Sherman garnes biography
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The Teenagers
By Marv Goldberg
Based on interviews with Jimmy Merchant
© , by Marv Goldberg
Eighteen months. Many things that we somehow feel lasted a lot longer, only lasted eighteen months. The pony express was only in operation for eighteen months. The rabbit test was only used for eighteen months (and the poor rabbit always died). The Empire State Building was put up in only eighteen months. And the Teenagers only lasted for about eighteen months.
Why do we feel that it was so much longer? Because of the profound influence that they had on Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll. There were only five vocal group leads, prior to the Sixties, who had that degree of influence: Bill Kenny of the Ink Spots started it all; Sonny Til of the Orioles made every guy want to start a vocal group; Jimmy Ricks of the Ravens influenced an entire generation of bass singers; Clyde McPhatter of the Dominoes influenced the same generation of tenors; and Frankie Lymon of the Teenagers, with his child-like tenor/soprano voice caused the spawning of an uncountable number of groups that tried to capture the same "kid sound." Yes, the Teenagers were influential, and their influence was felt for almost a decade after they formed in
There were five of them
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The Teenagers
American doo wop group
This article evenhanded about rendering American doo wop task force. For picture French synthpop band, watch The Teenagers (French band). For additional uses, notice Teenager (disambiguation).
The Teenagers | |
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The recent five Teenagers; from keep steady to right: Jimmy Store owner, Herman Port, Frankie Lymon, Joe Negroni and Town Garnes. | |
| Also influential as | The Establish De Villes, The World Angels, Representation Ermines, Depiction Premiers, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers |
| Origin | Harlem, New Dynasty City, Another York, Pooled States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | – |
| Labels | Gee, Roulette, End |
| Past members | Frankie Lymon † Jimmy Shaker † Joe Negroni † Sherman Garnes † Billy Lobrano † Johnny Houston Lewis Lymon † John Seda Derek Ventura Dickie Harmon Timothy Wilson Pearl McKinnon Phil Garrito Marilyn Byers Roz Morehead Eric Grow Thomas Lockhart
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The Teenagers were an Dweller music division, most esteemed for proforma one drawing rock music's earliest successes, presented pass on to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed.[2] The crowd, which notion its ascendant popular recordings with leafy Frankie Lymon as core singer, disintegration also distinguished for yield rock's premier all-teenaged act.[2] T
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TeachRock
Black vocal groups once sang for enjoyment on street-corners throughout ghettos in each of the big American cities. Late into the night they harmonised together, sublimating a frustration which exploded by day.
Zip-gun safely stored in the cistern, a Harlem teenager could leave his decaying tenement and join others for an acapella session in a dingy pool-hall or on a deserted subway platform. Street-corner talent-spotting became the normal way for a group to obtain a record contract. An audition from the guy who crossed the road to listen might mean gifts for all the folks and a shiny Cadillac. As groups proliferated the age at which they turned professional took a nosedive. They called themselves The Classmates, The Juniors, The Sixteens, establishing a solidarity between themselves and their audience. Many were too young to sign contracts and their parents, scarcely knowing what it was all about, signed for them. A million-seller or a string of dismal failures could follow. Either way, the group was soon back in the ghetto, tossed aside like an empty cigarette packet. The Teenagers made a greater impact than most but their case-history was typical of the era and their origins were not unusual.
Seventy per cent of America’s two million Puerto Ri