Artist:The Capris
Song:There's A Moon Out Tonight
Album:The Doo Wop Box
There's A Moon Out Tonight hit #3 on the pop charts in 1961. It's well remembered today but the song and The Capris have a strange history. There's nothing unusual about their formation. The group started in 1957 by Queen's, NY high school students Nick Santa Maria (lead), Mike Mincelli (first tenor), Steve Reina (second tenor), Vinnie Narcardo (baritone) & John Apostol (bass). They recorded There's A Moon Out Tonight in 1958. It was picked up by Planet Records but the label only pressed 1,000 copies and couldn't promote it properly. The Capris split up and were destined for obscurity. In 1960, a record collector named Jerry Greene of Times Square Records heard the song and gave it to Allen Fredericks to play on his Night Train radio show. The phone lines lit up. Greene pressed some copies himself but was unable to keep up with the demand. So he sold it to Hy Weiss of Old Town Records. Meanwhile, Nick Santa Maria came out of the Army and heard about the song getting airplay. Then popular DJ Murray The K featured it on his Rate A Record feature. The Capris reformed in 1961 and played The Apollo a week later. That's when There's A Moon Out Tonight reached #3 on the pop charts. It's strange because it was a remnant of the doo wop era but was a hit after doo wop was finished. The Capris never reached those heights again and Santa Maria left to go solo. That didn't work out and he became a New York City cop. Santa Maria reformed The Capris in 1982 and continued to tour the oldies circuit until their final show in Dec. 2007. Here's The Capris performing There's A Moon Out Tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment