought suits and took pictures.

[LAUGHTER]

MAN: That's true.

(SINGING) Where I come from the folks are poor

But rich in loving, that's for sure

In my neighborhood

In my neighborhood

No fancy things, no fancy car

Things we own are the movie stars in my neighborhood

[THE JIVE FIVE, "WHAT TIME IS IT?"]

(SINGING) Tick tock listen to the bop bop

Tick tock listen to the clock

What time is it?

Listen to the clock

I've just got to know

What time is it?

It's 8 o'clock

Now I'm at her door

And my heart is beating fast.

Go straight.

Go straight.

Go straight.

We're gonna take this here straight out.

(SINGING) What time is it?

It's time--

Yeah, the projects here, they used to have a lot--

a lot of dances right there in the park.

This is the Kingsborough Projects.

And down here, this is where The Rocket

Tones and The Jesters that came out of these projects down here.

We used to come down here.

They had, like, the battle of the groups.

And The Jive Five, we used to come over to party.

Yeah.

That's the only time they let us in,

because all the girls would come out--

come out to hear The Jive Five singing in the hallway.

(SINGING) Never, never, never

Those were good days, a lot of fun.

(SINGING) Oh never, never, never

Because I love you so

And you know

Norman Johnson, who used to live on Myrtle Avenue,

Richard Harris, who used to live right

here on Hart Street, number 7.

Jerome Hanna used to live down here on Pulaski Street.

He was Lucky?

Yeah, Lucky.

And me, Eugene Pitt, and Billy Prophet on Myrtle Avenue.

Then we had The Persuasions in this area.

We had The Strangers in this neighborhood.

Little Anthony might come from down the projects.

They were down Fort Green Park.

And at night, you know, when it was quiet,

you can hear harmonies.

You know, like the--

You'd hear it in the air.

Hear it in the air.

Where the guys singing from, you know?

You would go over on the side where they were singing.

Hey, you let us hit one.

KENNY VANCE: Right.

And then our group, we'd start singing.

One of the girls might like ours better.

It was always like a battle to impress the girls--

a lot of fun.

Are we still trying to do that?

Well, now, no.

No.

No.

No way, huh?

No.

WALLY ROKER: This is one of our plaid situations.

[LAUGHTER]

KENNY VANCE: Here's Wally.

These are killers, man.

How old were you?

About 17.

KENNY VANCE: Unbelievable.

[THE HEARTBEATS, "YOUR WAY"] You always will remember

You never will forget

Do, do, do, do, do

The one that you love, yes

Now that she's gone

WALLY ROKER: Vernon, Crump, and Robbie

were always harmonizing from the time

they were 12 or 13 years old.

Vernon was the baritone.

Robbie was the second tenor.

And Crump was the first tenor.

We met at Woodrow Wilson High School.

They were looking for a bass singer.

I'd never sang in a group before.

(SINGING) You go your way

My voice made it complete, as far as the four-part harmony.

And we started looking for somebody that

was really a lead, lead singer.

(SINGING) Away, away, away

We picked up Shep after we were together for about a year.

And we rehearsed basically 24/7 every day.

Every day we rehearsed.

[EMERALDS, "YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY"] You're driving me crazy

Oh, my darling where have you been?

KENNY VANCE: I know what it feels

like to be part of a group.

There's something special about it.

When you guys were--

Especially when you're on.

Everybody's always nervous and waiting for the note

to come down.

Once the note comes down, and you can feel it--

feel the vibration of the harmony being at its best,

and you're getting out the tones and the sounds,

it's just outrageous.

There's nothing like it.

Because it's 100% pure music.

The purest you can get is human voices.

And you could cry based on just certain melodies.

(SINGING) For you

Crazy for you

KENNY VANCE: I remember hearing The Heartbeats on the radio.

Alan Freed on Saturday had the countdown,

and you guys were always right up there.

WALLY ROKER: Right.

KENNY VANCE: For me, as a kid, the sound of The Heartbeats

made me crazy.

And I went to the Brooklyn Paramount,

and one of the names on the marquee is The Heartbeats.

The curtain went up, and we had Sam the Man Taylor

and Big Al Sears, Panama Francis.

WALL ROKER: [VOCALIZING]

How'd it go?

[VOCALIZING]

[SAXOPHONE PLAYING]

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): Seeing Alan Freed coming out there,

it was like larger than life.

ALAN FREED: What can you say about a sensation

all over the world?

Frankie Lymon, a 13-year-old youngster with a great way with

a song, and The Teenagers.

["BABY BABY" PLAYING] Baby, baby

[DOO WOP VOCALIZING]

Baby, baby, how I want you

Baby, baby, how I need you

Baby, baby you're the only 1, 2, 3, 4

Baby, baby, how I miss you

Baby, baby long to kiss you

Baby, baby say you want me 2, 3, 4, 5

You're my favorite

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): When I saw

Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers come out, I never forgot.

They just shot off of that stage.

This was the most extraordinary stuff I had ever heard.

You'd just want to start jumping.

You'd just want to start vibrating.

I used to play it over and over and over again.

I couldn't get enough of it.

It was just like, what is this?

What is this?

It just connected to your soul.

[THE CHANTELS, "MAYBE"]

(SINGING) Maybe if I pray every night

You'll come back to me

And maybe if I cry every day

You'll come back to stay

Oh, maybe

ARLENE SMITH: I can remember, when I got out on stage,

the light hit me, and I was gone.

(SINGING) Maybe if I hold your hand

You will understand

And maybe

I remember singing the whole song,

and coming to, and realizing, oh, I finished this.

Where was I?

I was out.

I was totally up into the light.

(SINGING) Oh maybe

Baby, baby, baby, baby

Maybe

Baby, baby, baby, baby

Maybe

Baby, baby, baby, baby

Maybe

Baby, baby, baby, baby

[CHILDREN CHATTERING]

It's wild to be here, because I know Arlene.

They know me as Ms. Smith.

Ms. Smith.

OK.

So we'll do Ms. Smith today.

OK.

So I know Ms. Smith from a whole other way.

And Ms. Smith is shy.

I know that.

And she's very modest, too.

But when Ms. Smith was only a couple of years

older than you guys, when she was around 12, she

and some friends in the neighborhood,

they started to have a singing group.

Ms. Smith wrote a few songs, and they made some records.

And when I was a little kid, we would go into the hallways

or into the bathroom where they had a good echo sound,

and we would imitate Ms. Smith's songs.

(SINGING) He's gone

I don't know where but he's gone

I must have done something wrong

He is gone.

