The
Five Discs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Five Discs were and continue to be one of the most prolific group harmony artists of all time, thrilling audiences through six decades!  Starting in the mid fifties with some great original group harmony recordings, working their way into the sixties with more great neo-revival numbers and continuing through the 70's, 80's and 90's with even more great contemporary offerings, the Five Discs are a living doo-wop history lesson!

It would take pages to tell the whole story of the Five Discs.  So lets focus on the four most important stages of the life of the Five Discs - the early 1950's years, the 1960's reformation and hit recordings, the 70's revival days and the recent activities.  The Five Discs were a Brooklyn product.  Coming out of the East New York part of the borough, the original group formed in 1954.  Originally know as the Lovenotes, the six-man group had as its lead singer Mario deAndrade.  Mario would go on to be the heart and soul of the Five Discs.  Mario was black and Portuguese and when the Lovenotes broke up he took bass singer Andy Jackson and joined up with four white neighborhood kids to form the group - Joe Barsalona, Paul Albano, Tony Basile, and Joe Brocco.  The original name for the new group was the Flames with Mario on lead, Albano as first tenor, Basile as second tenor, Barsalona  on baritone, and Andy Jackson on bass.

The Flames started performing and made a demo and in 1957 they started shopping it around to the labels.  The demo included "I Remember" b/w "No More Fooling Around," both written by Mario deAndrade.  The group found some interest with a songwriter by the name of Billy Martin.  Martin and Gene Schwartz of the famous Laurie Records would later sign the group to a contract for Emge Records.  Apparently Paul Albano's sister encouraged the group to change its name to the Five Discs.  In 1958, the group recorded "I Remember"b/w "The World's A Beautiful Place" and it was soon released and debuted on the Peter Tripp Show on WMGM reaching #28 on the charts in NYC.  The group started touring in the New England area and the group was destined for stardom, or so they thought.  However, because they were a mixed race group, they had a hard time performing as some venues were restricted. In addition, Gene Schwartz had started Laurie Records and was pushing Dion and the Belmonts and couldn't afford to run two labels and push two different groups.  Schwartz leased "I Remember" to Vik Records, a subsidiary of RCA but the label later went bankrupt.

The group would record again in 1959 on Dwain Records which was partially owned by Billy Martin.  The group recorded Roses and My Chinese Girl which were released.  But it was later discovered that the record (Dwain 6072) had a bad mix on it.  The group went back to re-recorded the songs and the original record was pulled making it a huge collectors item today.  The re-released record got little support and went nowhere.

In 1960, with the beginning of their second decade of work, the group went through a transformation but would again taste success with new members.  Mario deAndrade and Andy Jackson left the group.  Lenny Hutter took Mario' place and new bass man John Russell was brought in.  The group was now completely white.  Mario never returned to the group but Eddie Pardocchi remarks that he continued to advise the group during the 60's and was there in the background.

In 1961, the Five Discs released "Come On Baby" b/w "I Don't Know What I'll Do" on Yale Records.   The record also featured newcomer Eddie Pardocchi.  Eddie had sung with the DelVons, who with Eddie on lead, recorded unreleased works such as "Do Your Homework" b/w "Summer is Here."  Eddie also sang with the Darcels, and had been singing since junior high school in East New York.  Eddie recalls how one of his early junior high school groups once helped qwell a race riot at their junior high school.  "One day their was a race riot and one of the teachers told us to go to the auditorium and sing."  Being that the group was a mixed race group, it helped calm the crowds.

"Come On Baby" got some airplay but these recordings never hit.  In 1962, there were more personnel changes for the group.  Lenny Hutter was replaced at lead by John Carbone.  The group would record again this time doing "Adios" b/w "My Baby Loves Me" on the Calo label.  These recordings also did not make it.
 

Again in 1962, the group went through another personnel change.  John Russell left and was replaced at bass by Charlie DiBella who had been singing with the DelVons.  The group recorded "Never Let You Go" b/w "That Was The Time" for Cheer Records.  "Never Let You Go" came out and was a Murray the K Boss Record and it rose to #28 on the charts in NYC - the Five Discs' first hit in 5 years!  But it quickly died.  Eddie P. recalls:  "They told us 'its gonna be another Blue Moon (the Marcels big hit)' everything was working...it came out number 18 on the Town Hall charts which was unheard of for a debut and they said 'this is it, get ready.'"  But legal troubles for Don Ames' Cheer Records resulted in the record being pulled.  "We were all hyped up to hear it five, six times a day on the radio.  You get chills, you can't describe the feelings you get," says Eddie P.  Despite the fact that the record was pulled, the group started touring off its success, going to New Jersey and Connecticut.  Eddie P. remembers one show at the Jersey Armory for Georgie Hudson where, upon entering and heading for the stage, confused audience members could be heard to remark "they're white!"

In 1963, the Five Discs would record for yet another label - Kapp Records - doing "Let's Fall In Love Oh Lana," b/w "You Make Me Happy" under the pseudonym of the Boyfriends.  In 1964, with doo-wop on the wane, Paul Albano, Tony Basile, and Charlie DiBella left the group but Joe Barsalona kept the group going with a new composition - Eddie Pardocchi (lead), Joe Barsalona (baritone), Donnie LaRuffa (from the Darcels as first tenor) and Frank Arrione (second tenor).  That year, the group recorded again doing "This Love Of Ours" and "To The Fair" which were unreleased until 1981 when Eddie Engel and Crystal Ball records found them and put them out for all the hear!  Eddie P. recalls that during this time he and other members of the group did a lot of demos for Ernie Maresca of Laurie Records, including the demo for Abraham, Martin and John which was a hit for Dion.  It would be several years before the group would record again in 1968 this time for Rust Records doing "Bring It On Home" b/w "Baby I Love You."  The record did not meet with success.

The next chapter of the Five Discs story has the group leading the revival movement of the 1970's.  The now famous Gus Gossette Hunter College revival show set the stage for the group to become the leader of the revival movement that would follow.  With an appearance at that now famous event along with Norman Fox and Robroys, Nino and the Ebbtides, the Blue Notes, Vito and the Salutations, the Bopchords, the Schoolboys and others, the reformed Five Discs consisting of Eddie Pardocchi, Joe Barsalona, Frank Arnone, Paul Albano, and Charlie DiBella wowed the audience!  In 1972, the group would record the great revival record "Rock & Roll Revival" b/w "Gypsy Woman" on Laurie.  The group at this time was Eddie Pardocchi, Joe Barsalona, Frankie Anione, Donnie LaRuffa, and Mike Strippoli.  The record was a success as it struck a cord among fans of group harmony.

Following the Hunter College success, in 1974, Eddie P. went off to join the Impalas (of "Sorry - I Ran All the Way Home" fame).  Eddie brought Frankie Anione with him and they joined up with Frankie Grazionne and Iggy Constantino to put the Impalas name "back on the map" for about a year and a half.  Joe "Speedo" Frazier the original lead would later join them to make a five man group.  The group would later merge up with members of the Salutations and Eddie would later split off and join Vito Balsamo and stay with the Salutations portion of the group as the Impalas portion went their separate way.  Eddie was with this version of the Salutations from 1978 until 1990 when battles over group name rights eventually lead Eddie to leave the group.  "It got to the point where we'd take the money we made from a show and pay the lawyer!"