Song:Earth Angel
Album:The Best Of The Crew Cuts: The Mercury Years
Back in the 50s, there were many radio stations that refused to play black artists. The solution to this was for white groups to record Doo Wop songs. And that's the story of The Crew Cuts. They had two number one hits covering the Doo Wop classics Sh-Boom and Earth Angel. The Crew Cuts were from Toronto. Like The Four Lads, The Crew Cuts attended St. Michaels School and sang in the choir. They were brothers John and Ray Perkins, Rudi Maugeri and Pat Barrett. John Perkins and Maugeri were in an early version of The Four Lads. They decided to leave the group and concentrate on school. After graduation and seeing the success of The Four Lads, they decided to form The Four Tones and then their fans named them The Canadaires. They played local clubs and saved up enough money to go to New York to appear on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. They didn't win but they did get to record. Then they went to Cleveland for a TV appearance. DJ Bill Randle liked them so much that he named them The Crew Cuts and got them an audition with Mercury Records. Their first hit single Crazy 'Bout You Baby was written by Maugeri and Barrett. It reached #8 on the Hit Parade. Then they recorded a cover of The Chords' Doo Wop classic Sh-Boom. The original was a hit but some radio stations wouldn't play it because The Chords were black. The Crew Cuts version was produced and arranged by Mercury house arranger David Carroll. It topped the charts and then they released a cover of The Penguins classic Earth Angel. It also topped the charts. They had one more top ten hit. And then The Crew Cuts left Mercury for RCA in 1958. They didn't have the same success there and they split up in 1964. This budget comp has all their Mercury hits. Today The Crew Cuts are sneered at as an abomination to Doo Wop. But they were never a Doo Wop group. They were a vocal group much like The Four Lads. But they appealed to white teens because they recorded Doo Wop songs. And the Crew Cuts versions were acceptable to white owned radio stations. This was the music business in the 50s. Here's a video for Earth Angel by The Crew Cuts.
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