The Quotations
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The Quotations were primarily from James Madison High School in East Brooklyn, New York. The group started in 1958 at Barney's Pool Room on Kings Highway in East Brooklyn, New York. The original members of the group were Richie Schwartz (first tenor), Lew Arno (second tenor) and Harvey Hersh[kowitz] (baritone) who hung out together harmonizing. Along came Larry Kassman asking if he could sing with the guys. Kassman became lead for the group.
The group later picked up the name Quotations from one of the songs they liked to perform - "Quotations of Love" written by a friend of the group Mike Rose. The group often sung at the Rainbow Store on Kings Highway near the train station, on the Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach boardwalks and at Sid Gordon's bowling alley - all Brooklyn favorites for teenagers. In 1959, the group made their first demos - Time Was, Sunday Kind of Love and September in the Rain. But it wasn't until 1961 that things broke for the group.
Helen Miller, who worked for the legendary producer Don Kirschner as a songwriter, had a brother who was friendly with the group. She heard the group and became their manager. Miller shopped the group around and eventually they met up with executives at Verve Records. Verve wasn;t exactly a doo-wop label, focusing more on jazz and blues. This might explain why the group never reached superstar status with a string of hit records. The group chose to do a new, uptempo style version of the classic "Imagination" thinking that they could have the next "Blue Moon" on their hands. The record was released b/w Ala Men Sy (Verve 10245).
While temporary, the group did enjoy success in 1962 making concert appearances in the east coast, in the south and midwest. Their follow-up record in 1962 (Verve 10252) was This Love of Mine b/w We'll Reach Heaven Togeher.
The group then recorded See You in September b/w Summertime Goodbye (Verve 10261) in April 1962 thinking it would be the perfect summertime record. But it wasn't released until late August and DJ's failed to pick up on it. Harvey remembers: "See You In September came next, but unfortunately Verve released the record in August which pretty much destroyed any chance of air play." The group had one last record - In the Night b/w Oh No I Still Love Her (1964 - Admiral 753) and Harvey believes that Oh No was their best record. Without solid support from Verve, the group disbanded.
A few versions of the Quotations continued performing with Sandy Sonner and recorded some acappella selections during the 1970's for Relic Records. However, Harvey notes that not one original member has ever sung with another vocal group.
In 1998, after a few reunions, the group reformed with a new tenor. Richie moved to bass and new member Stu Abramson. Stu was with the group the Astralites who recorded Space Hop in 1961 and sings, plays sax, guitar, bass and keyboards as well. The group recorded a new CD in 2000 - Q2K - which includes not only new material but all their great original selections. What a nice treat for fans and collectors alike to be able to have both on one CD. Harvey comments that "This CD represents the culmination of lots of practice, plenty of live performances and a renewed love of this magical, musical entity we call Doo-Wop. We've recorded some favorites of ours, included are some acapella and also the eight songs that we originally recorded 40 years ago. Some have never been heard before.
The group is actively performing. Richie Schwartz and Stu Abramson both passed away in 2006.
