Song:Never Let You Go
Album:The Doo Wop Box
For a group that had very limited success, The Five Discs were around a long time in several incarnations. Never Let You Go was their most memorable song and it was only a hit locally in New York City in 1962. Like a lot of doo wop groups, The Five Discs began on the streetcorners of Brooklyn in 1954. Lead singer Mario DeAndrade and bass Andy Jackson were member of The Lovenotes. They got together with Joe Barsalona, Paul Albano, Tony Basile & Joe Bracco to form The Flames. Their 1957 demo was rejected by all the New York record companies but a songwriter named Billy Martin liked them and had them re-record the demo. They were signed to Gene Schwartz' Enge label and Albano's sister suggested the name change to The Five Discs. Their 1958 release I Remember was a hit in New York but then Schwartz started Laurie Records. He got busy with Dion & The Belmonts so The Five Discs were ignored. They signed with a label called Dwain Records in 1959 but that failed. DeAndrade & Jackson left in 1960 and were replaced eventually by Eddie Pardocchi & Charlie DiBella. Never Let You Go was released in 1962 on Cheer Records and was a hit in New York City. It's actually a pretty good song and is another classic on Rhino's 4CD box set The Doo Wop Box. They signed with Kapp Records in 1963 but their name was changed to The Boyfriends. Didn't help much as the group failed. The Five Discs continued to surface through the 60s until they split up for good in 1972. But they reformed in the 80s to work the oldies circuit until 1994. It's amazing the mileage a group can get out of one song. Here's The Five Discs performing Never Let You Go at the 1993 UGHA concert.
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