The Aquatones
Encyclopedia
The Aquatones were a doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...

 group in the 1950s who charted just once with "You", a ballad which was also covered by Gale Storm
Gale Storm
Gale Storm was an American actress and singer who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show.-Early life:...

.

The lead singer was Lynne Nixon a soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

.

The Aquatones were true one hit wonders whose subsequent singles for the Fargo label all failed to reach the Hot 100. They were issued into the early 60s and finally an album which gathered together most of the songs.
Their only album was issued three years after their hit single, and just before their final Fargo release, a remake of The Heartbeats
The Heartbeats
The Heartbeats were a 1950s American doo-wop group best known for their song "A Thousand Miles Away", which charted at #53 in the US Billboard listings in 1957....

' "Crazy For You" in July 1961. That song was not on the original album, but was included in the reissue in the 1980s as a repro.

In the late 1990s, the group reformed with a new lead singer, Colette Delaney. They released a number of CDs on the Debra label of remakes and new material including a Christmas album in 2006.

Sound

The Aquatones were a four part harmony band with a female lead vocal, Lynne Nixon (22 March 1941 – 9 January 2001). The group began as three guys from Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population in the village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census...

. They formed in 1956 as the Rhythm Kings with Dave Goddard, Larry Vannata, and Gene McCarthy as members. They came together to record a song written by Dave for their junior class play at Valley Stream Central High School
Valley Stream Central High School
Valley Stream Central High School is a public senior high school in the village of Valley Stream, New York in southwest Nassau County. It is part of the Valley Stream Central High School District.-Principals:A list of school principals:...

. All of the guys played instruments as well as sang - Gene the clarinet and tenor sax, Larry the alto and tenor sax, and Dave the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

. Bob Boden would play drums when they performed live. A classmates father, a record distributor, heard the group and suggested that they add a high falsetto voice. Shortly thereafter, Larry met Lynne Nixon at a dance and asked Gene and Dave to give her an audition. Upon hearing Lynne's voice they agreed to add her to the group. At first, Lynne only sang backgrounds, until Larry wrote the song "You" for her to sing.

The group later changed its name to the Aquatones (as Dave describes it "so the guys could wear a 'cool' shirt from the 1950s - aqua with a black velvet 'V' down the front). In 1957 the three original members - Larry Vannata, David Goddard and Eugene McCarthy, decided to add Lynne as a fourth member to give the group some versatility. It was not long after the group became a foursome that they found themselves performing at a talent contest at Malverne High School. The contest entitled Stairway to the Stars was just that for the group as local real estate mogul turned music promoter Lou Fargo heard the group and liked what he saw and heard. In December 1957, he signed the group and off to the studio they went to record on Fargo's own label.

First record

Their first song was "You" (Fargo 1001 b/w She's the One For Me). It was a group harmony recording. The record hit on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 in April 1958. Such classics as "I Met Him on a Sunday" by the Shirelles, "Zoom Zoom Zoom" by the Collegians
Collegians
Collegians are an Australian rugby league football team based in Wollongong. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and compete in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership. The club plays out of University Oval, Wollongong. Collegians wear red and black jerseys and have won 8 minor premierships...

, and "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

 were out at the same time. While it did very well in the East, it only managed to hit #21 across America.

More recently, the song 'You' featured in TV series The Sopranos, episode 'Everybody Hurts', accompanying a disturbing dream sequence in which a character, Gloria Trillo, commits suicide.

Follow up

Their follow-up record "Say You'll Be Mine" b/w "So Fine" (Fargo 1002) again came out at a time when there were more big records being pushed by big name artists. Their third record - "Our First Kiss" b/w "Drive In" (Fargo 1003) was also lost in the rush. Their next release in October 1958 was "My Treasure" b/w "My One Desire" (Fargo 1005) and while a terrific group harmony recording, it received little interest. "My Darling" b/w "For You, For You" (Fargo 1111) followed as did "Crazy For You" b/w "Wanted" (Fargo 1016) in 1961. "Crazy For You" was a cover of the original Heartbeats
The Heartbeats
The Heartbeats were a 1950s American doo-wop group best known for their song "A Thousand Miles Away", which charted at #53 in the US Billboard listings in 1957....

' tune.

Fargo would later release an album of the group's material in 1964 but the group's time had come and gone, not unlike the era of doo-wop itself. The Aquatones went their separate ways.

Lynne Nixon died in January 2001.

Colette Delaney

In 1998 Goddard heard a young lady sing who sounded similar to Nixon. A year later, he approached Colette Delaney about singing in a new Aquatones group. Colette had had a career in musical comedy, and was interested in singing with the group. They started making "demo" recordings of some of the Aquatones' old music. The result of the group's efforts was a new CD - released on Debra Records. The CD includes performances from original Aquatones - Dave Goddard, Gene McCarthy and Larry Vannata.

External links

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