THE LANES

The anals of group harmony history contain many a story of doo-wop groups that never "made it."  Four or five kids that worked hard, recorded a demo, and did everything they could to get discovered, to no avail.  And, of course, there were the groups that did get discovered and had a tremendous time recording and performing for many years.  And then there were the Lanes, who had a unique experience.  They were the classic "one hit wonder" that easily could have inspired a doo-wop version of the Tom Hanks' movie.  They were discovered, they did record (and for a major label), they did have a regional hit and they were fortunate enough to play one of the biggest group harmony venues.  But just a quickly as all that happened, they disappeared, having recorded just one record as the Lanes.  And so the story goes for four guys from the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York.

The story begins as three schoolmates at Franklin K. Lane High School (thus the name - the Lanes) started singing in the chorus together - Pat Flugieri (lead tenor), Sonny Pirillo (aka "Augie" - high false tenor) and Jerry Giamonco (bass).  They were all bass singers in the chorus.  They would listen to all the other parts in the chorus and that was how they learned to sing harmony.  They would sing together in the bathroom and at the soda shop.  The three eventually would call upon a friend from Jamaica Avenue - Ben Lanzarone (a product of Music and Art High School) to play piano for them and help them figure out the more difficult harmonies.  Eventually Ben would join the group as the fourth member.  That was 1955.

The group decided to record a demo.  They headed to 48th street in NYC to Sanders Recording Studio.  While they were recording their demo, a guy by the name of Joe Thomas liked what he heard and asked the group to meet with him.  After practicing in Thomas' office for a few Saturdays, Thomas took the group over to Gee Records, the premiere rock and roll and group harmony label at the time with artists the likes of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.   The session in 1956 was exciting.  Upon arriving at the studios, the Teenagers were there recording ABC's of Love and the group was there to see it.  The group was suppose to record another song at that first session but for some reason was not permitted to do that.  Instead, the group was given a song that was suppose to be recorded by the Teenagers.  For whatever reason, the Teenagers had passed on it.  The result was the infectiously jumpy Open Up Your Heart b/w the slower You Alone (Gee 1023).  The unusual uptempo beat on Open Up Your Heart posed a bit of a problem for the group.  Jerry recalls that the background musicians had a hard time keeping the time with the group.  The unusual syncopation of the song was a challenge.  As a result, the group took too many takes and became hoarse from singing.  At that point, the group left for a while to rest their voices while the background musicians recorded the music.  Upon their return to the studio, the group recorded the song while singing along to the previously recorded background track.

The record was released and became a hit in the New York City area, reaching #10 on the charts in the city.  Legendary NYC DJ Jocko Henderson picked up the song and helped push it.  The group was well received and was asked to perform on the Allan Freed Rock and Roll Revue at the Apollo theatre, a rare opportunity for a untested white group.  A big band arrangement of Open Up Your Heart was created for the group.   Joe Thomas hired Charlie Atkins the legendary Apollo performer and choreographer to work with the group, Atkins having worked with all the big name groups at the time.  What a thrill for the four kids from Brooklyn to be performing with the likes of Moonglows, Cleftones, and Harptones.   The group was well received by the primarily black audience.  Jerry recalls that it was a magic moment in time - all the guys from the group hanging out backstage with some of the greats of group harmony.  "All us bass singers would hang out and sing together backstage."

As quickly as they were discovered, the Lanes disappeared from the world.   "I don't know why," comments Ben.  More than likely it was because the group had to change its name probably because of the existence of another group called the Lanes.  A year later in 1958, two songs from the group's earlier demo/practice tapes were released under the name of the Dynamics on Warner Records -  Ka Joom b/w A Hundred Million Lies (Warner 1016).  That record was not a success.  Eventually, the group started to break up with members going in different directions.  Pat and Jerry were drafted.  Remarkably, none of the members would record or perform again with a doo-wop group.

Ben went off the college to study music and became a widely acclaimed pianist, conductor, composer and arranger.  He is now a busy Hollywood composer, and has won the prestigious ASCAP Film and Television Award as one of the Most Performed Composers.  He is a piano virtuoso who has concertized throughout the country, as well as playing, conducting or arranging for artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Petula Clark.  For many years, Ben arranged music for popular television series.  The next time you watch an episode of the Love Boat or Dynasty you likely will hear music written and arranged by him.

In the late 1990's, the original members of the group met in Las Vegas for a reunion at Ben Lanzarone's birthday party.  It was a time to catch up and recount the year 1956 when the Lanes were on top of the doo-wop world.  A few years ago, Pat passed away leaving just the three other original members to carry on the memories.  None have any regrets - they were lucky.  They tasted fame and fortune, unlike countless other unknown and forgotten groups of the time.  They have their memories and one great doo-wop record to cherish forever.