He is gone

ARLENE SMITH: As a youngster, all I wanted to do was sing.

I went to a Catholic school.

We had to learn the music of the church--

Latin hymns and Gregorian chants.

I didn't envision myself as part of a group.

I just knew that my voice was going

to be associated with music.

(SINGING) I'm sorry you're gone, gone, gone, gone

(SINGING) Gone

ARLENE SMITH: That was nice.

(SINGING) Bom, bom, bom

Oh, please by my girlfriend

I've been waiting for a long, long time

For the moment I can call you mine

Oh, little girl say, yes

I tell you

Yes, yes

Why don't you be my girlfriend

Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen.

Yo, what it look like?

KENNY VANCE: We got royalty here.

What's going on?

[CHATTER]

All right, wow.

Thanks for coming down.

Wow.

CLEVELAND STILL: Pleasure, man.

Pleasure.

You know, there's somebody here from Japan

that I want you to meet.

Oh, yeah.

I don't know where he is.

Yeah, I didn't see him.

He knows The Dubs, you know?

He knows the whole--

I bet that he would know who played bass on [INAUDIBLE].

That's the kind of guy he is.

Yeah.

That's the kind of guy he is.

Where is Yoshi?

I didn't see him.

I don't know.

Who is this?

That's my granddaughter.

CLEVELAND STILL: Oh, beautiful.

The love of my life.

Yoshi, this is Cleveland Still.

Cleveland Still.

How, are you?

Hello.

Pleasure to meet you.

Yoshi from Japan.

It's a pleasure.

MAN: Do you remember The Dubs?

Sure, "Could This Be Magic."

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How about that?

He named-- he named his company.

YOSHI: Yeah, [INAUDIBLE] Magic.

MAN: Yoshi has a record company in Japan.

KENNY VANCE: Can I take a picture of you?

MAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's a good idea.

Is it on?

MANL Yeah.

OK, sneak in.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KENNY VANCE: Oh, my God.

You know, when I hear these chords,

it reminds me of the days at the Brooklyn Paramount,

when I was waiting on line.

I was a little kid, and I'd go in there,

and groups like The Dubs would be up there on the stage,

and they'd be doing stuff like this.

Cleveland, why don't you come up here and show us

how to do it, my man?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Show it.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Doesn't that make your heart feel good?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[VOCALIZING]

["COULD THIS BE MAGIC" PLAYING] Could this be magic, my dear

Having your love

My prayers were answered

So far from above

I thought that it would be just a memory

CLEVELAND STILL: I've met Richard.

Richard was singing with Five Wings at the time.

Everybody's doing something.

They're singing.

You go by, you hear them, and say, wait.

I got a couple of guys over my way,

and we'll try them out and see what they sound like.

He said, well, Cleve-- said, you guys got a nice background,

you know?

I said, yeah, you got a nice lead,

because that's what I needed.

I needed a good lead singer.

Because I was trying to do it, and I don't think my--

I didn't think my voice was good enough to handle the pressure.

So you were changing personnel, like, overnight.

Just about every night, you would change in personnel

until you got the voice that you wanted.

(SINGING) Could this be magic?

Then magic is mine

The bubbling enthusiasm of our teenagers

was the inspiration for what is now

the most popular style of music in the country, rock and roll.

A few short weeks ago, five teenage boys

went into a recording studio, and they

said they had a song they wanted to sing.

It is now the number one record in America,

and the song is "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"

They call themselves The Teenagers.

[APPLAUSE]

JIMMY MERCHANT: In my bedroom, all I could hear is--

[VOCALIZING]

--my father playing records.

["TAKE THE TRAIN" PLAYING]

And he would be imitating the horn parts.

[VOCALIZING]

Trombone.

[VOCALIZING]

And I'm listening to all of this.

And I'm in a hallway with three other guys,

but we're singing what's on the radio.

(SINGING) Doo, doo, doo, doo

Sweetheart well, it's time to go

(SPEAKING) Watch this.

[VOCALIZING]

["WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE" PLAYING]

(SINGING) Why do fools fall in love

Why do birds sing so gay

And lovers await the break of day

Why do they fall in love?

ARTIE RIPP: Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers,

that was the American sensation, when

George Goldner had that group.

He was a cat who made records, signed

groups, owned the record company, directed the promotion.

What he let out of the bag when he created Tico,

and when he created Rama, and when he created Gone and End

and when he created Gee, nobody's

ever been able to duplicate.

The major record companies all of a sudden

had to take notice and say, what are these guys doing?

You know, all of a sudden the world has changed.

Our artists are no longer succeeding.

Kids ain't buying those records, man.

They're buying Frankie Lymon's next record,

you know, The Cleftones' next record, OK, Flamingos, Chantels.

He was the man.

He was the man.

Without him, I don't know where we would be.

ARTIE RIPP: George was into hits and stars.

That's what it was all about.

(SINGING) Why does my heart skip a crazy beat

For I know

ARLENE SMITH: I heard Frankie Lymon on the radio,

but when I heard Humphrey say he was 13, the bell rang.

I said, he's 13?

I should be doing this.

We went to his block on 162nd Street, and we stood.

We stalked him.

I guess that was stalking, because we come on his block

and wait to see him come out of his house.

And we'd get dressed up and go to the show and wait backstage.

And that's how we finally connected.

(SINGING) Don't ever leave

Baby, baby, baby, baby stick with me

(SPEAKING) One thing I can say, we

were well trained for tone, pitch, quality.

KENNY VANCE: Oh, God.

ARLENE SMITH: So when you heard all

of those those harmonies interchanging, it was beautiful.

So when we went to audition, we brought that training.

(SINGING) Hear my plea

We went walking into George Goldner's office,

and we sang "The Plea."

And he pulled the contracts off his stool, One, two, three.

And we had to take them home and have them signed.

It was no problem.

KENNY VANCE: Right, it was just like, let's go.

ARLENE SMITH: The sound was incredible.

KENNY VANCE: It was incredible.

(SINGING) Baby, baby, stick with me

It would be fine

Baby, baby, baby it is you

JAY TRAYNOR: This night is making

me remember my first teenage girlfriend from Brooklyn,

a girl named Barbara Hunt.

DJ: Really?

Yeah.

It's funny.

I remember her name and everything.

And I remember songs like "Mr. Lee" and "Tonight, Tonight"

from The Mello-Kings.

So it brings back--

KENNY VANCE: That song was written

about-- are you remembering your first woman on the road also?

Oh.

Have you got "Traveling Stranger" by Little Anthony?

"Traveling Stranger."

I'll tell you a good story.

Because Jay, he said about his first girlfriend.

