Post by Rob Durkee on Nov 26, 2012 23:23:30 GMT -5
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (RTDP) 11/26/12 -- It's not often where a hit record starts with the lead singer introducing himself. In 1968, to start the #1 hit "Tighten Up," we hear "Hi everybody, I'm Archie Bell of the Drells from Houston, Texas…" And then about a dozen years earlier in 1956, we heard the opening line of the pop, R&B and doo-wop hit, "Speedo" by the Cadillacs which went like this…
"Well now they often call me 'Speedo' but my real name is Mr. Earl."
Sadly, Earl "Speedo" Carroll died Sunday at a New York City nursing home. He had turned 75 on November 2. According to writer David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, Carroll had been suffering from declining health in the past year, suffering from a stroke and diabetes. He will always be remembered for "Speedo," which sounded like this...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9uZvrsAoyE
According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research, Carroll joined Charles Brooks, Robert Phillips, Papa Clark and Earl Wade to form the Carnations in 1953. When they got a record deal with Josie Records, they found out there was already a group called the Carnations, so they went with the car name the Cadillacs. They were one of the earliest rock and roll era (1955-present) groups to do choreography on stage while wearing flashy outfits.
The Cadillacs formed at P.S. 139 in Harlem, which serves as a bit of irony. That's because Carroll would work as a janitor as a similarly named Big Apple school, P.S. 87, from roughly 1982 to 2005. He'd work his custodian job weekdays, then sing with the Cadillacs on weekends. He was known as "the guy with the mop in the daytime and the star on stage at night."
In the above left photo of one of the lineups of the Coasters, Carroll is second from the right. The others are, from left to right, Thomas Gardner, Carl Gardner and Ronnie Bright. You might remember Bright as the bass man singing in the 1963 Johnny Cymbal hit, "Mr. Bass Man." Carroll joined a new lineup of the Coasters in 1961 and stayed with them for about 20 years. He would reform the Cadillacs around 1979.
Another of the Cadillacs recordings was 1954's "Gloria," which sounded like this…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U28e4EEC2j4
Dion DiMucci once remarked, "Back in New York in the 50's, one of the tests for any street-corner group was whether you could sing 'Gloria.' If you could, you had a chance."
Here's another Cadillacs' hit, "Peek-A-Boo" from 1958…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6AQ_FsOyrw
Finally, the Cadillacs' rousing rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EcAtOSWBNY
"Well now they often call me 'Speedo' but my real name is Mr. Earl."
Sadly, Earl "Speedo" Carroll died Sunday at a New York City nursing home. He had turned 75 on November 2. According to writer David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, Carroll had been suffering from declining health in the past year, suffering from a stroke and diabetes. He will always be remembered for "Speedo," which sounded like this...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9uZvrsAoyE
According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research, Carroll joined Charles Brooks, Robert Phillips, Papa Clark and Earl Wade to form the Carnations in 1953. When they got a record deal with Josie Records, they found out there was already a group called the Carnations, so they went with the car name the Cadillacs. They were one of the earliest rock and roll era (1955-present) groups to do choreography on stage while wearing flashy outfits.
The Cadillacs formed at P.S. 139 in Harlem, which serves as a bit of irony. That's because Carroll would work as a janitor as a similarly named Big Apple school, P.S. 87, from roughly 1982 to 2005. He'd work his custodian job weekdays, then sing with the Cadillacs on weekends. He was known as "the guy with the mop in the daytime and the star on stage at night."
In the above left photo of one of the lineups of the Coasters, Carroll is second from the right. The others are, from left to right, Thomas Gardner, Carl Gardner and Ronnie Bright. You might remember Bright as the bass man singing in the 1963 Johnny Cymbal hit, "Mr. Bass Man." Carroll joined a new lineup of the Coasters in 1961 and stayed with them for about 20 years. He would reform the Cadillacs around 1979.
Another of the Cadillacs recordings was 1954's "Gloria," which sounded like this…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U28e4EEC2j4
Dion DiMucci once remarked, "Back in New York in the 50's, one of the tests for any street-corner group was whether you could sing 'Gloria.' If you could, you had a chance."
Here's another Cadillacs' hit, "Peek-A-Boo" from 1958…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6AQ_FsOyrw
Finally, the Cadillacs' rousing rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EcAtOSWBNY
