It's 1963. Sunlight beams in on a young guy named Freddie, who's sitting at his school desk. His history teacher's talking, and indeed, Freddie does enjoy dreaming about ancient, faraway civilizations, but the classroom's not his favorite place to be. You see, he's coming of age. It's the month of June. Graduation and Summer are right around the corner. Even now, all he can think about is recess, when he and his good bunch of friends can get out and admire the pretty girls - he likes the plump ones - in the schoolyard , and on the street. He wants to find a special girl. In an hour, or so, he'll head home to run the family bread store while his father makes deliveries.
Will Freddie find the true love he's looking for - if so, where will he find her - and what will an Egyptian Princess, and a wild, south seas island tribesman have to do with it?
The rest of this funny, heartwarming story continues inside the folder/insert - along with photos - that accompanies each copy of this cd-albumn!
It was 1956, the great Tony Passa, a tough, young singer with a heart of gold, developed his superb group, THE FASCINATORS, in their home 'town' ... the infamous Bed/Stuy' section of Brooklyn, New York City, USA, where literally surviving 'til the next day was a conscious quest. This was the first barrier that they overcame. The second one is even more distinguishing : they were bi-racial - remember, it was 1956. Amazingly, they quickly surmounted that one too, pioneering a whole new wave of the music. It was a great time, reflected in a music that radiated fun, hope, and romance. THE FASCINATORS quickly emerged as THE stand-out, connoisseur's choice - and Tony as a singer of particular excellence - among literally hundreds of competing groups, and were signed to Capital Records, influencing so many of the groups to follow - what a triumph! Today, their records bring big money from collectors.
Eventually, the members went their individual ways. Tony sang with a variety of groups and bands, making a bunch of special vocal 'appearances' on a range of various recording projects, as well as pusuing his other passion: fine, classic cars, and high-speed, professional auto racing, alternating this with periods of performing. More recently, he spent several years as a member of The Legends of Doo-Wop, performing all over the world with them - you may've seen him on the Doo-Wop extravaganzas that PBS has been airing. Singing with The Legends' was great, but he knew that he had other, larger goals. He 'disappeared' for a while, fans wondering - and asking - "where's Tony?". He'd taken a break to gather his thoughts, and decide what he really wanted to do...
Could Tony actually bring THE FASCINATORS back, the group that'd started it all? Under Tony's expert guidance these hand-picked, already-seasoned veterans quickly gave Tony what he wanted to hear. Yes, they were singing and sounding like birds: "birds" of the New York street, that is ... rehearsing first in a-capella fashion, then with band accompaniment. The stage was now set for Tony's most ambitious project of all: the world's first ever, doo-wop "concept" albumn, based on a colorful, original, quintessentially New York story!
The FASCINATORS, now, right here, release this exciting, new, albumn : "HUBERT's DIME MUSEUM - 1963". Every added expense was met to bring this ambitious idea wonderfully to fruition, and proudly recorded with the superior sound of real, natural, analog and tube equipment at Retrophonics Studios, under a crack production team - we all had a ball recording this albumn, and you'll have one too, every time you get to hear it!
THE FASCINATORS are:
Tony: lead, & group vocals;
the very pretty Leigh Ann singleton: lead & group vocals;
David Lawter: group vocals, and;
Vince Jeffs: lead, & group vocals.
The very best, world-class, session-musicians, playing authentic, period instruments : saxophone, guitar, upright-bass, piano, Hammond organ, "Wurlitzer" electric piano, drums, and more, add their own distinctive color throughout this extremely enjoyable listening experience!
"HUBERT'S DIME MUSEUM - 1963" is a heartwarming (based-on-a-true) story - told in that special, rock & roll/doo-wop way, of a real place, a forgotten little arcade, that once existed on 42nd-Street in New York City, and ; a shop named Times Square Records that once inhabited the subway beneath "The Crossroads of the World". It's also about the 'Egyptian Princess', and of course ; The notorious, Wild, 'South Sea Island Tribesman', around whom the whole, wonderful story revolves. It's about the people who fell in love, and built lives together ... brave, loving people. As important as anything: the little arcade is a symbol for all of us, a metaphor, for a whole world of long ago, and in particular, the time itself, the era, that we all shared together, wherever our home is, or may've been, a time that's now gone forever - or is it? Even now, when we stop all of the chasing around, and let our imaginations go free for just a little while, the present world starts to fade, and once again, we 'see' the sights, and 'hear' the sounds of those days again. Yes, HUBERT's DIME MUSEUM is really a celebration of all of that - and the wonderful music!
The songs are composed primarily by Tony and Vince, and a few remaining ones are written by noted songwriters expressly for Tony : one by the famous Brill Building writer Ellie Greenwhich, about whose life an off-Broadway show was produced, and ; one by none other than the legendary rhythm & blues-heavyweight writer, producer, arranger, and musician, Jesse Stone, who was best known for his association with Atlantic Records, and who frequently wrote under the name "Calhoun", as in this case. Both of these writers wrote a wealth of the hits that you knew from the late-fifties, and early-sixties ... both of them, close, personal friends of Tony.
The story is by Vince, and the albumn is produced and directed by Vince.
Full of life, HUBERT's DIME MUSEUM is a fun time!
Today, The FASCINATORS' audiences thrill to the ever
crystal-clear voices, and enthusiastic, fun performances
of Tony and the gang.
Keep your eyes open for the beautiful FASCINATORS web-site,
with photos then-and-now, history, press, and their performance schedule ... it's in the works!
... see you at the next FASCINATORS show!
warm, best wishes, from Tony, The FASCINATORS, and all of us!
Pincus Scutari - RED PEARL RECORDS
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