So Anthony was telling this story,

and he says, you know, I remember my first girlfriend.

He says, I used to be on a train.

I was going from Brooklyn.

I was taking the A train to Harlem to see this little girl.

Memories.

That's another story anyway.

Right, right.

So I--

You'll get sued--

[LAUGHTER]

--for breach of contract.

[LAUGHTER]

You know, from J Street and Borough Hall on 25th Street,

I would go to the front of the train and pretend that I was

driving the train.

I did this, and I really wanted to see her really bad,

you know what I mean?

Anyway, it didn't happen, and I was very depressed.

So when on my way back, I was sitting there going,

I'm just a traveling stranger, man.

God.

["TRAVELING STRANGER" PLAYING]

(SINGING) Oh, I'm just a traveling stranger on my way

And I'm looking for your love

Oh, I'm just a drifting stranger on my way

And I'm looking--

I can't write tunes unless I feel pain.

Absolutely.

To women.

I said to him, how come I can never write a song that's happy?

But we did write a happy song.

But that was when we were in California.

In California.

When we was having a good time.

Good day sunshine player.

Goodbye good times.

Goodbye good times.

Right, right, right, right.

But it is.

In the hood, you got pain.

Yes, pain.

You know what I'm saying?

Man, I want to get out of here.

Girl was tearing my life and tearing me apart.

So you-- you look at television,

and you see different people doing different things.

Man, I want to be there.

I want to do that.

KENNY VANCE: It was always the group.

That's the thing that's gonna get me out of wherever you were,

and the success, and the money, and the camaraderie.

You guys have been together since you were teenagers.

Right.

KENNY VANCE: And to still be together,

and to have made it through, it's a miracle.

["I'M ALRIGHT" PLAYING] I'm all right

I said I-- I'm all right

Listen

She told me that you love me

She told me that you cared

And when she told me that, it made me feel like a millionaire

Everything's gonna be

Everything's gonna be

Everything's gonna be

Everything's gonna be be be be be be be

KENNY VANCE: I remember coming to see you as a 13-year-old kid.

MAN: Yes, right.

KENNY VANCE: The whole thing was a trip.

MAN: Right.

KENNY VANCE: You guys would do the dance thing.

It defied human--

MAN: Gravity.

ANTHONY GOURDINE: Gravity.

MAN: Back then.

KENNY VANCE: The place went crazy.

The screaming was unbelievable.

[CROWD CHEERING]

JAY TRAYNOR: It's so good.

They were always so good.

DJ: Gentlemen, the original members of Jay

and the Americans, celebrating 40th anniversary of She Cried,

number 2 record in 1962.

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): In those days,

we were lucky enough to get with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Leiber and Stoller were producers.

If it wasn't for them, we never would have had a hit

or never would have had anything happen.

We really, you know, were tools of theirs.

[BOP CHORDS, "WHEN I WOKE UP THIS MORNING"]

(SINGING) I woke up this morning

The sun shining brightly

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): But when we went up to their office,

it was already the early '60s.

And they had a concept that had strings, and horns,

and big rhythm sections.

It wasn't doo-wop, but we knew it was great.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

HOWIE KANE: But did you know that we were, like,

kind of done?

I think after they put out "Dawning,"

and it didn't make it at that point.

I think Lieber and Stoller were gonna cut our contracts,

because I think they really gave us a shot with one album and one

deal.

And I remember we were feeling terrible.

And then, all of a sudden, I was going back

to the funeral business, because my father was an undertaker.

And I remember, they turned it over.

I don't remember who it was.

But they played the B-side.

MAN: They played it over and over.

HOWIE KANE: "She Cried--" and then we got a call back,

and that was it.

JAY TRAYNOR: We were at a gig somewhere in Jersey,

and we were driving back on the Jersey Turnpike.

And all of a sudden, it came on the radio

that this was the first time we went--

we went nuts in the car.

[JAY AND THE AMERICANS, "SHE CRIED"] And when I told her I

didn't love her anymore

She cried

She cried

And when I told her, her kisses were not like before

Move up, now.

Get up.

Get in here.

Ready, 1, 2, 3.

(SINGING) I thought that our romance was over and done

But to her it had just begun

And when I told her

Another girl had caught my eye

Sha la la la

Sha la la la

She cried

She cried

Oh.

Yeah.

Hey, Traynor.

Howard, nicely done.

Nice going, guys.

[INDISCERNIBLE SINGING]

(SINGING) I say, Lord, you rock my soul

Why don't you rock my soul

SAMMY STRAIN: My father used to sing gospel

with the Golden Gate Quartet.

I had 10 sisters and 5 brothers.

It was the Pit Gospel Singers.

We never recorded, but we did a lot of tearing up in church,

you know?

(SINGING) When he died

Why don't you praise King Jesus?

Got a home on high

Why don't you praise the Lord?

He said--

When we got the five original guys, Jive Five,

I took them to my father.

My father trained us how to sing.

And we rehearsed like two hours every day for two years.

(SINGING) Lord, you rock my--

KENNY VANCE: You told me that your father

would have each guy stand in a different corner of the room.

SAMMY STRAIN: And the leads sang from the middle.

That way, you wouldn't find anybody leaning on the next guy

to hear his note.

He's supposed to know his note.

Once he gave you your note, that was it right there.

He trained us to sing gospel.

When we got out on the street, that's

when we sang doo-wop, because he didn't allow that rock and roll

stuff.

When we got an audition at Beltone--

and Joe Rene, he said, these guys really sound good.

He said, do you have any originals or other songs?

I said, well, yeah, we have a song we don't like.

He said, why you don't like it?

I said, because it's about me.

It's a true story.

(SINGING) There is a story and

That I must tell

Of two lovers that I knew well

Her name was Sue, yeah

His name was Earl

His love was Lorraine

She's a wonderful girl

But they must cry, cry, cry,

Oh, their blues away

Blues away

So when they got up from the desk,

Les Cahan said, that's a smash.

(SINGING) And love will make you cry

Love will make the tears fall

(SPEAKING) My father never knew that I was singing rock and roll

until "My True Story" hit and was going off the charts

(SINGING) Whoa their blues away

Cry, cry, cry

(SPEAKING) My father came to me, and he said,

you know, I heard you got a hit record.

I said, yeah, Dad.

He started laughing, because he didn't

want me to sing rock and roll.

I said, yeah, Dad, we got a hit.

He said, yeah, somebody told me.

(SINGING) Cry, cry whoa,

Our blues away

Cry, cry, cry

Whoa, oh, oh

We must cry

Cry, cry, cry

MAN: House of Oldies.

