The Aquatones

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The Aquatones were a doo-wop group in the 1950s who charted just once with "You", a ballad which was also covered by Gale Storm.

The lead singer was Lynne Nixon a soprano.

The Aquatones were true one hit wonders whose subsequent singles for the Fargo label all failed to reach the Hot 100. They were issued into the early 60s and finally an album which gathered together most of the songs. Their only album was issued three years after their hit single, and just before their final Fargo release, a remake of The Heartbeats' "Crazy For You" in July 1961. That song was not on the original album, but was included in the reissue in the 1980s as a repro.

In the late 1990s, the group reformed with a new lead singer, Colette Delaney. They released a number of CDs on the Debra label of remakes and new material including a Christmas album in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Sound

The Aquatones were a four part harmony band with a female lead vocal, Lynne Nixon. The group began as three guys from Valley Stream, New York. They formed in 1956 as the Rhythm Kings with Dave Goddard, Larry Vannata, and Gene McCarthy as members. They came together to record a song written by Dave for their junior class play at Valley Stream Central High School. All of the guys played instruments as well as sang - Gene the clarinet and tenor sax, Larry the alto and tenor sax, and Dave the piano. Bob Boden would play drums when they performed live. A classmates father, a record distributor, heard the group and suggested that they add a high falsetto voice. Shortly thereafter, Larry met Lynne Nixon at a dance and asked Gene and Dave to give her an audition. Upon hearing Lynne's voice they agreed to add her to the group. At first, Lynne only sang backgrounds, until Larry wrote the song "You" for her to sing.

The group later changed its name to the Aquatones (as Dave describes it "so the guys could wear a 'cool' shirt from the 1950s - aqua with a black velvet 'V' down the front). In 1957 the three original members - Larry Vannata, David Goddard and Eugene McCarthy, decided to add Lynne as a fourth member to give the group some versatility. It wasn't long after the group became a foursome that they found themselves performing at a talent contest at Malverne High School. The contest entitled Stairway to the Stars was just that for the group as local real estate mogul turned music promoter Lou Fargo heard the group and liked what he saw and heard. In December 1957, he signed the group and off to the studio they went to record on Fargo's own label.

[edit] First Record

Their first song was You (Fargo 1001 b/w She's the One For Me). Its a group harmony recording. The record hit on the Billboard charts in April 1958. Such classics as "I Met Him on a Sunday" by the Shirelles, "Zoom Zoom Zoom" by the Collegians, and "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry were out at the same time. While it did very well in the East, it only managed to hit #21 across America.

[edit] Follow up

Their follow up record "Say You'll Be Mine" b/w "So Fine" (Fargo 1002) again came out at a time when there were more big records being pushed by big name artists. Their third record - "Our First Kiss" b/w "Drive In" (Fargo 1003) was also lost in the rush. Their next release in October 1958 was "My Treasure" b/w "My One Desire" (Fargo 1005) and while a terrific group harmony recording, it received little interest. "My Darling" b/w "For You, For You" (Fargo 1111) followed as did another hauntingly beautiful record "Crazy For You" b/w "Wanted" (Fargo 1016) in 1961. "Crazy For You" was a cover of the original Heartbeats' tune.

Fargo would later release an album of the group's material in 1964 but the group's time had come and gone, not unlike the era of doo-wop itself. The Aquatones went their separate ways.

[edit] Colette Delaney

In 1998 Dave Goddard heard a young lady sing who sounded similar to Lynne. A year later, Dave approached Colette Delaney about singing in a new Aquatones group. Colette had had a career in musical comedy, and was interested in singing with the group. Colette and Dave started making "demo" recordings of some of the Aquatones' old music. These recordings received warm reactions from the world of doo-wop fans. Dave knew he had to get the Aquatones started again. Meanwhile, the world of group harmony was very sad to hear of the death of Lynne Nixon in January 2001.

The result of the group's efforts was a new CD - released on Debra Records. The CD includes performances from original Aquatones - Dave Goddard, Gene McCarthy and Larry Vannata.