Randy & the Rainbows
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randy & the Rainbows are an American doo wop group from Maspeth, New York.
The group was formed in 1962 in a neighborhood of Queens, and featured two pairs of siblings, along with a fifth member. The Safuto brothers had previously sung in the group The Dialtones. They recorded with the producers of The Tokens, releasing the single "Denise" in 1963. The song hit #18 on the US Black Singles chart and #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.[1] "Denise" was written by Neil Levenson, and was inspired by his childhood friend, Denice Lefrak. [2] The song later became a European hit for Blondie, with the title changed to Denis. Randy & The Rainbows' follow-up single, "Why Do Kids Grow Up", barely scraped the pop charts at #97,[1] and the group never charted again.
They continued to perform under several other names (Madison Street, Triangle, Them and Us), and toured in subsequent years with The Spinners, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Tony Orlando, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Freddie Roman, Jay Black, Pat Cooper, The Beach Boys, Dionne Warwick, and The Four Seasons.[3] They released a new album, entitled Play Ball, in 2001 on producer Jimmy Wisner's label WizWorks.[4] Two groups now exist; one includes Mike Zero and Sal Zero's replacement Vinny Carella, the other includes Randy and Frank Safuto.
The group appeared on the 2001 PBS special Dow Wop 51; it featured Randy's group plus Mike Zero.
Contents |
[edit] Members
[edit] 1962 lineup
- Sal Zero
- Mike Zero
- Frank Safuto
- Dominick "Randy" Safuto
- Ken Arcipowski
[edit] Current lineup
- Mike Zero's Randy & The Rainbows
- Mike Zero
- Vinny Carella
- Jimmy Bense (joined 1990[5])
- Randy Safuto's Randy & The Rainbows
- Randy Safuto
- Frank Safuto
- Anthony Vara
- Charlie Rocco
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b Billboard Singles, Allmusic.com
- ^ Milestones, Billboard, February 2, 2008, p. 60.
- ^ Biography, Allmusic.com
- ^ Review of Play Ball. Allmusic.com
- ^ WizWorks Records