Hey, guys.

MAN: Hey, Kenny.

How you doing?

MAN: Oh, I'm doing good.

How are you?

MAN: What's going on?

KENNY VANCE: I got a little surprise for you, Mr. Cleveland

Still from The Dubs.

MAN: Pleasure.

I don't believe it.

This is like Moses coming to the mountain.

I mean, it's a wonderful pleasure.

I've been a big fan for many years.

You are definitely in the top five vocal groups

that we get calls for.

Yeah, I'd love to get--

I'd love to get the Johnson record.

That's like-- so would everybody else, right?

Yeah.

"Don't Ask Me" first came out on Johnson, very,

very small pressing.

Give me a thousand copies of it, and I'll

trade you for the store.

How's that?

Am I right or wrong?

MAN: Right?

It sells-- a clean copy sells for probably about $1,000.

Let's see what we got here.

OK, we got the mock X on the "Be Sure."

KENNY VANCE: Yeah.

Remember that?

That's the early pressing of that.

KENNY VANCE: How much is something like this?

MAN: Oh, that's about--

about $50.

And here's "Don't Ask Me."

Oo-wee.

MAN: Yeah.

We got all of the early stuff.

I'm out of your ABC Paramount stuff.

I wish I could get it.

That's some great stuff that a lot of people don't know about,

you know?

It's really wonderful.

We've got "Could This be Magic?"

and "Beside My Love," "Be Sure My Love."

KENNY VANCE: "Be Sure My Love" I know.

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) Be sure my love

Yeah, it's a duet.

Yeah, yeah.

MAN: Great up-tempo B-side.

KENNY VANCE: Who's sang the duet?

CLEVELAND STILL: Richard--

Richard and myself were doing that.

KENNY VANCE: No kidding.

OK.

OK, you got it.

[THE DUBS, "BE SURE MY LOVE" PLAYING]

Do do do

Do do do do do do do do do

Do do do.

Oh, this is a beauty.

Who did the strings?

I don't know.

Beautiful.

(SINGING) Be sure my love

Be sure you love me

I think we're all gonna die.

There's an Italian word called [INAUDIBLE].

(SINGING) Tell me your love is mine

Wow.

[INAUDIBLE]

KENNY VANCE: You were signed to Gone Records.

Frankie Lymon was up there.

The Cleftones were up there.

The Chantels were already there.

CLEVELAND STILL: Yeah.

[THE DUBS, "CHAPEL OF DREAMS"]

(SINGING) In the chapel of dreams

Every dream will come true

ARTIE RIPP: I get a job, Gone Records.

I asked George Goldner for $20 a week,

because I had to have money to come in from Queens,

eat, and travel back to Queens.

He gives me $50 a week, and I'm able to now learn from him

and never leave his side.

What do you want?

I'll get it for you.

How come you said that?

Oh, I see.

How come you did that?

You picked that song rather than this song.

How come that guy's singing lead, not that one?

[THE CLEFTONES, "OH LITTLE GIRL OF MINE"] Yeah

[VOCALIZING]

Oh, little girl of mine

George was a 360-degree lesson in life.

He was insane, wonderful, a gambler,

and nobody had his ears--

nobody.

He would go in the studio, and if you listened

from Frankie Lymon, to The Chantels, to The Flamingos,

to the Latin records he made, Tico, he's

getting somebody to lay their soul out.

He doesn't want the song.

He wants you.

Give me you.

What does this mean to you?

[THE CHANTELS, "I LOVE YOU SO"] I love you so

I love you so

Arlene Smith is one of the greatest voices ever.

She had this extraordinary instrument

to be able to pop it, and at the same time

be gentle, and at the same time blow the walls off.

(SINGING) I'll never let you go

ARLENE SMITH: It was long.

It was a lot of raw emotions.

That's what it was.

My father was strict.

My freedom was music.

It was my saving grace.

There's a higher power that said, this child is in trouble.

Let me give her something.

And now I've learned to ask God to please

let it come through me as a vehicle,

because that's all I am.

(SINGING) Go

I love you

I used to sing light and pretty.

George made me sing harder to make it commercial.

WALLY ROKER: The only thing was on our mind

is making a great record, or making a great song,

or making a great sound.

[THE HEARTBEATS, "A THOUSAND MILES AWAY"] You're a thousand

miles away

But I still have your love to remember you by

WALLY ROKER: Shep had like three chords or four chords

that he played on the piano.

And if you listen to all our songs, it's in that realm.

It's in those three or four chords.

(SINGING) Daddy's coming home soon

We were on a little sweet label named [INAUDIBLE]

who loved us and did everything in the world for us.

The record was trying to be a hit.

She was not really a record person, so me and my smart butt,

I said, well, we need to get a label that can really, you know,

make a hit.

And I made her sell it from her label to George Goldner.

KENNY VANCE: When "A Thousand Miles" came out, I mean,

it was a huge hit.

WALLY ROKER: George was the music man.

You go on that floor, all you can

hear is this one record being played all day long,

from 8 o'clock in the morning till 8 o'clock at night,

over and over and over.

He was mesmerizing himself into telling everybody

in the world it's a number one record.

Every single day, lots and lots of artists, producers,

managers knocking on the door.

[THE CROWS, "GEE"] Do do do do do do do do

Do do do do do do do do do do do

Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do

Love that girl

Every single day, getting the records on the air.

Getting the records in the store.

Getting the records to be reported

to Cash Box and Billboard.

And then, there's what's the next record

that we're putting out?

(SINGING) I love that girl

Love that girl

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DJ: Seems like yesterday, doesn't it?

Wow.

This is great.

This is a great show.

MAN: This is fantastic.

Fun.

And we want to mention you guys are inducted into the Vocal

Group Hall of Fame.

Yes.

DJ: Well deserved.

Well deserved.

With the-- with The Harptones, The Chantels--

And with Jay Traynor.

Yeah.

Yes.

And Jay Black.

Look how lucky we are.

That's right.

How did it happen that you left the group?

And I know you taked about having an opportunity to go

solo, right?

Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich were songwriters and producers.

They told me that Phil Spector was interested in recording me.

And--

MAN: I hit him.

And probably foolishly, I decided

to try to go do some stuff with him,

and that's why I left the group.

People always say, well, do you regret it?

I say, well, how can you regret it?

It's something you did in life, and that's-- you just go on.

["LET'S LOCK THE DOOR" PLAYING] Let's lock the door and throw

away the key now

I can't wait to kiss you

Oh, no!

