THE
PASSIONS
They made some of the most beautiful romantic group harmony music ever! Every note of every one of their songs just oozed passion. They were aptly named for no other group harmony artist of the time captured quite as well the passionate teenage years of 1959 to 1962 than the Passions.
The
Passions
were a Brooklyn group that included Jimmy Gallagher from Red Hook
(lead),
Tony Armato (1st tenor), Albie Galione (2nd tenor) and Vinnie Acierno
(baritone).
Gallagher first performed with a high school group called the
Palladians
- two of the members from that group going on to be in the
Four-Evers.
The Palladians never recorded but performed a lot of sock hops and
proms
including one memorable show with Skip and Flip (Cherry Pie
fame).
"We were thrilled to be with a recording artist," recalls Jimmy.
The group would eventually break up "because we all had girlfriends -
the
teenage thing," says Jimmy. He later ran into a nearby
Bensonhurst
group - the Sinceres - and it would be Jimmy and members from that
group
that would later go on to form the Passions.
About
five weeks after Gallagher joined the group, they went into the studio
to record one of the most memorable doo-wop recordings of all
time.
The group was discovered by the Mystics who turned them on to their
manager
Jimmy Gribble (who was also the manager of the Earls, Jarmels and Del
Satins).
After hearing them, Gribble signed them to a contract. Into the
studio
they went where they met Carole King and Paul Simon (aka the Cousins)
who
brought them a demo of Just To Be With You. They recorded it and
out it went on Audicon (#102) b/w Oh Melancholy Me to sell over 500,000
copies! The group's follow up record - I Only Want You
(Life
Is But A Dream played at a faster rate) was equally well received, also
selling over a half a million. And its third big recording - This
is My Love (often referred to or covered by other groups as Sweeter
Than)
- was equally successful - giving the group something that many group
harmony
artists never had - three successful records.
Off the
success
of those recordings, the group hit the road to perform including
reoccurring
appearances on Dick Clark's Bandstand program, as well as Alan Freed's
television show and live Christmas program. When asked if he had
any idea at the time how big he was, Jimmy Gallagher responds "not a
clue,
not a clue. We were just a bunch of kids. We did our street
corner stuff and we sang what we thought was important to us. And
I think that's why the music has been kept alive, 'cause when you hear
it today, it sounds like young people singing it. Even when young
people hear it, they can relate a little bit to it."
The group's third record was the old standard Gloria - a great version of a song traditionally done by black groups. The guys nailed it. In 1960, Vinny left and was replaced by Lou Rotondo. Lou can be heard on Gloria and the group's remaining recordings. Lou was a good friend of Jimmy's. They went to Manual Training High School together. In fact, Lou's first group - the Del Rays - counted Jimmy as a member for a while. Lou remembers leaving school early at 2:30pm to go to the Great Northenr Hotel in Manhattan to record Gloria. "I can't believe it - one minute I'm on the corner, the next minute I'm a recording artist...!"
Albie and Lou also joined up with Albie Contrera of the Mystics to back Clay Cole on Here, There and Everywhere (Roulette Records) that fared well in the greater NYC area. And it was Lou and the Passions that helped another Brooklyn group get discovered. One day when Jimmy asked Lou if he knew any groups that were looking to get discovered. Lou suggested his cousin's group - the Perennials and the rest is history. The group auditioned for Gribble and were discovered - they later went on to have big hits with Cinderella and Til Then - yes, they were the Classics. The close nit relationship between the Mystics, Passions and Classics continues to this day (see below).
Many of
the
members of the Passions were active through the 70's and 80's as
members
of the revival scene. And today, Jimmy Gallagher is a member of
the
Legends of Doo-Wop (click here for our
2001
feature on them).
CURRENT INFORMATION
Click
here
for the Passions' web site: Link
Click here
for the Legends of Doo-Wop web site: Link
