Artist:The Skyliners
Song:Since I Don't Have You
Album:The Doo Wop Box
This classic 1959 doo wop hit is interesting because though The Skyliners were white, the song charted higher on the black singles chart. It was a top ten hit on both charts. The Skyliners were from Pittsburgh and were formed from two vocal groups. Group leader Jimmy Beaumont, Jackie Taylor & Wally Lester were in The Crescents. Janet Vogel & Joe VerScharen were in The El Rios. Joe Rock was also part of The Crescents and he took on managing The Skyliners. The idea was to give the group a sound similar to popular vocal groups like The Four Freshmen & The HiLos. Rock hired Pittsburgh bandleader Lenny Martin to come up with an orchestral arrangement for the song Since I Don't Have You. The song first broke locally in Pittsburgh in Feb. 1959 but Dick Clark liked it and put them on American Bandstand. That made it a national hit and The Skyliners were stars. They were on the small Pittsburgh label Calico. In 1961, The Skyliners signed with the much larger Colpix label. They had some minor hits but were never able to recreate the success of Since I Don't Have You but R & B singer Chuck Jackson had a hit with Since I Don't Have You later on. As I've said before, the 4CD Rhino box set The Doo Wop Box has all the hits of the 50s. Jimmy Beaumont has toured the oldies circuit with a version of The Skyliners since the early 70s and he's still doing that. Here are The Skyliners performing Since I Don't Have You on a Dick Clark special in 1959.
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