One little minute more

We met at a party last weekend

The moment your eyes looked into mine

Right then, my lips forgot how to speak

And the soda started tasting like wine

How I wish everyone would go home

So I can say when I got you alone

Come on now, let's lock the door and throw away the key now

I can't wait to kiss you

Oh, no!

One little minute more

Ah no!

Oh, yeah

No!

Oh, yeah

I'll kiss your lips like a kiss ought to be

And then I know you'll be saying--

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): We were just on a high.

We were having hit records and traveling all over the world.

(SINGING) And throw away the key now

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): We opened for the Beatles,

and we opened for the Rolling Stones

when they first came to the United States

(SINGING) Oh, no!

One little minute more

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): Now, 30 years later,

we're being inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MAN: Waiting for you, Howie.

I'm right here.

Get us started.

(SINGING) Be sure to hold her, hold her tight

When you dance

You'll squeeze her, yeah, with all your might

Such a thrill

Oh, when she's close to you

Well, hold her tight

[VOCALIZING]

This is Michelle Phillips, y'all.

Yeah.

[CHATTER, LAUGHTER]

(SINGING) My love must be a kind of blind love

Right here.

Right frame.

Oh, OK.

I got you.

(SINGING) I can't see anyone but you

[DOO WOPPING]

Are the stars out tonight?

I don't know if it's cloudy or bright

I only have eyes

[VOCALIZING]

Don't stop.

And wow, wow.

That's at the end.

Stop and wow, wow.

Oh, turning up now.

Turn.

Just want to--

Yeah.

It's gonna be fun.

That made the weekend.

I'm done.

Yeah.

[LAUGHTER]

It's gonna be fun.

It's going to be fun.

Yeah.

Dickie.

[VOCALIZING]

No, three times.

Yes, sir.

Intro three times.

Three times.

One more time.

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) Oh, I love her so

KENNY VANCE: You look handsome, man.

Praise the Lord.

KENNY VANCE: I'm serious, man.

She's got you looking handsome, Jack.

You're looking good, man.

When I was a kid, it would be 8 o'clock in the morning,

and we'd be on the bus going to school, singing.

And everybody on the bus is singing that song.

JIMMY MERCHANT: Yeah.

Do you remember that?

JIMMY MERCHANT: Of course.

All over the city.

All over the country, man.

I heard somebody else sing it in the hallway

before I heard it on the radio.

I'm changing classes in George Washington High

School in Washington Heights.

I'm going to Mr. Slotnick's class, OK?

KENNY VANCE: We all had Mr. Slotnick.

He was in every school.

JIMMY MERCHANT: That's right.

We all had his class.

The record comes out January 1.

February 12, we're doing our first engagement for pay.

And look who's on the show, Fats Domino, The Harptones,

The Flamingos, all the people that I'm

listening to on the radio.

Oh, my God.

When we pulled up, I saw all those people on the billboard.

And then, The Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon.

This is before Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers.

MAN: Funny how that goes.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KENNY VANCE: When you played at the Brooklyn Paramount

in the early days, I heard that you were in the dressing room

right next to Frankie Lymon, in the dressing room right

next to Speedoo.

Speedoo from the Cadillacs.

JIMMY MERCHANT: Yeah, the Cadillacs.

[EARL "SPEEDOO" CARROLL, "GLORIA"] Gloria

[VOCALIZING]

And not Marie

SAMMY STRAIN: "Down the Road," "No Chance."

MAN: "Peekaboo."

SAMMY STRAIN: Right, Peekaboo.

MAN: "Gloria."

MAN: "Gloria."

KENNY VANCE: "Gloria"-- that's the classic of this whole ditty.

Yeah.

And as a kid like you, I used to go see these acts.

And I used to love that, all that stuff they did,

all that choreography.

When I first met Speedoo, I was in The Chips and we were

playing the Apollo Theater, the very first time I played "Dr.

Jive Show," 1956 with The Dells, The Cadillacs, Bo Diddley,

The School Boys, Robert and Johnny.

I remember like it was yesterday.

["DIAMOND RING" PLAYING]

(SINGING) Bo Diddley buy a baby diamond ring

If that diamond ring don't shine

Bo Diddley take it to a private eye

SAMMY STRAIN: And I remember Bo Diddley

used to tear the Apollo up, cause he's the headliner.

I said, well, who the hell can go on after Bo Diddley?

I stood in the wings.

The stars of the show were The Cadillacs.

(SINGING) Well, some may call me Mo

Some may call me Joe

Just remember Speedooo he don't ever take it slow

Well, now they all call me Speedooo

But my real name is Mr. Earl

SAMMY STRAIN: And I had never seen choreography

like that in my life.

The whole group were dancing.

Then, after the show one night, we had finished our last show.

We were going home.

They had a limousine waiting for them.

They were catching a plane to go to Washington DC.

They were going to another gig.

And they were sharp.

I remember were sharp.

Speedoo had on a black pinstriped suit.

Damn, this is big.

These guys are-- these guys are large.

[LAUGHTER]

[THE JIVE FIVE, "HULLY GULLY CALLIN' TIME"]

(SINGING) Everybody hully gully

Come on, come on now

Everybody hully gully

Yeah, baby

Come on

Everybody hully gully

When the leaders cross the floor

Everybody gets into line

Grab your partner, have a ball

EUGENE PITT: We went on tour, did 61 one-nighters.

I mean, we went everywhere.

KENNY VANCE: In the bus?

SAMMY STRAIN: Yeah.

KENNY VANCE: Who was--

SAMMY STRAIN: In the bus.

(SINGING) When the leader says let's go

KENNY VANCE: Who's was in the bus?

SAMMY STRAIN: In the bus, we had Linda Scott, Clarence Frogman

Henry.

We had Chubby Checker.

We had The Shirelles, Paul Anka.

(SINGING) Do the hula hoop

Yeah, baby

But it was, like, tiresome, because you'd do one show here,

and the next night we were in Texas, and then back to Canada.

(SINGING) Do the Floyd Patterson

Yeah, baby

Everybody hully gully

Everybody's got it right

We had some great times.

It was like, you know, family on the road.

This was my first experience of being on the road,

and I just enjoyed it so much that I did it for 42 years.

We would be on stage singing, and you'd

see the promoter leaving with the cash box waving goodbye.

And the place would be jam packed.

KENNY VANCE: When we had our first hit record,

we were making $300 with a number one

record for a night-- $300, thanks to Ernie.

That's what he was booking us for, $300.

Better pay me.

[LAUGHTER]

Wait, you got $300?

[LAUGHTER]

Wow!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ARLENE SMITH: That's a part of my life that's bittersweet.

My father traveled with us.

I didn't have the freedom, but I'm

glad that they were strict, because it would have been very

easy for children of 13 and 15, 16

to run into all of the wise guys on the road.

And the manager, he should go down

in history with some of the things

that he used to do in terms of protecting the group,

and locking the door, and go in in the morning,

and come out at night in the shows.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

When you're 13, 14, 15, everything's kicking.

But I never got a chance to do that,

because I got mine out for the music.

So that's why it's all such passion, such this, such that.

That was all of that excess energy.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[FRANKIE LYMON & THE TEENAGERS, "I WANT YOU TO BE MY GIRL"] Oh,

oh, oh, oh,

Oh, oh, oh, oh

I love you, baby

KENNY VANCE: When you guys came out,

it was like you guys were already

men, especially Frankie Lymon.

He was, like, little, but he was like--

like, it took me years to figure anything out,

to grow into who I am.

JIMMY MERCHANT: Yeah.

KENNY VANCE: But he was who he was then.

(SINGING) Take me by the hand Tell me I

your lover man We'll have fun, just we two You for me,

me for you.

WOMAN: Top of your profession, pretty young.

How old are you exactly?

14.

How long have you been at this?

Oh, for about a year and a half.

Seems to us a pretty fabulous salary.

How do you spend it?

Well, we get an allowance of $27 a week,

and that's to do with, like, say, cab fare or hamburger,

and--

what you want.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

You know, any--

INTERVIEWER: Have you got any particular weakness?

Well, candy.

Candy.

INTERVIEWER: Candy?

Yes.

KENNY VANCE: It was like he was a man child.

That's true.

And when you hear "Out in the Cold Again,"

especially that for me, the performance on it is like

of a person that had lived a lot of life.

JIMMY MERCHANT: Yes.

And he had not at that point.

(SINGING) Refrain, It's gone

And I'm left completely

Out in the cold again

JIMMY MERCHANT: When we arrived back in America,

it was all done.

Frankie said, I'm leaving.

That was basically it.

(SINGING) Just memories remain

I gaze at the ringless finger

That was messed up psychologically.

I couldn't believe.

KENNY VANCE: You guys went into outer space, then you came back,

and you sat on the stoop, and you wondered, like,

what happened.

It was over.

(SINGING) Again

This lady-- what's the name of that lady, Gloria or whatever?

She says, I want to make you a star.

And I'm going, you mean in the movies?

I don't know nothing about no movies.

She's going to make me in the movies.

And she's telling me all these people she deals with

and all this stuff, and I'm going, wow.

So I believe her.

I'm 20 years old.

I believe her.

So she pulls me away.

The group breaks up.

SAMMY STRAIN: No, you broke up from us.

Yeah.

I just said goodbye.

And then, next thing know, it ain't what it was.

So I hit the bottom, wham.

No-- it's just no career, stopped short, done.

There's no wreckage.

There's no nothing.

And we are-- I'm there on the bottom,

living in 407 Washington Avenue.

[LAUGHTER]

There are rats in there, man.

Here I am, no--

I ain't got no money, nowhere to go.

I mean, I'm in this rat-infested place.

I had to take a BB gun and shoot mice and rats

to keep away from my son.

Right.

ANTHONY GOURDINE: I mean, that's how low it got.

I've been in and out of groups all my life, you know,

since I'm 13.

And it's always something.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

It's always something.

There's always one guy.

And if it's not one guy, it's another guy.

Yeah.

And it's the part of it.

But again--

Or it's a wife, or it's a girlfriend,

or it's somebody that's going to destroy the situation.

I know.

KENNY VANCE: I know.

The only thing that prevented us from taking it all away

was the social problem within the group.

The group was totally together and totally

ready to do anything, but Shep would not stop drinking.

And the last time that we played, and I said to Shep--

I told myself.

I said, Shep, if you don't stop drinking,

I'm going to have to stop singing.

Because I cannot afford to go on stage, and you be sloppy,

and not be able to do what we're supposed to do.

KENNY VANCE: Right.

And he did it one more time at the Apollo,

and that's when it all stopped.

KENNY VANCE: The whole thing fell apart.

The whole thing just-- we just stopped it.

We just stopped.

KENNY VANCE: It had to be a heartbreaker.

WALLY ROKER: It was a miserable, miserable, miserable decision

and a miserable, miserable time.

[THE HEARTBEATS, "ONE MILLION YEARS"] One million years too

late

What made you think that I would wait

You didn't write or call

Do, do, do, do, do

You didn't care

KENNY VANCE: When Jay and the Americans

was over, for different reasons--

gambling, drugs, whatever, you know--

WALLY ROKER: Yeah.

--interactions, social interactions, insanity,

because of the ride that we were on.

There's something about going on that stage

and getting that feeling.

WALLY ROKER: Knowing that people just

love what you're going to do and waiting for it.

KENNY VANCE: Yeah.

And when you hit it, and it hits right,

I mean, there's no bigger high in the world.

That's like being on drugs and everything, anything else

you can think of.

Because that was my high.

You can't buy that.

You can't pay for it.

No.

No.

WALLY ROKER: It's something that comes--

comes to you.

You can't explain it to anybody what it is.

WALLY ROKER: No.

Do you want to sing "You Send Me?"

What the hell.

What the hell.

Oh, what the hell.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

"You Send Me."

I wasn't planning this at all.

That's when it's the most fun.

That's when it's best.

(SINGING) Darling, you send me

Darling, you-- you send me, babe

Because you, oh, you send me babe

All that you do

Hey, hey, yeah

You, you, you, you, you, you thrill me

I think you know that you thrill me

You thrill me

Honest, you do

Yeah, yes, you do.

At first I thought it was infatuation

I was so Infatuated by you

But it's lasted so long

You know it has

Now I've found myself wanting to marry and take you home

Hey!

Honey, you, you, you, you

Baby, baby, baby, you're so fine

All that you do

Yes, you do

Let's hear it for Phoebe Snow.

[APPLAUSE]

Phoebe Snow.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Thank you.

(SINGING) Oh, Gloria

It's not Marie

It's Gloria

It's not Sheri

It Gloria

And she's not in love with me

You know, the music business has been good to me

in a certain way, but this is basically what I got.

This one is probably the last Jay and the Americans album,

which was 1970 about--

maybe '71, was the end of it.

And this one was '60.

I look about five.

MAN: Nice haircut.

MAN: Yeah, right.

It was 12 years.

It was a 12-year trip.

MAN: A lot of hits.

KENNY VANCE: Yeah, a lot of hits.

MAN: A lot of hits.

MAN: Ah, is that beautiful.

Look at that.

KENNY VANCE: This was after drugs.

This was before.

Before.

Before drugs.

[LAUGHTER]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(SINGING) Come a little bit closer

I'm all alone

And the night is so long

I was out testing my own [INAUDIBLE] last night

And I just couldn't resist that moment

I get so excited

And I heard [INAUDIBLE] say that was on his way

And I knew, yes I knew

[THE CHANTELS, "HE'S GONE"] Gone

[VOCALIZING]

He's gone

I don't know where

ARLENE SMITH: They stopped promoting us.

KENNY VANCE: Right.

That's where the pain is.

I still get a little ugh when I talk about it.

While you're going through it, you just

notice yourself slowing down.

You don't really realize that if you want to continue to sing,

you're going to have to do some other things to keep that going.

And yet, I didn't really know what to do.

Because even with the voice, and all of this stuff, and people

envying, my self-esteem was down to zero.

(SINGING) Gone, gone, gone

And I kept trying.

I kept trying.

Nobody tried harder.

(SINGING) Gone

[FRANKIE LYMON, "I'M SORRY"]

(SINGING) I can feel the sadness in your voice

when you say we're through, yeah

I just get you had no other choice

What else can you do, yeah?

ARTIE RIPP: Frankie Lymon, he's got this incredible tenor

soprano voice.

Now, what happens once puberty sets in?

(SINGING) I could never love another like I do this way

Still terrific, terrific singer, OK, but no longer that young,

vibrant, kick-ass artist.

And nobody wanted to touch him.

(SINGING) Hey hey, can you hear me?

I'm so sorry

Hey, hey, pretty baby, I'm so sorry

JIMMY MERCHANT: You know, we played with Frankie Lymon.

He was around 27 years old.

KENNY VANCE: Really?

I didn't think he made it that far.

JIMMY MERCHANT: It was a year before he died.

KENNY VANCE: 28.

OK.

Did you run into him again after that over the years?

Yeah, a couple times.

KENNY VANCE: Only a couple of times.

Only a couple.

KENNY VANCE: You were so pissed off at him.

I was pissed off in the early years.

Yeah, absolutely.

KENNY VANCE: Sure.

Oh, yeah.

So we're sitting in the dressing room,

and this guy walks in with no teeth and, like, a beaten guy.

This is Frankie Lymon.

And he put this tuxedo on, and he

put these tap dancing shoes on.

It was like he was trying to be Sammy Davis

or whatever he thought.

JIMMY MERCHANT: He was trying to get a gig.

You know, the promoting and the management,

they've got one thing in mind.

KENNY VANCE: Yeah.

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): It was just heartbreaking.

I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him

how much I loved him.

(SINGING) I could never love another like I do this way

And I love you the rest of my days

I'm sorry

I'm sorry

It's about the gig.

It's about being at the gig.

There is nothing outside of the gig

that is important except being at the gig.

And when that light comes on, and you hear that music,

that's it.

No matter how bad you feel, it's showtime.

And there's a joke about this.

This guy got this job with the circus.

And there was this old guy at the circus.

He was following the elephants, shoveling elephant dung.

He would complain every day.

So the guy said, this guy didn't like this job.

So after about a week, the guy said, man, you

shovel elephant dung, and you complain all day long,

but every day, you get up, and you do it.

He said, why don't you quit?

He said, what, and give up show business?

[LAUGHTER]

KENNY VANCE: I went to see you in Florida once.

You were playing at the Seven Seas Lounge maybe?

Yeah, the Seven Seas Lounge.

It was in the '70s.

Yeah.

And you were not happy.

No.

I had this band.

I had three different bands.

I said, what's happening?

You go yeah.

And it was like--

It was--

I couldn't find anybody to--

to be with me.

The people we brought in were very good,

but they weren't earnest.

It wasn't Sammy.

Because no one could make that sound.

SAMMY STRAIN: The reason why we could do

that was because we lived it.

And in those other people, the spirit did not live.

The spirit only lives within us.

So when we sing it collectively, it's the same thing.

That's what it is.

(SINGING) There's just two kinds of people--

Just two kinds of people in the--

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

You got the melody.

Do the melody.

You do it.

(SINGING) Just two kinds of people in my world

There's just two kinds of people in the world

Why can't we fall in love

Just two kinds of people in the world

They are a boy and girl

Just two kinds of people in the world

Why can't we fall in love, love, love, love

Love

SAMMY STRAIN; This is just called hanging.

[LAUGHTER]

ARLENE SMITH: We were beginning to get royalties.

Yeah.

KENNY VANCE: Do you get writing credits for that stuff?

ARLENE SMITH: No, they've been taking away slowly but surely.

KENNY VANCE: From "Maybe"?

ARLENE SMITH: Yeah.

Yeah.

It's been claimed.

And I can't fight it.

I'm not going to fight it.

If I hadn't been a child, maybe I could have said something.

Because there were a few people-- you know,

kids can read you--

that I saw that didn't look right.

But I could never say it, because I'm still into Mr.

So-and-so, Mr.--

you know what I mean?

So you didn't dare say anything about an adult--

a child's trust in you, and you're betraying that trust.

ARLENE SMITH: George spent millions gambling,

and he found a way to blow Gone and End Records the same way

as he found a way to lose Rama, Tico, and G Records.

You got it, you lost it.

How did you lose it?

You blew it.

Nobody took it away from you.

You threw it away.

[THE DUBS, "DON'T ASK ME TO BE LONELY"] Ask me for the world

It doesn't seem much

ARTIE RIPP: And when he left Gee and Rama,

the whole vibe changed, because now Morris Levy

owned the company.

Morris was in the $1 for you, $1 for me, $1 for you, $2 for me,

$1 for you, $3 for me.

(SINGING) To be lonely

Don't ask me to be lonely

CLEVELAND STILL: How would you like

to look at a gold record with your name on it

and not get paid for it?

I saw it under the desk with our name on it,

but we never got recognition for it.

From then on, I knew that I was getting beat.

It's just a question of how bad, you know?

We got it from our manager also.

His lawyer drew up papers, and when we went back,

the small print that we didn't read,

we had signed our rights over to him also.

The same thing happened to me.

You know, we walked in there.

We just wanted to do it.

We just wanted to make a record.

That was all that was on our minds.

I have to admit that.

And then, later on when it sold, someone

says, well, how much did you make?

And we go, well, we didn't really make anything.

Well, and they said, what are you, an idiot?

And I go, well--

and then I felt like an idiot.

CLEVELAND STILL: It hurts.

KENNY VANCE: And it hurts.

We didn't have a lawyer.

CLEVELAND STILL: Nope.

They had the lawyer.

They had the lawyer.

We were kids, and if a man with a suit on in an office

told you to sign a paper--

CLEVELAND STILL: You signed.

--you just did it.

You thought he's--

CLEVELAND STILL: Right.

--he knows what's happening.

CLEVELAND STILL: Yeah.

So you just sign.

I really wanted--

I wanted to murder this guy, you know?

So, I mean, I never really laughed about it until you

and I are talking about it.

I'm telling you the truth.

Yeah.

I never really laughed about it.

Why are you still doing it?

Because I love to sing.

Isn't that wild?

I love to look out in the audience, you know?

And you can't see but so far, you know that?

But you can look out there and see people.

JAY TRAYNOR: You feel it, though.

You can feel it, you know?

You look out there, and you see people enjoying themselves.

You say, wow, I make people feel like this, you know?

I want to be able to do this, you know, and capture a crowd,

and have them right there, right on the end of their seat.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

And I said, you know what?

I can't stand this [BLEEP] anymore.

These [BLEEP] people are the worst.

I couldn't take it.

Because, like you, you put your whole life into it.

You don't know anything else.

And you're doing it since you're 13, 14 years old.

So it comes from the purest place inside of you.

I felt that many, many, many, many, times.

Right.

WALLY ROKER: There's nobody can understand that.

What you have to do is to cover it up.

If you don't cover it up, they will tear it up.

Yeah.

So I just covered mine up and just kept it safe.

If I'm going to go sing now, I've

got to bring that part with me.

If I don't bring that part with me, it's not going to work.

Or, like, some older person, how could you be-- how

could you act like that?

WALLY ROKER: The situation is that people that's never had it,

they don't know what it is.

So there's no way for them to miss it.

See, but they don't.

90% of the people in the world don't even-- can't even imagine

what that feeling is.

[CHATTER]

MAN: How are you?

I don't know if he's coming or not.

I hope he is.

[CHATTER]

MAN: You had a rehearsal.

[CHATTER]

Kenny, I know you're eating.

I don't want to disturb you.

Joe [INAUDIBLE], I met him at the Bottom Line,

Lou Christie show.

Yeah, yeah.

MAN: And I'm a friend of Vinnie Vela, Jr.--

was in the movie with you, "Looking for an Echo."

And we're putting a production together

for television with Don K. Read and everybody.

KENNY VANCE: Oh, great.

I would like to have you as my first guest on the show,

believe it or not.

KENNY VANCE: All right.

We're in negotiations right now with lawyers and whatnot.

As soon as it kicks off the ground,

we'll definitely get in touch with you.

And if you're available, we'd like

to have you on the first show.

OK, what kind of show is it?

It's called-- well, I don't want to reveal a lot of it,

because it's not legalized yet, if you know what I mean,

with copyrights and everything.

And years ago, I gave out too much information,

and people stole my ideas, if you know what I mean.

OK, we're in, man.

Yes, definitely a cappella.

Definitely a cappella.

KENNY VANCE: OK, buddy.

And it's going to cook.

KENNY VANCE: Great.

Thank you.

KENNY VANCE: OK.

[CHATTER]

MAN: It's gonna be great.

MAN: It's gonna be great.

MAN: It's gonna be great.

MAN: If you know what I mean.

MAN: I'm sure you understand.

MAN: For legal reasons.

[DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS, "LOVE ME LIKE A ROCK"]

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) When I was a little boy

When I was a boy

Devil would call my name

When I was a boy

I'd say, who do

Who do you think you're fooling?

I'm a consecrated boy

When I was a boy

Sang in the Sunday choir

Mama loved me

She loved me

She'd get down on my knees and hug me

She loved me like a rock

Rock like a rock of ages

Love me

Love me, love me, love me, love me

I was grown to be a man

Grown to be a man

Never would call my name

Grown to be a man

Say now, who do, who do you think you're fooling?

I'm a consecrated man

Grown to be a man

[INAUDIBLE] my mama loved me

She loved me

Get down on her knees and hug me

She loved me like a rock

Oh, yeah

Rock me like the rock of ages

Love me

She love me, love me, love me, love me

She loved me, loved me, loved me, loved me

If I was a president

Was the president

Congress would call my name

(SINGING) Since my baby told me that she loved me

I'm all right

I'm all

All right

I'm all right

She told me that she loved me

Told me that she cared

When she said she loved me

Made me feel like a millionaire

(SINGING) Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick

Dad's eating dinner

The dog's got his bone

[INAUDIBLE]

Mom's at the table preparing the food

Everybody's in a very good mood

Singing Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon

Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick

Nickelodeon

[APPLAUSE]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I feel very humble, because I was hanging

in the subway with my friends, and we'd be singing your songs--

all of your songs, you know?

So I feel very humbled tonight.

And, Arlene, my first love affair was "Maybe"--

my first girl, my first crush ever--

"Maybe."

"Maybe."

[APPLAUSE]

[CAMERAS SHUTTERING]

MODERATOR: [INAUDIBLE] call Arlene Smith, Renee [INAUDIBLE]

and so we join this, the original Chantels.

(SINGING) Maybe if I pray every night

You'll come back to me

And maybe if I cry every day

You'll come back to stay

Oh, maybe

[CROWD CHEERING]

(SINGING) Maybe if I hold your hand

You will understand

And maybe

KENNY VANCE (VOICEOVER): This music

is the foundation of American pop culture, the spirit of rock

and roll, where it all began.

(SINGING) Oh, maybe

Maybe, maybe, maybe

Oh, baby

Baby, baby, baby

Baby

Baby.

Baby baby

Baby

Baby, baby, baby

Maybe

Maybe, maybe, maybe

I wonder why I love you like I do

I wonder why I love you like I do

[VOCALIZING]

Well, I wonder why I love you like I do so much

Oh, but I crave your love

Yes, and I wonder why

Wonder why

Well, remember the night you told me

No other arms could hold me

Yes, I love you

And I place, I place, I place no one above you

Now I wonder why I love you like I do so much

Oh, but I crave your love

Yes, then I wonder why

Wonder why

I wonder why I love you

I wonder why I do

I wonder why I need you

I love you, I need you

Oh, oh, oh

Still I wonder why I love you like I do so much

Oh, but I crave your love

Yes, then wonder why

Wonder why

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(SINGING) I remember the night you told me

No other arms could hold me

Yes, I love you

And I place, I place, I place no one above you

Now I wonder why I love you like I do so much

Oh, but I pray for your love

Yes and I wonder why

Wonder why

I wonder why